From a very young age, I adored being read to. My parents always had a wide range of children’s books which they would read to us each night before bed. One of my fondest memories is listening to my Dad read a story and putting on the most outrageous voices for each character. I distinctly remember him reading Cinderella and using a thick Dublin accent each time Cinderella spoke- leaving us hanging on his every word and loving every minute. This instilled a love of reading in us from a young age.

What am I getting at?

The BEST resource you can use to promote a love of reading in your students is YOU! Sometimes we get caught up in buying all of these “quick fix promoting reading” resources that may work for a few weeks, but tend to lose effect. This strategy is simple, free and guaranteed to grip the children in whatever text you’re reading.

Below I’ll list some tips that I’ve been trying with my lot and I can honestly say, read-aloud time is one of their favourite parts of the day.

Choose a text you KNOW they’ll like

Either base it off your knowledge of children’s books OR take a look at these Reading Spines by Pie Corbett for some guidance. I genuinely think it’s one of the most “go to” lists when it comes to choosing quality texts according to age groups. There’s no point in reading a book for the sake of it. I always base my choosing of a book off this: if I like it, they’ll like it.

We tend to put more enthusiasm/passion into texts we actually like ourselves, so go with your gut. Choose a text that YOU love, and that’ll be a very good starting point in promoting a love of reading amongst your class. Click below for links to some of these recommended books. Or here to see about choosing engaging extracts.

Change your voice for different characters

This is something that sounds so obvious, BUT it may be something that’s forgotten sometimes. It makes the story come to LIFE if you change your voices for the different characters. The children seem to love it when I do a grumpy-Mr Twit style voice for certain characters. Or a withered, old lady for an elderly person. It makes it so much more life-like when the voice you’re doing, matches the character.

I am a shy person outside my classroom, but when reading to my class, I genuinely feel I need to buy myself a stage. I change the:

• volume
• pace
• accent

of my voice depending on what type of character is in question. If YOU love it, THEY’LL love it. You just have to make it come to life and express genuine love of reading yourself- you’ll have them hooked in no time.

Set aside time every day for your read-aloud

Add it into the children’s daily timetable, even if it’s only for 10 minutes. Make a habit of reading to them every single day and express excitement when this time comes around. You’ll have some initially that’ll moan and groan when it’s read-aloud time, but be consistent. I choose to read to my class every day when they come in from lunch. It immediately settles them down and I usually begin by exaggerating how excited I am to “relax and read some more of our exciting novel”. “My favorite part of the day” I tell them.

I think at this stage, I’ve convinced myself it’s my favorite part of the day. I love it! I’m really seeing the children lighten up and giggle at parts when we read and that to me is the best. When reading the Twits, some of them simply couldn’t WAIT to hear what tricks were coming next from Mr and Mrs Twit, so they went out and BOUGHT the book themselves. THAT is a love of reading creeping in.

Yes, there are dozens of promoting Reading activities and displays I could link you to, but that’s not the angle I wish to come from with this post. The best resource for promoting reading in your classroom is something money cannot buy, and that’s YOU. Begin inspiring them through your own love of reading to them and they will follow suit, for the most part. The pretty, engaging displays can come later when you have them hooked in- but start with the basics and “do the voices”.

*Amazon links are AF.