IN THE CLASSROOM, IN THE COMMUNITY AND ACROSS THE SCHOOL
For Poppy Yayakos, reading is at the heart of learning. It is therefore worth spending time explicitly to build a culture of reading at any school.
Why it’s important
Reading is arguably the most important academic skill one that opens doors to all areas of learning for children. It may be stating the obvious, but it’s worth saying at a time when its importance is not being taken for granted, that reading not only develops children’s literacy skills, but also their ability to engage with ideas and to think critically, creatively and meaningfully. Research has consistently highlighted that reading supports children’s cognitive growth, language acquisition, and social understandings. Classrooms that promote a rich reading culture therefore play a crucial role in shaping a child’s ability to learn.
The classroom environment and books
In classrooms with strong reading cultures, students are always able to see and access books, whether in a classroom library or books on display correlating with learning. And for good reason: access to books and reading opportunities creates “more exposure to literacy-related interactions”, (PMC). There will be cosy places around the classroom for children to find themselves lost in a book promoting “reading for pleasure… and reading attainment”, (Taylor & Francis Online) and of course, a wide range of reading materials, including various levels of picture books, comics, novels, and magazines varies the reading experience for children. Furthermore, having interactive books such as textured, lift the flap or pop-up-books available always increases the excitement of reading!
A broad collection of fiction and non-fiction allows students to find different books of interest to them and explore new ideas, while giving them access to the school library to choose, borrow and keep books for the class library allows for student voice in what our reading selection is. This also means they need to choose which books to return from the class library, which continuously maintains a fresh and exciting selection for children.
Families and creating a reading community
Research strongly suggests that parental involvement has a significantly positive influence on reading achievement and language comprehension, and that the earlier parents become involved in their child’s reading the more profound and longer lasting the effects are, (Australian Publishers Association). For families to have buy-in, communicating that early shared reading positively impacts children’s reading, vocabulary and early literacy skills is a real advantage (Taylor & Francis Online).
Ideas such as creating a reading space at home, investing in a wide range of books, and modelling a love for reading creates an extended culture in which children who see all the adults in their life reading “take it for granted that reading is…valuable”, (Springer). Sharing reading milestones and learning experiences from the classroom is another great way to involve families. You may even wish to share a ‘discussion card’ with a question for parents to ask their child about what they are reading at school. This not only involves families in children’s learning, but it also builds comprehension and retelling skills in students.
‘Silent’ and ‘shared’ reading
Whilst many classrooms have a designated 10 minute window for ‘silent’ reading, shared reading is also a vital approach to support children’s, cognitive, social and language development, (RSIS International).
With reading activities being positively associated with reading attainment and vocabulary development, (Taylor & Francis Online), perhaps a ‘silent’ reading expectation might be modified to reflect a more meaningful learning experience in which children talk to each other about their reading.
Top tips for reading time
With all this in mind, here are some specific ideas to encourage a culture of reading:
- Let them talk!
Selectively choosing how you define and describe reading time matters. For example, children may become excited and their volume may increase as they discuss stories with their peers – so, let them talk! My general rule of thumb for reading time is that all children are allowed to discuss and share the books they are reading, if I can read in my normal teacher voice and the children with me can hear.
- Shared reading ‘companion’
Students who choose to sit and listen to the teacher modelling a story will have the chance to hold ‘teddy’ during reading time. Whoever gets to hold ‘teddy’ has the ‘honour’ (not ‘role’ or ‘job’ – the description matters) of sharing with the class what the teacher read about.
- No designated seating
Students will know that in reading time they are able to choose where they sit and who they sit with to enjoy their book.
- Develop student autonomy
Let students have the choice to read by themselves, with others or with the teacher. This encourages all children to engage in reading, regardless of reading skills or ability.
- Discuss and share
During and after reading time, students and teacher have the opportunity to discuss, share and ask questions about the texts. When reading time is over, consider a designated time to discuss the texts engaged with, including a selected student from the teacher group to share what they read with the class.
- Teacher led enthusiasm!
If the teacher is excited about and enjoys reading time, so will the students!
- Make library borrowing purposeful
When my class and I go to the school library to borrow, they each have the opportunity to borrow two books. I tell my students they must choose one book that makes them love being a reader, and one book that will challenge them to become a better reader. This gives student autonomy and authority to make decisions for their learning. I make sure to check in with students and they share with me their ‘love’ and ‘challenge’ book they chose.
- Build connections in stories
Encourage your students to look for the many ways they can make connections to and from stories. For example:
- Text-to-text: noticing similarities between two books
- Text-to-world: seeing something in the book that they have learnt about
- Text-to-self: spotting a similarity between what they read about in a book and something they have experienced or are. If you model what these connections look like when reading with a group students will want to do the same.
- Get into the habit: my students know to raise their hand and share when they make any ‘connections’ with what they are reading in a book.
Poppy Yayakos is a children’s author, educator, and literacy advocate whose work is dedicated to fostering a strong culture of reading within communities.
For more ideas see: www.poppyyayakos.com
References
- Clark, C., & Ackerman, R. (2006). Reading for pleasure and parental influence. (cited in (Springer))
- Dearing, E., et al. (2006). Harvard Family Research Project findings on family involvement. (cited in (Australian Publishers Association))
- Meng, P., Aziz, N. A., & Abdullah, B. (2025). Teacher–child interactions during shared reading. (RSIS International)
- National Literacy Trust. (2011). Attitudes, family engagement and literacy. (Australian Publishers Association)
- Wood, C., et al. (2023). Shared reading and vocabulary development. (Taylor & Francis Online)
FEATURE IMAGE: by Guy Basabose on Unsplash
Support Images: by belov1409 on iStock, Getty Images For Unsplash+ & by Hulda Gilca on Unsplash
