Teach English in Wangmao Zhen - Yuncheng Shi

From the day I entered school until present day, the adults and peers around me, school posters and television always sent the same message about reading: it’s a good thing. Reading has been touted as a stress-reliever, a good pastime, makes “smart kids”, and anybody invested in education could not stress less about the importance of reading. One study shows starting early in reading provides lifelong benefits, with reading skills such as building vocabulary, and general knowledge. These benefits apply for all children, regardless of reading ability or achievement levels (Cunningham and Stanovich 147). However, getting a child started is the issue. This essay seeks to find how children can learn to love reading, and how exactly the surrounding adults could play a key role in the issue. To begin with, many parents often presume their role in getting their children to read ends the moment school starts. However, reading at school is mostly for the purpose of supporting school curriculum, not for entertainment. To allow a love for reading to take place, the opportunity outside of school should not be neglected. It is an increasing challenge for parents and guardians to instill a love for reading in children that remains as they grow, outside of school. However, Scholastic released data sharing that more than half the school-aged children surveyed in the United States of America claim to enjoy reading books for fun (“Finding Their Story” 6). This study not only provided encouraging statistics, but also lead to a basic, simple solution to get children reading: cater to their interests. Help them to discover the books they would like and make reading accessible; take the steps to spark that love for reading. This can be done by learning their interests, and regular visits to the bookstore or library; introducing regular reading times in the household can also create a routine for reading. Scholastic also suggests that parents reading aloud to their children leads to frequent reading in later years (“The Rise of Read-Aloud” 8). The introduction of reading into the household may come with resistance; parents should take care to create discipline and motivation, lightly supervising child behaviour without turning reading into a chore. In conclusion, parents need to become proactively involved in their child’s reading progress to encourage reading for fun outside of school. Aside from primary caretakers, the school must be the central hub for students reading support. The responsibility lands on the teachers to make this possible, by both developing reading skills in class, and by encouraging independent reading outside of class. My first grade teacher was responsible for instilling my love for reading. She read aloud to the class twice a week, helping to develop patience and listening skills. While at the beginning came with a lot of fidgeting, these read aloud sessions became a comfortable routine throughout the year. Additionally, more than half the classroom was designed as multiple private reading corners, and students were assigned to borrow at least one book from the mini-library each week. My teacher was fortunate to work at a school that provided her a big, resource-rich classroom and library, but creating the time and place to read is only part of the concern. Similar to parents, teachers should know their students’ individual reading levels and interests. Furthermore, teachers must also educate their students on how to navigate through libraries to find books suitable for them. Naturally, this won’t be enough to enforce independent reading. Reading tasks, separate from in-class reading activities, are meant to encourage students’ independent reading. A popular method is by giving each student a reading record, in which students keep track of what books they are reading. Some teachers customise reading records to also hold sections for student reflection, which is an excellent way for teachers to ensure students having actually read the books. Reading tasks can also nurture critical analysis and reflection of the text and self; book reports, writing a summary of the book, and simple worksheets asking about what students liked, or disliked, about the book, are common examples. Reading tasks can be any activity based on the book a student read, as long as the teacher chose the task with purpose. In-class reading activities, on the other hand, are activities based on reading done in class, such as curriculum-based books or reading passages from course books. These are beneficial as a direct way to assess and monitor students’ reading skills such as vocabulary building and critical thinking. Lesson-based reading means that the whole class can discuss the same topic, allowing for shared reflection between students. In the end, the teacher must decide how to achieve learning and reading goals based on all possible activities, within resource and time constraints. Ensure that the students are motivated to read, and not pressured, so that reading becomes a fun pastime, as opposed to “more school work”. In my childhood, I still fondly remember my teacher reading to our class on the carpeted floor with a clear voice, turning sounds into words, and finally into meaning. From there, my life as a book lover was decided. For some, getting children to read is an uphill battle. But once you’ve sparked their passion, the rest is history. Works Cited Cunningham, Anne E and Stanovich, Keith E. “What Reading Does for the Mind.” Journal of Direct Instruction, vol.1. no.2 Summer 2001, pp. 137-149. Print. www.csun.edu/~krowlands/Content/Academic_Resources/Reading/Useful Articles/Cunningham-What Reading Does for the Mind.pdf. Accessed 15 Jul. 2019. Scholastic Inc. “Finding Their Story: Navigate the World.” Kids & Family Reading ReportTM: 7th Edition. pp. 6. www.scholastic.com/content/dam/KFRR/Downloads/KFRReport_Finding Their Story.pdf. Accessed 15 Jul. 2019. Scholastic Inc. “The Rise of Read-Aloud.” Kids & Family Reading ReportTM: 7th Edition. www.scholastic.com/content/dam/KFRR/TheRiseOfReadAloud/KFRR_The Rise of Read Aloud.pdf. Accessed 15 Jul. 2019. Scholastic Inc. Kids & Family Reading ReportTM: 7th Edition. https://www.scholastic.com/readingreport/home.html. Accessed 15 Jul. 2019.