Promoting Reading for Pleasure

The pleasures of reading?

The pleasures of reading?• Getting totally lost in a book • Being emotionally engaged with the text• Becoming absorbed in an unfolding narrative;

needing to know what happens next• Being fascinated by information on a topic that

intrigues you• Anticipating enjoyment from reading both the

words and the images• Talking to other readers – informally or in

organised book groups• Being inspired by books (response).

Reading for pleasure

Reading for pleasure refers to reading that we to

do of our own free will anticipating the satisfaction

that we will get from the act of reading. It also

refers to reading that having begun at someone

else’s request we continue because we are

interested in it.

It typically involves materials that reflect our own

choice, at a time and place that suits us.

 

Reading for pleasureAccording to Krashen (1993), a major proponent of the value of reading

for pleasure:

“When children read for pleasure, when they get ‘hooked

on books’, they acquire, involuntarily and without conscious

effort, nearly all of the so-called ‘language skills’ many

people are so concerned about: they will become adequate

readers, acquire a large vocabulary, develop the ability to

understand and use complex grammatical constructions,

develop a good writing style, and become good (but not necessarily

perfect) spellers. Although free voluntary reading alone will not ensure

attainment of the highest levels of literacy, it will at least ensure an

acceptable level. Without it, I suspect that children simply do not have a

chance.

 

Research: the evidenceReading for pleasure is positively linked with the following

literacy-related benefits:• reading attainment and writing ability (for reading that is

done both in school and out of school) • text comprehension and grammar (even after a variety of

health, wealth and school factors are statistically controlled for)

• breadth of vocabulary (even after other relevant abilities such as IQ or text-decoding skills are controlled for)

• positive reading attitudes, which are linked to achievement in reading

• greater self-confidence as a reader• pleasure reading in later life.

OECD research

Enjoyment of reading has a

greater impact on a child’s

educational achievement than

their parents’ socio-economic

status.

(OECD Reading for Change, 2002)

PIRLS research

As with almost all countries,

pupils in England who had higher

levels of enjoyment in reading

had higher average achievement

than their peers.

(PIRLS 2011: Reading Achievement

in England)

Reading for pleasure

Unfortunately a number of studies have

shown that... • boys enjoy reading less and therefore read less

than girls (e.g. Clark and Foster, 2005); • children from lower socio-economic

backgrounds read less for enjoyment than children from more privileged social classes (e.g. Clark and Akerman, 2006).

What surveys tell us...

• A survey of school children for World Book Day in 2002 found that 15 to 16 year old boys spent 2.3 hours a week reading for pleasure, compared to 9 hours a week playing computer games or 11 hours watching television.

• Girls spent considerably more time reading, namely 4.5 hours a week.

• However, when boys were reading they did so because they enjoyed it. Specifically, 81% of 11 to 12 year olds and 76% of 14 to 16 year olds reported reading for pleasure.

Reading for pleasure in decline?• A UK survey – Children’s Attitudes to Reading (Sainsbury and Schagen,

2004) – indicates that children’s reading enjoyment has declined significantly in the last five years (1998-2003), especially amongst older children.

• The percentage of engaged readers has declined between 1998

and 2003 from 77% to 71% among Year 4 pupils and from 77% to 65% amongst Year 6 pupils.

• There is also evidence that the decline in enjoyment over the last five years has been more pronounced among boys than girls. Among Year 6 pupils, the percentage of boys who say that they enjoy reading has declined from 70% in 1998 to 55% in 2003. By contrast, the percentage of girls who say that they enjoy reading has declined from 85% in 1998 to 75% in 2003.

• Children were also less likely to enjoy going to a library and more likely to prefer watching television to reading than they were in 1998.

• Another study by the Schools Health Education Unit (2004) found that the proportion of 10-year-old boys who read books at home nearly halved during the previous five years.

Reading for pleasure in decline?Sections on reading in Key Stages 1 to 3 of the National

Literacy Strategy:

‘reinforce’, ‘predict’, ‘check’, ‘discuss’… and so on.

71 different verbs for the activities that come under the

heading of ‘reading’.

The word ‘enjoy’ doesn’t appear once.

In summary...

• Reading skills have improved; confidence and enjoyment have declined.

• Girls read for pleasure more than boys. • Reading for pleasure decreases with age

(teenage, early adult – increases again later in life).

• Most recognise importance of reading.• Some say boring/ can’t find anything want to

read.

What is different in the new reading curriculum?

• Reading for pleasure has a central role• Literature is acknowledged as playing an

important role in growth as an individual

Reading, literature, books

• Through reading in particular, pupils have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, spiritually and socially.

• Literature, especially, plays a key role in such development.

Draft NC March 2013 page13

Reading for pleasure

• Develop a love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment;

• Develop the habit of reading widely and often for both pleasure and information;

• Appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage;• Establish an appreciation and love of reading; • Open up a treasure-house of wonder and joy

for curious young minds.

Draft NC March 2013 page13

In each year programme are the words

Pupils should be taught to:• Develop pleasure in reading,

motivation to read and understanding by …

Reading motivation

Reading attitudes refer to the feelings and beliefs

an individual has with respect to reading.

Reading interest relates to people’s preferences

for genres, topics, tasks or contexts.

