Programs to Promote Reading

I recently came across an article titled Independent Reading and School Achievement (Cullinan, 2000). As a volunteer at a neighborhood middle school with a fledgling library program, I have been trying to refresh myself on ideas to promote reading among students. While many of these approaches are old stand-bys and no-brainers, our days are consumed with such a barrage of technology and the pressure of goals and exceptional performance, that we may forget ground rules that should be integral to the media center.


Per Cullinan (2000), independent reading is voluntary  - such as that for leisure or pleasure -  or that which is not required. Because literacy is related to school achievement, we must concentrate on ways to promote it:


Pre-School and Kindergarten

• The younger the child, the better. And don't just read. Interact: point, ask questions, label objects, discuss print. Let the child construct his or her meaning. 
• Encourage students' parents to "table talk" (or car, bath, bed-talk). In this, they will answer the child's questions, give them focused attention, and listen to their words. Children learn new vocabulary, clarify misunderstandings, and expand surface-level understandings 
• Common factors of successful programs for preschool children include active parent involvement, access to books and libraries, models in the use of books, and efforts to make people feel at ease in libraries.

Elementary: Grades 1-5

• Beginning readers or struggling readers should receive the support and modeling necessary to learn to read.
• Students who know how to read should continue to have models who read to them.
• Recruit advanced readers to help others. Student-based tutoring programs may not only help the students being taught but might also help those doing the teaching.
• Encourage browsing of new titles or relevant books by displaying to show the cover/front instead of the spine. Picture books, short chapter books, humorous stories, informational books, and magazines should also be showcased.
• All students are provided with adequate time for sustained silent reading and choice of what to read.

Middle and High School: Grades 6-12

• Encourage active parental involvement in student learning 
• Develop partnerships among community institutions 
• Promote collaboration among school librarians and teachers 
• The freedom of middle school and young adult students makes it imperative to give adequate time for independent, self-chosen reading, to demonstrate the value and pleasure of reading and writing
• Hone technology skills to perpetuate the search for information (my updated 2012 version of Cullinan's conclusion to "provide technology for information searching").

For further reading and details on research conclusions, see article in its whole here: http://www.ala.org/aasl/aaslpubsandjournals/slmrb/slmrcontents/volume32000/independent#programs




References:


Cullinan, B. E. (2000). Independent reading and school achievement {computer file}. School Library Media Research, 3