23 ways to create a non-reading school

1. If, by some bizarre twist of fate, an author, poet or storyteller ever visits the school, at least half of the pupils need to be either out on a trip to the local supermarket or attending a phonics catch-up group.
2. Do not model reading in class. Ever. During quiet reading time, make sure you are inputting data to your school's pupil tracking system or tidying up a Geography display.
3. When reading a shared book, do not give out more than one copy for every four children (this includes tatty photocopies). The less time they spend in physical contact with a book, the better.
4. If a child tells you that they spent an hour reading a wonderful book at home but their mum didn't remember to sign their reading record, spend at least thirty seconds looking disapprovingly at them. Remember, it's all about evidence.
5. Ensure at all times that children are reading a book which is the right level for them. They should not be reading books which are too simple or too challenging. Colour-coding and organising by difficulty are effective ways to show a child how good they are at reading.
6. When 'reading for pleasure', children must always make some kind of record of it in their reading journals. Tell them that's what proper readers do.
7. Do not engage with your Schools Library Service, the local library or any kind of children's bookshop. Have as few people with a passion for reading visit the school as possible.
8. Incomplete sets of books in the library and classroom are crucial. Having the Alex Rider series on a shelf with books 1, 3 and 8 missing is great. Point out that the books were only bought ten years ago and that they really should have been looked after better.
9. On World Book Day, be careful to make the emphasis on the costumes the children wear rather than books. Encourage them to spend money on an expensive outfit they will probably only wear once instead of on books they might read several times.
10. Have posters round the school showing children the books that various members of staff are reading. Make sure that they display the same book all year and are never updated.
11. Make it as difficult as possible for children to visit the school library by not staffing it for most of the day. Children should be changing their books once a week, and not more or less frequently. If they have finished a book before their library visit is due, then they must read it again. It must never be accessible before school or after school.
12. Keep old, tatty and out-of date books (e.g. Will Humans Ever Visit The Moon?) and try to spend the least amount possible on new books.
13. If you are reading a class novel, make sure it is the same one you have read for the past five years, especially if you worked in Year Six for that time and are now teaching in Year Two.
14. Ignore poetry completely. Explain to the children that it very rarely comes up in SATs tests these days.
15. However big your classroom is, it isn't big enough for cushions, book corners, author displays, etc.
16. Occasionally tell the children that you really like reading but never, ever be more specific. Do not mention actual books, authors, illustrators, etc.
17. Continually reinforce the message that magazines, comics, newspapers and football programmes are not books and therefore not really proper reading.
18. If you are teaching in Year Six, remember that the only independent reading the children can do after Christmas is past SATs papers.
19. Provide parents with a handy list of differentiated questions they can ask their children when reading at home. Most of them should contain the word 'infer'.
20. Try to make sure that the library has as many other purposes as possible. Parent groups, one to one tuition (which obviously needs to be done in silence). storage of the iPad trollies, music lessons, etc. Be creative!
21. Do not allow the pupils to have any ownership of reading in the school. No pupil librarians, no input into choosing books and no helping with displays.
22. Never hold special assemblies about just books. One on World Book Day is more than sufficient.
23. Five minutes spent at the start of a staff meeting sharing a couple of books that the children have enjoyed (or that you have enjoyed) is five minutes wasted!

This list is by no means fully comprehensive. Please feel free to add your own suggestions.

(By the way, the school I work in has a genuinely wonderful reading culture!)

The Fonz and Malorie Blackman!

I wouldn't normally just post a video link on here, but it's not every day that The Fonz and Malorie Blackman send a video message to your school talking about how wonderful reading is! Huge thanks to our Patron of Reading, John Dougherty, for putting it together.

Class Author

Roald Dahl is a great children's author. Admittedly, he's also responsible for Charlie & the Great Glass Elevator which is, in my opinion, very disjointed and rather boring, but pretty much all of the other books he wrote were wonderful. Virtually every child in Key Stage Two knows his name and most can name at least a few of his books. This also applies to the other 'usual suspects': Jacqueline Wilson, JK Rowling, David Walliams, etc.

However, there are literally hundreds of other great children's authors out there that, without a little guidance, can easily be overlooked by the majority of children. Off the top of my head this includes Sam Gayton, Katherine Paterson, SF Said, Paul Jennings, Jamila Gavin, Josh Lacey and Gill Lewis. It's a very arbitrary list, so please don't pull me up on any wonderful authors that are missing (although do feel free to add to it!).

