Maintaining interest within a reading class and keeping control of pupils can be troublesome at times, especially when teaching difficult children or those who have no keen interest in reading. However, there are a number of steps you can follow and a number of activities you can introduce to make sure reading classes are fun and a lot more stimulating for young children. See below for our top five tips on how to maintain control of your reading classes.

Post-it Note Question Time

Reading Class

Sometimes, children’s interest within a reading group can fall due to lack of understanding or an inability to follow the storyline properly. This may be because a certain child does not understand a particular word or phrase; or perhaps the child has forgotten something that happened previously in the story. Children that interrupt to ask a question can often spoil the flow of your story and cause other children to lose interest too.

One way of combatting this is by giving your pupils a small pack of post-it notes. Whenever one of your pupils has a comment or a question they can quietly write it down whilst you are reading and stick it close to the passage of text that is causing confusion. Then at the end of the session, or chapter, the pupil can return to their notes to see if their queries have been answered. Any remaining questions can then be dealt with as a group, providing other pupils the opportunity to help out with answers and explanations. This is a great way of getting all participants involved in the understanding of the storyline.

Introduce a Book Exchange

Hosting a class book exchange with another reading group is a great way of maintaining interest amongst pupils. Have your reading group work together to choose a set of their favourite titles and trade them with another class. Have the other class do the same so that they recommend some titles to your reading group. By bringing both classes together, you can get them actively involved in discussing what they like about each book they have chosen. This also provides an opportunity for pupils to provide feedback on the other group’s choice of books. This proactive communication will ensure your pupils remain interested in the reading group activities; promoting vocal contribution and feedback.

Sound Effects

To introduce an element of fun and imagination to the group try adding sound effects to your read aloud stories. You can assign pupils with character voices or have them make a certain sound when a particular word appears in the text. This will keep your pupils engaged and ensure they are paying attention to the story as you read along. This activity is also entertaining so your pupils will love playing along.

Role Playing and Acting

Sound Effects

In a similar fashion to using sound effects, you can also employ role playing and play acting whilst reading aloud to keep your pupils engaged and entertained. Try dedicating certain characters to individual pupils so that they read the elements of dialogue assigned to them. Rather than just read the dialogue aloud, have them play act the scenes and actions so that the story really comes to life. Again, this will ensure your pupils are paying attention to the storyline and can often promote self-confidence and communication skills in children with low self-esteem. You can even involve dressing up and other methods of creativity, such as interpretative dance, to boost the fun levels of your reading group.

Leave Them Wanting More

It is very important that you do not overwhelm or bore your pupils by having the reading class last too long. How much time you allocate to your class will largely depend on the age and abilities of the children involved. Short and snappy sessions are sure to maintain interest within the group, yet you need to dedicate enough time to it in order to reap the benefits. It is equally important that you leave each session with your children wanting more. A good way of doing this is to stop reading at a very exciting point in your story; for example a cliff hanger is always a good place to end. This will ensure your class is eager to find out the result in the next session. Ending the class on a resolution will bring closure to the session and therefore eradicate any keen interest in the following get-together.

These are just a few ways of ensuring your reading classes remain fun, interesting and engaging. Remember, once a book is complete make it available to the pupils so that they can read it independently. Children usually enjoy hearing a good story as a group, so use this to increase their interest in reading alone.