How to motivate reluctant readers

Sue Alderman
Two children looking over a book together

Reading in English can be one of the most challenging activities for young learners and teenagers, especially when they dont get much enjoyment from reading in their own language.

These four reading strategies are fun, high-energy, and educational ways of getting even the most reluctant students involved in your reading lessons.

1. Bring outside interests into the classroom

Many students find it hard to get enthused by the reading texts used in their classrooms; they might feature complex vocabulary, be too generic, or just not resonate with their interests. An effective way of reaching out to the more reluctant readers in the class is to use reading materials related to the media they enjoy engaging with in their leisure time.

ɫèAVs Marvel series of graded readers provides an ideal opportunity for bringing popular movie culture into your learners reading skills development. All of the readers are designed specifically for use in the classroom and feature an integrated skills approach that reinforces vocabulary and helps develop language skills. The readers come with activities to complete throughout the book rather than at the end, and key vocabulary is highlighted and defined.

Excitingly, most of our readers come with downloadable audio files (MP3s), so the students can listen along and hear the stories come to life. The audio can help students model pronunciation, get used to different accents and dialects, and make it even more accessible for students who are still less keen on reading.

2. Gamify the reading experience

By adding simple game dynamics and mechanics to your reading activities, you can add a competitive and fun element to your classes. This could help maintain the interest of learners who might otherwise lose enthusiasm.

The dictogloss activity is a good way of adding that extra element as it uses a countdown timer and peer-to-peer interaction to make the reading more of a competitive game.

First, find a good level and age-appropriate story for your students. Before you begin reading the story, tell your students to pay close attention because they are going to re-tell it themselves later.

You will need to read the story to the students in an engaging way, occasionally stopping, and asking students what they think will happen next.

Afterwards, allow the students five minutes to write as much of the story as they can remember in their notebooks.

When time is up, put the students in pairs and allow them to compare stories and correct each other, combining their stories, so they have a complete version. Help students by writing key vocabulary on the board as they request it.

Finally, hand out the original story for students to compare. Get feedback to find out what new vocabulary they have learned and help them make corrections in their stories where needed.

3. Experiment with high-energy activities

Reading doesnt have to be a sedentary activity. Make use of the classroom space and use movement as a way to motivate and engage your students.

Add a dash of physical activity to your reading task by turning it into a running dictation competition. At the same time, they will practice a whole range of skills; reading, listening, pronunciation, and writing.

Before the class, stick some level-appropriate reading materials to a classroom wall; ideally, you should space it out well and have one reading sheet for every two to four students (the material should be identical).

Put your students into pairs and tell them they are going to have a reading race. Nominate one student to write and another student to dictate.

Students who are writing must sit at a table on the opposite side of the room to the reading material. Students who are dictating must go to the text on the wall, memorize as much of the text as possible, come back to the writer and dictate what they can remember.

Pairs must write as much as they can in four minutes, and when you get halfway through the activity, students should swap roles.

Finally, ask the students to swap their papers and listen to your dictation, making corrections and asking questions as they go. The pair with the longest text and fewest errors is the winner!

4. Go beyond the text

Taking a text and making it into something entirely original can also be a powerful motivator for creative students. Those who complain that reading is boring or too hard will have an extra reason to get through a story if theres a promise of creative fun at the end of the task.

Tell students that once they have finished reading, they must re-imagine the story and characters and adapt it for a radio show, complete with sound effects, music and scripts.

Depending on how creative your students are feeling, they could write a sequel or a prequel, or adapt the existing story C ideal if youre using a superhero reader from the Marvel series.

They will need to review vocabulary and pronunciation, remember the details of the original story, explain the characters and their motivations, and plot and write their own scripts. Students can find sound effects on YouTube and record the whole thing on their mobile phones, or a school computer.

By turning a book into a creative project, not only can you motivate students to read, but you will reinforce vocabulary, pronunciation and have a lot of fun doing it.

Explore ɫèAV English Readers

More blogs from ɫèAV

  • Students sat together in a classroom working together

    Exploring the four Cs: Using future skills to unlock young learners potential

    ύ Annie Altamirano
    Reading time: 5 minutes

    What do we mean by future skills??

    The skills students will need in their future studies and careers are dramatically different from those required previously. Times are changing rapidly and educational institutions and teachers have a critical role to play in developing those skills in our young learners so that they are able to fulfill their potential and have bright futures ahead of them.?

    These skills are referred to as future skills. There is no common consensus on how to define these skills but, broadly speaking, they can be grouped into four categories:?

    1. Ways of thinking

    Skills in this category include critical thinking, creativity, innovation, problem solving, metacognition and learning skills.

    2. Ways of working

    Here, were talking about the skills of communication and collaboration.

    3. Tools for working

    Information literacy is an important 21st-century skill, as well as ICT literacy and citizenship, both global and local.?

    4. Life skills

    The final category covers life and career skills, and is all about personal and social responsibility.?

    One way you can encourage young learners to build these skills is through STEAM subjects (thats science, technology, engineering, arts and math), which will equip them with functional skills such as organizing, planning, cognitive flexibility and self-regulation.?

