Reading for Pleasure- whole school
ideas
Children
learn about literature from what the adults about them do about it.
Zahnleiter, 1985
You want weapons? We’re in a library. Books...the best weapons in the world!
You want weapons? We’re in a library. Books...the best weapons in the world!
Dr Who, 1879
Finding ways to engage children in reading is one of the most effective ways to leverage social change.
Finding ways to engage children in reading is one of the most effective ways to leverage social change.
OECD, 2002
Children
- Whole school questionnaire for pupils to gauge attitudes to R4P- present results to staff
- School book council/reading council- two pupils from each class to attend meetings to talk about how to raise profile of reading
- Lunchtime reading boxes for quiet area in playground
- Regularly share favourite books and poems in assembly
- West Earlham Junior School book awards- each year group to judge a particular category
- Class author/theme- opportunities needed for classes to feedback to each other
- Class ‘book talk’ sessions (at least once a week)
- Extreme reading photo competition (pupils, staff and parents)
- Weekly fifteen minute DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) time (pupils and staff)- staff as reading role models (newspapers, magazines, graphic novels, etc)
- Lunchtime story and poetry clubs
- Book club (and, equally importantly, Not A Book Club, where pupils read poems, magazines, comics, graphic novels, etc)
- Class and individual rewards for using Reading Records
- Book swap box (‘wandering’ book) for pupils and staff- reception area?
- ‘Mr Green is reading…’ posters to also include all non-teaching staff
- Daily class storytime
- Reading cafes
- Poem of the Day- to be performed by children and staff- classes to make anthologies of poems, short stories, etc
- Book/author quiz- Between classes (families involved?)
- ‘I am reading.…by....’ badges (pupils, staff, visitors)
- Shadowing national book awards/competitions (Carnegie, Blue Peter, etc)
- Out and about- book festivals, author visits in other schools, bookshops, libraries, etc
- Video and audio books reviews- upload onto class blogs, etc
- Pair up with a class from another school to swap reading recommendations
- Celebrate World Book Day, National Poetry Day, Non-Fiction Week, etc
Staff
- One staff member per week to share a book in staff meeting (2-3 minutes)
- Regularly share favourite books and poems in assembly
- Patron of Reading- Who to replace John Dougherty at the end of his tenure?
- As well as regular visits from PoR (2-3 times a year), at least three visits a year from other authors or poets
- Host meetings for SLS KS2 Fiction Group
- Mystery Book/Random Read/Blind Date With A Book
- Staff reading interviews by children (to be filmed or recorded on Audioboom)
- R4P INSET- either at NCBC or invite Marilyn to us
- Review folder/space on wall (Reading Wall), bank of ideas for staff to find out about new authors, poets, etc- reviews from Carousel, Books For Keeps, etc.
Parents / Community
- Dads & Lads reading group (or similar)- focus on dads
- Make it possible to borrow books from the school library
- Events to be held jointly with WEIS (paired reading, etc) and CAN (especially library)
- Community- West Earlham’s Favourite Books, ‘flash’ reading events.
- Regular involvement with local library
- Parent readers/Reading champions
- Home/school liaison (My child loves reading xxxxx. What else will they enjoy?)- available in library one evening a week?
- Information pack for parents- local libraries, websites, a few recommended books for each Year Group
- ‘New for old’- parents to bring in books their children have outgrown and swap them
Environment / Resources
- Library- ‘If you liked… then try…’ posters and bookmarks (Recommend for a friend)
- Library and classroom- List of author/poet websites
- Library- football magazines, comics, etc- use car boot sales, jumble sales, etc to pick up
- Posters of new books, etc up all around the school (eg sport books in the changing rooms) and in classrooms
- Posters of staff reading
- Posters of ‘cool’ kids reading
- Books from other cultures, dual language books
