Often parents are not too happy
about their child’s preference of
watching television over reading a
book. They make reading a task and
children see this as a compulsion
and not as a choice. Parents can
actually help their child become
avid readers by exposing them to a
few good habits of reading. This
should be done on a very positive
note with no pressurising.
Here are a few
simple tips to
make a child
read more.
 You
should read on a regular basis and
ensure that your child sees you reading
with interest. Actually, the reading
matter is not so important. Other than
books it could be pamphlets, magazines
or recipes. In fact you could have a
reading time when you and your child sit
quietly and read your individual books.
Your child will emulate your habit of
reading and enjoy the quiet time spent
with you while reading.
Do
not restrict books to one
corner or shelf of the house.
Keep them scattered throughout
the house, near the TV table, on
the bedside table and in the
child’s room. This will increase
the child’s access to books and
stimulate the reading habit.
If
your child is small, take a book
that has text and pictures and
discuss with your child about the
characters and incidents in it.
Develop an interest in him or her so
that he or she feels motivated to
read it. You could also take turns in
reading aloud from the same book.
This will inculcate a strong grasp on
the spoken language too.
 In
most homes there is a well specified TV
watching time. In addition have a specific
reading time in your house where you all
read something. Begin with shorter duration
as smaller kids tend to lose interest fast.
Then according to his or her age, lengthen
the duration of reading time. Afternoons may
be the best time for reading as opposed to
reading at night before bed, as the child is
quite sleepy then. Bedtime reading can
supplement normal reading time.
Whenever
your child finishes reading
a book, give him or her a reward.
Please do not go overboard in this
and restrict yourself to small tokens
only. You could even tell your child
to write a summary of the book and
reward him or her afterwards. This
will also improve his or her quality
of writing.
 Find
out about a library that is in your city
and become a member. Opt for one with a
Reading Room that is spacious. Take your
child to this library and spend some time
there on a weekly basis. Take books home
and stress on the importance of returning the
books by the due date. Your child will
understand the urgency and read more to
finish the book and bring home another one.
Spend some time with your child in the
Reading Room.
Reading is one of the best hobbies to
pursue as it improves language skills
and opens up a world of knowledge
for your child. Do take it seriously
but do not make it a painful task for
children. Let them read at their own
pace and develop a liking for it. A
visit to a library will further instill
the habit of reading and the
excitement of bringing home a new
book every time will keep the habit
alive.
Motivating Students to Read…
The value of extensive
reading
How to encourage students
to read extensively
Integrating extensive reading
into the TBL curriculum
• It provides exposure to extensive
comprehensible language and is
therefore highly beneficial for language
acquisition and literacy development
 Extensive
- a wide range of texts
a large number of books
Comprehensive - of the right level
 Revisiting vocabulary and structures in different books and contexts
 reinforcing understanding of story structure ie. introduction, setting
(place and time), characters, plot (problem or goal), episodes or
events, resolution
 Extensive practice of reading skills such as word attack skills,
meaning attack skills, prediction skills → fluent reading
 Extensive exposure to language not usually encountered in
textbooks and simplified readers
It is an important source of
ideas and information
It can nurture a good reading
habit
Cycle of growth
Extensive reading – increased exposure – cycle of growth (Nuttall 1996)
Extensive reading helps student to become fluent, independent readers
who are interested in reading.
Read more
Read faster
Learn more
Enjoy more
Enjoyment
Sustained exposure /
reading habit
Language
improvement
Problems identified by teachers:
Lower forms
No interest in reading
Some books are boring
Reading-related activities are boring e.g. taking tests
Lack of vocabulary knowledge and so find reading difficult
Upper forms
No time to read : need to prepare for examinations
Reading materials are too difficult
General
Not motivated
Not aware of the benefits of ERS
Lack confidence in reading

Books / reading materials need to be interesting and
not too difficult
 Students need to develop reading skills - e.g. how
to guess
words from context, activate background
knowledge, read
for implied meaning etc
 Reading-related activities should be interesting and
creative
 A reading culture should be developed in the
school
Compare passages in the course books with stories for
extensive reading. Are they different? Which are more
interesting?
What kinds of books are suitable for extensive reading?
How do we find out about the interests of the students?
How do we grade books? Note that the input must be
‘comprehensible’!
Entertaining
The content is rich and varied
Contain interesting and imaginative characters, themes,
events and situations
The illustrations are attractive and provide appropriate
support
The language is rich and creative
Children can respond to them
Good
books?
What books / materials?
L2 readers
Reading schemes for English-speaking children (including
picture books)
L1
books for leisure reading
adolescent literature
movie books
popular series – teenage fiction
non-fiction
Magazines / CD-Roms / websites
Secondary
Allow ‘subliterature’ e.g. movie books (Home Alone, Jurassic
Park), the Apple series, The Bailey school kids, Goosebumps etc.
Let your students choose topics / authors they like
Get them hooked onto a series!!!
Problems

Too bottom-up in approach – too much concentration on
individual words. If they get stuck with a word, they do not know
how to go on. (Even place or people’s names)

