encouraging reluctant readers

Mindlessly scrolling through Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook.

Waiting in a lobby for an appointment.

Outfit hunting in the closet.

The wait for the stove, microwave, air fryer, or oven.

The marketplace shopping scroll.

We spend 20 minutes (give or take) on these activities throughout our day. 20 minutes is all you need for daily reading.

Student vocabulary is strongly correlated with comprehension. How can we use the summer to help our students? During the school year, it is difficult to plan reading time for students because of the heavy workload on their plates: homework, extracurricular activities, tutoring, and more. Summer provides the luxury of this flexibility for student growth.

Summer Slide

Summer slide is the idea that students lose educational knowledge through the summer due to the idea of “If you don’t use it, you lose it.” Just like any other muscle in the body, the brain needs constant practice and repetition to retain the muscle memory. The highest loss in this tends to occur in math and literacy.

With budget cuts skyrocketing across the nation, it’s no surprise that many summer learning programs have been cut. That is especially concerning when we discuss the idea of educational loss over the summer. Many parents and guardians relied heavily on summer programs for social and emotional, as well as academic, development. More and more communities are having to rely solely on themselves for these concerns.

We also want to respect the idea of a summer break. During the school year, students are loaded with work, lessons, critical thinking, activities, and more. Just like any adult, students can become burnt out. Providing them with a packet of work during the summer doesn’t allow them to fully refresh mentally.

How do we balance muscle-memory practice and mindful rest?

The Science Behind Reading

Not to be confused with the Science of Reading or Reading Science, but there are important distinctions when discussing the reason why reading is important.

Vocabulary & Commprehension

Because of dialects and slang, students who read will pick up more words. Students who discuss things together will often use the same language, sentence structures, expressions, and more. This is why many influencers have a niche, and those within the niche all sound the same. When students lack reading material, they lack exposure to other language opportunities outside their community.

That leads to context. When you see these words, what comes to your mind?

Fly
Bat
Current
Sink

I bet each person had something different. A fly can be an action, such as I am flying to another state to visit a family member. It can be the pesky fly that keeps buzzing around when you’re trying to enjoy an outdoor barbecue. It could also be the broken fly on your pants due to poor-quality manufacturing.

Likewise, I could have seen a bat on the side of my house. This bat may be migrating due to the temperature, and I would have to make sure I am safe from disturbing it. I would also bat an eyelash at a crush to show interest. I could also be using a bat to hit a baseball in a game.

We can know words, but knowing words in context is more important. Exposing students to reading allows them to understand words in various ways. This is especially important to students who have English as a second language. Much of the English language relies on figurative language (similes, metaphors, idioms, and such). Those can be difficult to understand for someone unfamiliar with the context. If I tell someone I’m going to bite my tongue when talking about a heated topic, someone may actually think I am biting my tongue as opposed to stopping myself from saying something. Figurative language is introduced during elementary school, so students must maintain their understanding of it through the summer. Though some conversations may introduce students to nuances in language (cap = lie, cap = lid on something, cap = hat), they need to be exposed to these nuances in various ways.

Focus & Attention

One major development from a 14-year study showed that reading actually helps reduce the likelihood of dementia. Dementia correlates with decreased lifespan and poorer mental health. Reading forces the brain to use parts that are sometimes ignored, thus reducing the likelihood of dementia.

Reading attention span directly affects fluency.

We live in a world of constant movement. Our brains naturally like “learning,” which is why Reels, TikToks, Stories, and the like are so popular. Our brain craves to explore new and unknown. Because of this, we often don’t know what to do with downtime. It’s one of the reasons ADHD has become so prevalent and why binge eating is now a problem.

Increasing attention span and fluency allows someone to learn to sit with their thoughts and truly process the information. It allows them to read and complete longer tasks without interruption and potential mistakes. As mentioned previously, reading builds the brain’s muscle. Just like working out, you have to build the stamina to do these things. Someone can’t go from never reading to reading for 2 hours and expect perfection. The same holds for sports. You can’t go into a football game and expect to win the Superbowl if you’ve never played or rarely played before. It takes time and patience, and reading 20 minutes a day is the start. Although initially reading is “less stimulating,” it will eventually feel just like those mindless doom scrollings because our brain activates images when reading. We begin to paint pictures in our heads, which often leads to longer focus and attention.