In order to widen the children's knowledge of authors and poets, about three years ago we decided that each class in the school would have a Class Author. The author would change 4-5 times a year, and would sometimes be selected by the teacher and sometimes by the children. A child joining us in Year 3 and leaving us in Year 6 would then be exposed to the work of at least 20 different authors during their time at junior school, as well as that of all the ones they know about anyway. Three years down the line and the idea is still going strong.

4JB's Class Author

Each class has an author display in their classroom and there is also a school display of current and previous authors outside the library. Revealing the new author is always very exciting and is done in a variety of ways. Some teachers reveal their identity on the class blog or via Twitter and one puts up a photo of the author in his classroom to see if the children can recognise who it is. If they don't get it straight away, he then throws in an occasional clue during the week.

Recent Class Authors (including Mildred D Taylor, Rene Goscinny, Noel Langley, Terry Deary, Michael Rosen and The Brothers Grimm)

Every teacher is given a book budget of approximately £50 for each class author they have during the year so, as time has gone on, the classrooms have become much better stocked with great books. The staff all approach the idea differently. Some have a fixed author slot every week where they find out information about their writer alongside the children, some encourage the class to research the author at home, almost all ensure they find time every day to read one of the author's books. In fact, pretty much anything to raise the profile of the writer and their work. Occasionally the children have emailed the author to let them know that they are their chosen Class Author, share a picture of the classroom display and ask them a few questions. Most of the time, the authors have been really receptive and happy to engage, and one even offered to hold a conversation via Skype with the class.

It's a simple idea that has been very effective. It's noticeably improved the children's awareness of different authors, as well as that of the school staff. At the end of last year, I asked my Year 4 class to list as many authors as they could- they came up with over 50 between them! The fact that there's a new author every few weeks keeps it fresh and the children know that if their current Class Author isn't really their cup of tea, another one will be along pretty soon.

49 ideas to raise the profile of reading in schools

These are just bullet points at the moment but I will put it all into some sort of coherent state whenever I get an opportunity. The ideas are a mixture of what is already happening in my school and my R4P 'wishlist'. Some are directly relevant to the school I work in, but could easily be transferred into any school. The majority are pretty standard practice, although there should be a few in there that you won't have tried before (there's definitely a few I haven't tried yet!).
 

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!

Dr Who, 1879

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

The Daily Poem

We've only introduced the Daily Poem into the classroom in the last couple of weeks but it's really fired up the kids' enthusiasm for reading and performing poetry. There is a 'signing-up' sheet by the classroom door where they can put their names if they would like to share a poem they have chosen with the class the following week. We then free up a five-minute slot, usually straight after lunch, where they perform their poems. The only requirement is that the children agree to spend at least five minutes a day during the week before they perform practising their poems.

For the first week, it was modelled by the adults in the class. We talked about why we had chosen the poem and how we had practised it to help improve our performance. There was no time spent on analysing words, rhythm, structure or meaning; it was read (or recited), the class had a minute or two to talk about it with their friends, and then we moved on.

The sheet was left blank for week two. After a day or so, nobody had signed-up and I was starting to think the idea had flopped. During lunchtime, two girls came in and asked if they could perform a poem together. Hooray! They added their names to the list and went off giggling to practise their poem. In the middle of afternoon registration, one of the least confident readers signed-up, planning to read a poem that she had written herself (called The Witch And Her Cat). By the end of the following day, the sheet had been completely filled and the children were asking if we could have two Daily Poems so that they could all have a go.

After performing their poem, the children are then allowed to write the name of the poem and the poet on one of the classroom windows using a board pen (check this rubs off first!). It's another way to familiarise them with the names of different poets (and they love the fact that it's a bit naughty!).

So far we've had Michael Rosen (numerous times), Spike Milligan, Brian Moses, Valerie Bloom, Josh Seigal, Julia Donaldson and a couple of the kids' own poems. The sheet is currently full for the first week back after half-term and the kids have thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It's great to see them wandering around the playground with a book of poetry and it's helping to further raise the profile of poetry across the school. We've paired up with a Year Six class, and once a week the children go and perform to each other. We have also recorded some of the performances using Audioboom, adding them to the book blog so that any interested parents can have a listen.

http://wejsbookblog.blogspot.com

New school year- poetry and parents!