Do not know how to activate background knowledge in reading

Do not know how to work out ‘implied meaning’
Cloze reading (to develop ability to tolerate vagueness
and to guess words from context)
Think-aloud protocol (to help develop awareness of the
importance of background information)
Predicting the ending of short stories
Discussion of plot, characters, setting, problem, resolution
etc through story frames and story maps
Read more!!! ‘We learn to read by reading’ (Smith 1978,
Nuttall 1996)
Developing a reading culture in school
4.
A whole school approach
Eg. Book week to celebrate literacy:
-
Book character day
Graphic display of number of books read by the entire school
in the form of a bookworm that ‘grows’ around the school
Book talks by authors and community leaders
Display of English books in the library – a book corner (Change it
every month) – can adopt a theme (Detective stories) or an author
approach (Roald Dahl)
Display of students’ work, like book reviews, letters to
the authors, book cover designs
Board displays with slogans – e.g. Reading is fun!
Activities to promote reading e.g. story-telling competition, drama
competition, book report competition, best readers of the class,
the form, the month etc.
Surveys on books
Teachers’ recommendations (the ten best books) in school newsletters
Opportunities to borrow books in the summer and the holidays
Enlist the help of parents
Extensive reading is an important source
of ideas and language for carrying out tasks
in the English language curriculum
For example
Task: Write a letter to a friend asking for help and advice
Students each choose a character from a book they have read. They pretend to
be the character and write the letter
e.g.
The Pied Piper of Hamelin - The mayor of the town asks a friend to
suggest ways of getting rid of the rats.
The Three Little Pigs – The pigs ask for ways to protect themselves
from wild animals
Task: Produce a radio play
Students who have read the same book can work as a group to
produce a radio play based on the book
ie. different groups will produce different plays
Task: A project based on the theme ‘Animals’
Students can make use of the animal stories / books they have
read in doing some of the tasks, e.g. they create / publish their own animal
stories in the form of small books.
Task: The most popular character
Each student nominates a character from the books he/she has read
and draws a picture / writes a short description of the character.
The whole class vote to decide on who the most popular character is
Task: Students create a new ending to a story they have read
Task:
Students design new book covers, book marks or
cartoon strips based on a story they like
There is more variety in the students’ work because they have read
different books
Extensive reading materials should be actively used in completing
tasks in the TBL curriculum
Students will be motivated to read if:
- The books / reading materials chosen are interesting and of
appropriate level
- They are helped to develop reading skills
- The reading-related activities are interesting and creative
- There is a reading culture in school
 Why
is reading
important?
 How
can I get my
child to read?
 Is
it to late-I have a
teenager!?
One of the most complex mental activities we
can engage in is reading. When you look at
brain scans taken while the subjects are
reading you see many of the areas of the
brain lit up with activity.(Brummit, 2007)



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
builds listening skills, increases a child's attention span, and
develops the ability to concentrate at length of which all are
learned skills.
develops children's ability to express themselves more
confidently, easily, and clearly in spoken AND written terms.
develops and fosters a child's natural curiosity.
develops creativity and a child's ability to use their own
imagination!
expands our children's horizons, quells fears, exposes them to
new situations, and teaches them appropriate behavior.
Reading children’s stories to our children provides the best
opportunities for true " teaching moments ."
Reading picture books develops a young child's appreciation for
the arts through exposure to many different styles of art and
illustrations.
Not
all readers are
leaders, but all leaders
are readers.”
- Harry S. Truman

Out-of-school reading habits of students
has shown that even 15 minutes a day of
independent reading can expose students to
more than a million words of text in a
year.
 Fill
your home with
reading material
Everywhere!!!!
 Books, newspapers,
magazines, school
newsletters, etc.
ANY Type of printed
“
material
 Students
who reported having all four types of
reading materials (books, magazines,
newspapers, encyclopedias) in their home
scored, on average, higher than those who
reporter having fewer reading
materials.”(tella, 2007)
 Be
an example!
 How did your children learn to talk? By listening
to people, and others encouraging them to
express themselves.
 Reading is the same!
 Children are made readers on the laps of their
parents.”
-
Emilie Buchwald
Research shows that students
who
Discuss their school studies
and what they are reading
with their parents or
caregivers are higher
achievers than those who do
not. (Mullis, 2003)
So…..
Talk about it!
In the car…
At the dinner table….
On the plane….
While shopping!
“ What did you read about today?”

We need to demonstrate in as natural a way
possible, how reading serves our own needs.
Teens will learn about reading if we can involve
them in our reading. We can express our opinion
in connection with some magazines article. We
can talk about newspaper ads that describe
things we are thinking about buying. We can
comment on interesting things we have read.
(Myers, 1989)

"…finding materials that will provide enjoyment
to teens will require you to think like a teen.
Notice the subjects of the television shows,
movies, or videotapes your teen watches. Think
about his or her favorite activities, sports,
hobbies, and other special interests. Then, the
next time you run across a display of books or
magazines, buy a few that seem to be about
similar subjects and scatter them about the
house.“ (myers, 1989)
"A house without books is like a
room without windows."
Heinreich Mann (1871-1950)