According to the same study, among many others, reading has a direct correlation with success. Those who are literate are more likely to be successful, identify fallacies, and seek truth. That, alone, is something to ponder about the importance of reading.

Empathy & Understanding

Though watching movies, shows, and social media can help us “internalize” words, reading forces us to use our imagination and creativity, read the selection below:

The hallway was a river, carrying students in every direction as they surged toward their classrooms. Lockers slammed like cymbals in a marching band, and conversations bounced off the walls like rubber balls. Maya tightened her grip on her backpack straps. Her stomach was a washing machine stuck on the spin cycle, churning with nerves. Around her, excitement crackled through the air like electricity before a thunderstorm. Everyone seemed to know exactly where they were going except her. She felt like a single puzzle piece dropped into the wrong box. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the current of students and let the day pull her forward.
– Excerpt was written by AI (not this whole article)

As avid readers, we tend to connect to Maya more because we’ve either been that person, seen that person, or have seen different scenarios in which that person can be affected through reading. If I just said Maya was nervous, it wouldn’t have the same impact as comparing her feelings to a churning spin cycle. We gain a better understanding of how Maya feels.

This also allows us to find methods to express ourselves better. In school, we teach students to replace commonly said words (such as said, walk, ran, cry). We do this not only to increase their vocabulary but also to express just how someone is feeling. Saying Julia cried when she lost her cat doesn’t have the same impact as saying Julia devastatingly whailed at the loss of her cat. One seems like she’s sad. The other shows how she is internally crushed because of the closeness she had with her cat.

Social and emotional learning has been a major focus in education. Part of that is because Americans have become desensitized by social media. Anything and everything is posted on social media without a filter. On top of that, as a nation, we have experienced hardship after hardship. We are surrounded by negativity nd often stuck in a rut of similar emotions.

Now What?

It’s never too late to bring reading into the home. With just 20 minutes a day, there will be a profound change in students’ abilities and, in turn, in our society. Reading, overall, reduces stress. With everything we have been through as a nation, we could use some stress relief. Reading makes the mind more creative, which leads to new inventions and ways of doing things. This could be making something more efficient or thinking of something we never had before. We know that countries with newer technological advances tend to have higher GDP (Gross Domestic Product), which in turn leads to a more sustainable economy. The sustainable economy leads to happier and healthier citizens. When people are happier and healthier, everything else starts to fall into place.

Utilize your local libraries: Even if you’re only able to go once to get a card, the library offers many online resources for digital books, audiobooks, magazines, newspapers, and more.

Ask the school: Many schools will offer summer reading programs, packets, or library books. Some of these can be permanently kept, while others may be returned.

Ask your community: Some communities offer free little libraries through the neighborhoods. Even if they do not, you may post to friends, family, or neighbors, asking for books to encourage reading.

Make use of what you have: You can also encourage reading with simple materials such as menus, sports articles, recipes, travel brochures, and more.

Make it a family activity: Though it’s important for students to read, make it a daily family activity to read for 20 minutes. Whether it’s sitting on the couch, outside, at the table, or in individual rooms, having a support system is important to a successful program.

Reading for pleasure has become a thing of the past. Research shows that society is reading 3% less each year. This is showing strong effects among students and children as well. With hectic, busy lives and social media, we have lost the passion for individualized reading.

Benefits of Reading

Reading encompasses several benefits.

One of the greatest impacts we see with reading is a stronger correlation with mental health. Reading helps students cope with the mental, physical, and social-emotional skills needed in life. According to research, those with early childhood literacy skills are more likely to succeed academically.

From a physical standpoint, reading helps people live longer. According to Kaiulani Shulman ^1,*, Karen Baicker ², Linda Mayes, “Adults who read for more than 3.5 hours a week were 20 percent less likely to die over the 12-year study follow-up than those who didn’t read books.” Lifespan is expected to extend by almost 2 years for those who read more often and earlier in life. It’s reported that after COVID-19, more than 2/3 of literacy skills were lost for Kindergarten children.