Reading motivation refers to the internal states

that make people read.

This decreases with age (especially if attitudes towards

reading become less positive).

If children do not enjoy reading when they are young, they

are less likely to do so when they are older.

Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivation:engagement in an activity that is based on personal interest in the

activity itself. Readers who are intrinsically motivated are more likely to

find a variety of topics that interest them and to benefit from an

accompanying sense of pleasure.• Importance of reading - the belief that reading is valuable.• Curiosity - the desire to learn about a particular topic of personal

interest.• Involvement - the enjoyment of reading certain kinds of literary or

information texts.• Preference for challenging reading - the satisfaction of mastering

or assimilating complex ideas in text.

Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation

Extrinsic motivation:engagement in an activity in response to external values and demands.

For example, when children read to avoid punishment or to meet

teachers’ or parents’ expectations.• Reading for recognition - the pleasure in receiving a tangible form

of recognition for success.• Reading for grades - the desire to be favourably evaluated by the

teacher.• Competition in reading - the desire to outperform others in reading.

Extrinsic motivation can be used to bring about intrinsic motivation.

Reading development

• Role play reading

• Experimental reading

• Early reading

• Transitional reading

• Independent reading

• Advanced reading

What is an independent reader?

• How is independence determined in our school? Is there a description in the reading policy?

• Do pupils just become free readers? Independence defined through what ‘reading book’ a child is on?

Transition to being independent involves:

• practising the early skills until they are automatic• learning how to find meanings beyond the literal• exploring and valuing their personal responses • being able to express those responses in words• learning to make their own choices• gaining stamina as a reader• feeling successful, confident and independent • behaving like readers – expressing opinions,

being critical and discriminating.

Taking off as readers

• Children reach a ‘pivotal plateau’ when they can use decoding strategies without assistance.

• They will still need a great deal of support and practice at decoding until it becomes automatic. Their reading books must be at a consistent linguistic level.

• Progress is about deepening understanding, breadth of experience, increasing stamina and personal response. Progress is demonstrated by attitudes and reading for pleasure.

For most children the transition to being a reader takes a long time

• to thrive and gain confidence children need be successful not struggling readers

• to experience enjoyment they must get ‘lost in the book’ which involves being able to read their books with ease

• improvement is not about which book they are on but their attitude to reading

• to demonstrate progress they must be experienced at talking about books.

What is the purpose of a ‘reading book’? • To practise newly established skills • To reinforce learning objectives from

taught reading sessions• To gain confidence in growing ability,

feeling independent and in control• To develop stamina as a reader• To increase literary experience• To experience the pleasures of reading• To establish preferences as a reader.

Young readers need to wallow in books that they can read with ease

Wallowing in books will enable children to:• practise their new found skills• feel like successful readers• experience a wide range and variety of

reading• enjoy their reading and share the pleasure

with others• be motivated to tackle more challenging

reading materials.

Draft NC Year 3

• By the beginning of Year 3, pupils should be able to read books written at an age-appropriate interest level. They should be able to read them accurately and at a speed that is sufficient for them to focus on understanding what they read rather than on decoding individual words.

To create independent readers and teach reading for pleasure teachers must …

• Allow children time to get absorbed in books:– by reading aloud to them – offering books they can read with ease

• Be readers themselves who model reading behaviours and create communities of readers

• Have a growing familiarity with children’s books that will provide them with:- confidence to make decisions about all the differenttexts used to teach literacy in their classroom- a choice of books to read aloud to children- reading materials for children’s individual reading.

Choice strategies

Choice and control enhances engagement;

need guidance also.• Five finger rule• Recommendations• Not ‘good’ or ‘bad’ (imposed perceptions)• Use negative choice – what don’t you like?

Choice strategies

• Cover

• Length

• Author

• Pictures

• Blurb

• Emotion

• Series

• Topic

Promoting Reading for Pleasure

• Increase the visibility of reading throughout the school• Peer-to-peer recommendation• Use ICT to promote reading activity• Reading events• Pupils’ reading groups• Buddying schemes• Reading areas/ library• Family support; family events/ activities• Library visits• Community – reading volunteers• Reading Champions/ Ambassadors

Promoting Reading for Pleasure

Some ideas...• Request boxes• Reading Ambassadors: Book of the Month (poster)• Make screensavers of favourite authors or reads/ rotate

on server• Get caught reading (images and captions – poster size)• Belly bands for books (short movie-style reviews)• ‘Our school reads’ film: montage for school website• Points rewards systems – recommendations acted upon• Surveys and rewards charts

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one.” - George R.R.

Martin

“You're the same today as you'll be in five years except for the people you meet and the books you read.” - Charlie Jones

“There is no such thing as a child who hates to read; there are only children who have not found the right book.” - Frank Serafini

“It is not enough to simply teach children to read; we have to give

them something worth reading. Something that will stretch their

Imaginations - something that will help them make sense of their

own lives and encourage them to reach out toward people whose

lives are quite different from their own.” 

- Katherine Patterson

 

“There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of

books is the best of all.”

- Jacqueline Kennedy

“A parent or a teacher has only his lifetime; a good book can

teach forever.”

- Louis L’Amour