A great book can ignite a love of reading for a lifetime. However, it has been my experience that getting some students to read is the equivalent of dragging an ornery horse to water, and although dying of thirst, the horse refuses to drink.
As all good language arts’ teachers do, I have taken my class to the library and with pride, watched students eagerly walk straight to the book or series they cannot wait to read.
Equally often, I have seen students, who have no real intent to check out a particular book, but do an excellent job looking absorbed, scanning shelves, eyes squinted, looking at book spines, while stealthily whispering to the friend next to them who is doing the same scan, squint routine about the latest drama fluttering around the halls of a typical middle school. Of course, as a teacher, I know this is normal behavior, any time students are outside the structure of the classroom and their regular routine, so often I have watched with a mixture of despair and amusement, while they carry on their clandestine ruse.
I have gently guided them from area to area, while they dutifully looked thoughtful and interested in whatever book I was suggesting, but they knew and I knew that the chance of them reading the book they selected was slim, but with serious faces they would stand in line to check out the book, and all too often, the next time the book we would picked up is the next library “field trip.”
After witnessing years of students doing this, I decided to try a different approach. Before going to the library, I set aside at least 15 minutes of time, showing students short book trailers, available with a quick YouTube search, for “Book Trailers for Middle School.” In fact, I eventually added a playlist on my YouTube channel of book trailers that students could access at any time. The link below is a great list to use for upper elementary through middle school.
This is one of many book trailers I have shown students before going to the library. It is amazing to see the change in the way reluctant readers approach the book shelves!
This is another audiobook that I narrated and dedicated to my little niece. Whether for your classroom or just something you do as a service for the public, it is a gift to read a book for all children to enjoy. As teachers, we are all too aware that some students enter kindergarten and have never been read to a day in their life. So, again, I challenge you to record an audiobook. You May say, “I wouldn’t know where to start!” 👀 Really? Lol... with all the apps available, I can assure you it is easy, and most importantly, it gives a sense of accomplishment.
What if they are hooked on a book, but they struggle to read?
This is the million dollar question. You may capture a student’s attention and interest them in a book or series, but many students will give up when reading on their own, for a myriad of reasons, from struggling to pronounce new vocabulary and understand the meaning to a long list of other problems.
Audiobooks: the key that unlocks doors for struggling or reluctant readers
At the beginning of the year I put students in a group of four or five students, with an old style iPod that I ordered refurbished on amazon.com where you can find older iPods at a fraction of the cost they were, when new. I have them to work together as a group to become experts on a particular book. As the year progresses, rotate groups, iPods, and books. I have found that students look forward to the time they spend in their audiobook group and treat it as sacred! It’s an excellent way to capture a student’s attention and keep them reading!
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