This year I'm going to continue to try and introduce different ideas into the classroom in order to encourage reading for pleasure with the kids I teach. I will be focusing on two areas in particular, engaging the children with poetry and (the Holy Grail) finding more ways to involve parents in their children's reading.

Poetry is something I tried really hard to push last year, with pleasing results. By the end of the year, the class had heard over 100 different poems and knew of at least a dozen new poets. We made sure that every day we found time for at least one poem, even if it was when they were getting changed for PE or lining up before they went home. We also watched lots of great video clips of performance poetry. Craig Bradley, aka That Poetry Bloke, was a real favourite, as were the obvious choices, Michael Rosen, Benjamin Zephaniah, Brian Moses, etc. Writing a 'Three Minute Poem' a couple of times a week grew in popularity throughout the year. The children also enjoyed creating their own Poetry Zone (although we tried to put up poems all over the classroom, and not restrict poetry to one corner of the room). We had regular class Poetry Shows, where the children chose a poem to perform in a group from books that had been randomly dished out, and we had lots of fun with rhyme and rhythm whenever possible. Sometimes during the register the children would rhyme their responses (Hi, I'm Chris- please don't give me a kiss!). I would also throw in a rhyme at random and get them to shout out the final word (Today is Friday so it's eat-a-pie-day...Yes, it's raining but please stop complaining, etc).

Some progress was also made with engaging parents. Our Patron of Reading, John Dougherty, held a short Parents' Workshop, where he talked to a small group about why finding time to read with children is so important. We also ran a very successful Dads & Lads reading group (mentioned in an earlier post) and, although it never actually happened, there was a lot of interest in having class Reading Cafes and inviting family members along to take part.

What next? This year one of the ideas suggested to try and engage parents is to run a Family Book Quiz, hopefully hosted by John Dougherty and organised by members of school staff. Families would come along in small teams, and answer fun (and non-threatening) questions about children's books. And eat snacks. More details to follow about this when it eventually gets organised! I'm also going to look at other strategies to embed poetry as part of the daily life of the classroom. I desperately want new ideas, so would love to hear from anyone who would be willing to share something they've tried, whether it was successful or not.

Our school reading environment

Reading for pleasure needs to be visibly promoted around the school and in the classroom and is a huge part of helping to create a reading culture. I've just had a (very objective) look around my classroom. It's not too bad, but the reading environment is definitely something I want to develop further.

On the outside of the classroom door there are this week's 'Book of the week', 'Reading Star of the week' and 'Mr Biddle is currently reading...' posters. There are also lists of previous books of the week and reading stars, as well as front covers from some of the chosen books.

          

In the classroom itself we have a featured author display (currently Paul Jennings- one of his short stories, The Busker, never fails to have the class in tears by the end).

Paul Jennings

There are also lots of book posters on display around the room. Our new 'Poetry Zone' display board is currently extremely popular. It contains a good mixture of the children's own poetry and poetry they have enjoyed reading. The poems are currently changed every week and more children are becoming involved in selecting the poems.

Poetry Zone

We also have the current 'Mystery Book' in a folder at the front of the classroom (see previous post). This still generates discussion regularly (every time the book is changed, the colour of the folder is also changed).

The books themselves are currently on shelves and bookcases in different areas of the room. The children have ownership of how they want them displayed and volunteer to come in at lunchtime to rearrange the books. They are often organised by genre, author, size, number of pages, even the colour of the front cover.

Due to the size of the classroom, our Reading Corner is practically non-existent. It currently consists of two chairs and a few cushions squashed at the back of the room. Thirty kids and fifteen tables doesn't make it easy to move things around, so really the whole room needs to be a giant Reading Corner.

The rest of the school

It's really heartening to see the profile of reading for pleasure rising across the school on an almost weekly basis. The school library is now a far more welcoming environment than it was a couple of years ago, far more comfortable and many more books.

The library

In the library we have several displays, including one about our Patron of Reading, John Dougherty, and one created by our book club.

     

 Some of our current library displays

In Year Six, where there is a lot more room, there is an absolutely fantastic Reading Corner. It contains book recommendations from the children and some posters of members of the book club with 'motivational' reading slogans (Readers Are Leaders is my own personal favourite).

     

 Year Six Reading Corner

Along the corridors there other displays dotted about which are dedicated to reading and authors. Overall, I think we can be proud of the progress that has been made across the school. It would be interesting to hear how other schools and teachers have developed their reading environment.

 

Enid Blyton

 

Philip Ardagh

Kes Gray

 

 

We love reading