Reading correlates directly with creativity. It forces the brain to make images based on what is being read. It allows the mind to explore innovative activities. America used to be one of the most creative and innovative countries in the world. Now it seems like we are slowly falling behind other countries. This has a direct correlation to reading drops.

Just under 40% of all 4th graders are performing below grade level on reading assessments. So, how do we help this?

Book Tastings

One of the biggest battles we face is the statement, “I don’t like reading.” It’s not that they don’t like reading; it’s that they haven’t found something they enjoy reading. If I love science fiction, but I’m constantly thrown romance books, I probably will not enjoy reading either.

Adults and kids need an opportunity to “taste” books. They need to learn how to skim a book and find something that interests them. Once they find a book they enjoy, they will enjoy reading. Schools try to teach these skills, but they also need to be shown in real-life contexts. We need to use the skills of reading the back of the book, skimming through pages, researching a book, looking at the cover, etc. One book that interests someone will change their life and perspective on reading. Librarians and teachers can help teach these skills as well and/or find recommendations that fit your interests.

Libraries

Local libraries offer free memberships. Even for families that cannot afford to purchase books, they have books they can borrow and read. Libraries offer a variety of graphic novels, audiobooks, kid books, nonfiction books, fiction books, and more. Most libraries just want proof of address, but some may not require it. If your student is in public school, many local libraries partner with the schools to sign students up for accounts.

For those who prefer online formats, most libraries offer online books (audio and digital format) for people to read for enjoyment. For those with busier lifestyles, or students who engage in extracurricular activities, audiobooks are a great option. As someone with ADHD, I do find audiobooks a bit more difficult to follow, but I’m still able to listen at times. By summarizing what I heard, I can process the reading. This still helps grow literacy skills.

Dedicated Reading Time

Just like chores or other daily habits, like brushing your teeth, showering, getting dressed, etc., reading should be built into a daily schedule. Just reading 20 minutes a day makes a huge impact. The most important thing to keep in mind is that reading should be at a “grade-level.” By reading things at grade level, you’ll be exposed to proper use of writing and new vocabulary terms, which will build brain capacity.

“Children who are read to at least three times a week at home are more likely to recognize each letter of the alphabet, count to 20, write their names, and read or pretend to read when they enter kindergarten.” This statement from the earlier research shows that reading is crucial to brain development. Reading before bed or as you wake up could make the difference in academic success.

According to Renaissance, 15 minutes is the minimum time required before positive effects are seen. The greatest impact is seen in those who read 30 – 60 minutes per day. By intentionally building in reading time, achievement gaps will be closed more slowly.

One way to achieve this is through modeling reading. Though it may sound strange, it would be beneficial to have a dedicated family reading time. Families could spend 15 minutes reading in silence, then spend about 5-10 minutes discussing what they read. To start off, magazines and graphic novels are sufficient to get families started.

Class Time

In my class, we use Fridays for basic reading and writing. Students spend 20 minutes reading in silence in class, a book of their choice. Students spend time in class finding a book. As an English teacher, it’s important to bring this reading time into a class at least once a week. Preferably, reading time should happen daily. With the increased pressure from states and governments on testing, it is difficult to find the time to bring it in. However, it is a catch-22: if we don’t give them time, how will they grow in literacy skills? We also need to give time to teaching standards. There should be a good balance.

In addition to embedded reading time, teachers should have an extensive library in their classroom. Whether this is an English teacher, math, science, or social studies, teachers should have access to books in their class for students to read. We need to go back to the basic habits and encouragement of “When you’re finished, we should be reading.” It forces students to slow down and not rush through work. It also encourages reading. If we have access to books in every content class, students won’t have an excuse not to read.

Students should visit the school library often. This encourages new book Tastings and opportunities to read new books. This allows students who may not have access to the public library access to a library in general. Some districts have taken away the library and used it for behavior intervention classes. That is doing an injustice to American society.

The Power of Picture Books

You can find picture books with no words. These are great for having students process what is happening in the images. They can then create their own ideas of what is happening in the story based on other things they’ve seen or read. Picture books still provide a basic understanding of the structure of a story (beginning, middle, and end) and plot. This is partially why graphic novels are great with younger readers. It uses short sentences to help with reading and vocabulary, and also provides some visual help to understand what is happening.

Angel Boucher

Inspired Minds