Reading for Pleasure
The jury has long been in… reading for pleasure and enjoyment has a significant impact on a child’s academic performance.
Of course, motivation to read is complex. It isn’t just about opening the library doors or directing a child to a classroom book corner as many a frustrated teacher will know.
Whole School Community
Children are more likely to be motivated when there is a reading for pleasure policy that focuses on reading attitudes of the whole school community, access to appealing books, opportunities to read, parental engagement, positive reading role models, teacher knowledge of children’s books and an active reading community with shared reading experiences.
Embedding reading challenges into your reading for pleasure policy can have an impact on all the above.
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Reading Challenges
There are formal and sometimes expensive programmes that use incentives to encourage regular reading but a sustainable reading for pleasure habit can be created by a fun and easily implemented challenge such as reading a set number of books, taking a reading journey, carrying out a series of reading based challenges or shadowing a book award.Challenges can create positive peer pressure, a shared experience leading to book chat and child-to-child recommendations. They can introduce children and teachers to different authors and genres broadening their reading choices and give a purpose and structure to a child’s reading.
By using challenges as a means of engagement we might just create enough motivation to start a child on their personal reading journey.
Take Part In The Juniper Reading Challenge!
The books have been chosen by our expert team of advisory librarians in the Education Resources Service. They have used their expertise to hand-pick books from a range of genres which they know children and parents will find engaging – with a few personal favourites included as well.
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