    The four Cs?

    The four Cs refer to four important skills for young learners to master: communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity. These are essential, not just in an educational context, but in everyday life.?

    Falling into the first two categories of future skills (ways of thinking and ways of working), these can help children build confidence and self-esteem. They also encourage healthy emotional development.??

    So lets take a closer look at the theory behind them.

    1. Communication

    We usually think of communication as speaking and listening, but its actually much broader than that. Communication encapsulates telling stories, reading, sharing ideas and experiences, body language, facial expression, eye contact and tone. Children learn to decipher the world around them by learning and practicing these skills.

    Strong communication skills, developed early, are directly related to their literacy success. These skills allow children to articulate their thoughts and ideas effectively, and listen to decode meaning. Students then begin to use communication for a range of purposes, and communicate effectively in diverse environments. Furthermore, developing strong patterns of verbal and non-verbal communication also fosters self-esteem and social skills.?

    2. Collaboration

    Collaboration is how young children begin to build friendships with others. At first, young children will watch what others do and say, before moving on to playing together. As they get older, they become aware of other childrens feelings and ideas. Friendships become motivating and they learn how to make compromises and respect each others perspectives and skills.?

    Collaboration is enhanced through group work and project-based activities, sharing time with peers. Children thrive when they feel valued by the people around them, not just adults but their peers too.?

  • Business people stood together around a laptop in a office

    Learning English and employability

    ύ Tas Viglatzis
    Reading time: 4 minutes

    English not only opens up career opportunities beyond national borders; it is a key requirement for many jobs. Its also no longer a case of just learning English for employability, but mastering English for business C and that means an on-going commitment to learn.

    My experience is consistent with this trend. If I had to estimate the value that being fluent in English has had on my career, I'd say it was my entire lifes earnings. Learning English has offered me educational options beyond the borders of my own country and enabled me to develop the skills to work for global companies that operate across national boundaries. I have been privileged to work in different countries in roles that have spanned functions, geographies and markets C and my ability to learn and evolve my English skills has been an underlying factor throughout.

  • A teacher showing her students a globe, with her students looking at the globe, one with a magnifying glass in hand.

    Whats it like to teach English in Turkey?

    ύ Steffanie Zazulak
    Reading time: 3 minutes

    Alice Pilkington qualified as a CELTA (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) certified teacher in October 2009. She started working in Rome before moving to Istanbul, where shes spent the past three and a half years teaching English to everyone from 8-year-olds to company executives; students to bored housewives. Having taught in two very different countries to a diverse range of English learners, Alice shares with us the five lessons shes learned:

    1. Don't take things personally when you're teaching English

    "I am probably not emotionally suited for this job. I take everything very personally and if a lesson goes wrong or an activity I have taken time and energy to plan doesnt work, I feel like a complete failure. Its a trial and error experience but when things go wrong, they can go very wrong, and it really makes you doubt your abilities as a teacher.

    Having said that, the lessons that do go well can make up for these negative feelings. I shouldnt take things personally; the majority of my colleagues dont and it saves them a lot of sleepless nights"

    2. Teaching English is incredibly rewarding

    "There are very few feelings that Ive experienced that compare to seeing a student use a word that you have taught them C it makes you feel like a proud parent. Equally, seeing a student improve over a series of months is so joyful.?I have been teaching English university preparation students for the past year.

    In September, they could barely say what their name was and what they did over the weekend. Nine months on and theyre capable of reading academic texts and speaking at length about marketing strategies and environmental problems. Its a wonderful thing to observe"

    3. Teach more than just English

    "Turkish students love hearing about how you appreciate their food and cultural traditions. Equally, they are genuinely interested in understanding how things operate in the UK and enjoy hearing personal anecdotes.?I tend to be very open with my students C even about my personal life.?I think it is partly because I have striven from the very beginning of my career to be seen as their equal.

    Turkish students are used to having a huge respect for teachers, and there is a hierarchical system in schools here, which I can never go along with. In my first lesson with most students, I tell them that they must call me by my first name (usually you refer to teachers here as hocam which means my teacher and shows respect) and this can take a long while for them to get used to."

    4. Failure to prepare is to prepare for failure... or is it?

    "Lessons that you spend hours preparing for generally dont go as well as you had hoped. There were several times when Id spend hours cutting and sticking things on pieces of card and placing pictures all over the classroom, hoping it would get some vocabulary action going, only to start the class and receive no response from the students.

    Conversely, lessons where you dont feel very motivated or have no idea what you are going to do until you get into the classroom (which I call the flying by the seat of your pants lessons) can turn out to be the best ones. I once had a lesson in which I was, admittedly, rather hungover. On the way to the lesson, I grabbed a book called Taboos and Issues, full of discussion topics, which I used as a basis for a rather impromptu lesson on addictions, which was very successful indeed."

    5. Teaching English isn't easy

    "Teaching English is a love/hate profession. There are weeks when you absolutely loathe it and want to quit, but then within the space of a lesson or two, you get inspired by something completely unexpected, rediscover your joy for it and love it again."