We’ve blogged previously about the myth of “Reading for Pleasure” and how some of the interventions we try in order to make students read in their free time are more style than substance. If we accept that it is going to be almost impossible to influence whether students read at home we need to start thinking about what is the best use of our intervention time in school. There are still several strategies and approaches we can adopt to enhance their reading abilities within the constraints of the classroom. While it may not be possible to completely replace the benefits of self directed reading at home, these techniques can help create a reading-friendly environment and foster a love for reading among your students.

Engage in daily read-aloud sessions: Allocate a specific time during each day, or even each lesson if possible, for read-aloud sessions. Select age-appropriate and interesting texts, such as short stories, articles, or even extracts from novels. Reading aloud exposes students to new vocabulary, sentence structures, and literary devices, helping them develop comprehension skills and a deeper appreciation for literature.

Incorporate varied reading materials: Introduce a diverse range of reading materials, across the curriculum including magazines, newspapers, graphic novels, and online articles. Providing choices catered to different interests and reading levels can increase student engagement. Accessible reading materials that align with their hobbies and passions can make reading more enjoyable and relevant but ultimately it will be the expert in the room that models getting excited about reading. We can’t allow students to ONLY enjoy reading things they are interested in since so much of what we do in secondary schools involves “reading for learning”. If adults across the school model being interested and excited about a variety of materials, it sends a powerful message to our students.

Implement peer reading activities: Pair students with different reading levels or abilities to encourage collaboration and peer learning. Assign them reading partners who can discuss and share their thoughts on the texts they read together. This cooperative learning approach can promote comprehension, build reading fluency, and create a supportive environment for reluctant readers. Listening to every student read and providing instant feedback is just not going to be feasible in most school settings. By pairing younger, weak readers in Year 7&8 with older, more confident readers in Year 10 it is possible to provide support that just wouldn’t be manageable using only adults.

Provide regular feedback and checks for understanding: Monitor students’ progress and offer constructive feedback on their reading skills. Conduct regular checks for understanding, such as reading comprehension quizzes or short written responses, to track their growth and identify areas for improvement. Individualised feedback can help students understand their strengths and weaknesses, enabling them to focus on specific reading skills that need development. Our own model includes “Interactive Read Aloud” as the core element of whole class instruction. We encourage teachers to discuss topics as they arise in texts, clarify unfamiliar vocabulary, enrich topics with anecdotes, and ask loads of questions to ensure students understand what is being read.

Model reading behaviour: Be a reading role model by sharing your own reading experiences and interests with your students. Demonstrating enthusiasm for reading can inspire them to develop a similar passion. Additionally, take the opportunity to read aloud during class downtime, showcasing your enjoyment of literature and sparking their curiosity. If every adult across an entire school regularly reads aloud to students it sends a hugely powerful message that reading is for everyone, in every context, and is important in every area of life. It can’t be simulated engagement via “Drop Everything And Read” as we have blogged before. It has to be actual reading from a text live in the lesson. And we would strongly argue against using audio books for this as mistakes, stumbles over words, and sounding out new vocabulary should be included to model what expert readers do when they are reading something difficult or unfamiliar. Audio books do have a place (see Point 10 below) but do not provide the best model for how experts read as they do not include any of the strategies that expert readers use when they are overcoming difficulties.

Cultivate a supportive classroom community: Foster a positive and inclusive classroom environment where students feel safe to share their thoughts and experiences related to reading. Encourage peer recommendations, book discussions, and storytelling circles. Building a community of readers can create a sense of belonging and increase student engagement with reading. Above all else, reading should permeate all aspects of learning across the curriculum so that all readers of all abilities are supported across the whole community.

Scaffold reading assignments: Break down complex texts into smaller, manageable sections. Offer guiding questions or prompts to help students focus on key ideas or themes. Providing pre-reading activities, such as brainstorming or predicting outcomes, can pique their interest and activate prior knowledge, making the reading experience more meaningful. Our own resources are carefully constructed around this model to provide the level of support that novice readers need when tackling difficult texts. When it comes to assigning novels for students to read, either individually or as part of a tutor reading scheme, provide a chapter by chapter summary of Tier 2 vocabulary that may be unfamiliar to students and a series of comprehension tasks to check that students understand what they are reading.

Connect reading to real-life situations: Help students understand the practical applications of reading by integrating it into various subjects. Assign reading tasks that relate to science, history, or current events, demonstrating how reading is essential for acquiring knowledge and understanding the world. This approach can motivate students who may perceive reading as unrelated to their interests. The Literacy Engine programme draws topics from across the curriculum but also incorporates topics that it is important for students to know about. These range from what happened in the 9/11 terror attacks to where months get their names and what is a mortgage?

Create a comfortable reading environment: Arrange designated reading areas in your school, filled with a variety of books and comfortable seating options. Make it an inviting space, where students can relax and explore books during free time. Regularly update the collection to cater to diverse interests and reading levels. Celebrate reading achievements and offer incentives, like a class library or rewards for meeting reading goals, to motivate students. It is important to note that if the things above are not in place first, no amount of comfortable seating will improve levels of reading and/or literacy in novice readers. This should be the cherry on top of the icing on the cake.

Incorporate technology and multimedia: As the absolute final stage of intervention options, utilise digital resources, audiobooks, e-books, and interactive websites to engage students who may be more inclined toward technology. These resources often come with audio options, enabling students to follow along while listening. Integrating multimedia elements, such as videos, images, and animations, can also enhance comprehension and make reading more interactive. These are not a substitute for paper based hands on reading as outlined above but could provide a valuable last resort entry to reading for some reluctant readers. We are trying to get our reluctant readers away from screens and the passive consumption of video media so these should be used sparingly, deliberately for very specific purposes, and with caution.

The bottom line is that, while reading at home undoubtedly provides additional benefits, implementing these strategies can help improve your students’ reading skills even without external support. By creating an engaging and supportive reading environment within the classroom, you can ignite a passion for reading and equip your students with essential literacy skills that will benefit them throughout their lives.