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 pleasure
According 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 evidence
Reading 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?
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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:
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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.
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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 different
texts 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
• Blurb
• Length
• Emotion
• Author
• Series
• Pictures
• Topic
Promoting Reading for Pleasure
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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