: Reading for Pleasure Elusive, tantalising-yet teachable. (Part 2)

To recap from part one: a child in your class has chosen a book that interests them and they are surrounded by experts (the reading teachers) who are exuding a love of reading.

It’s a perfect recipe: our prosody and a book they are invested in, create a starting point where those who do not yet see themselves as readers, perhaps even already begin to feel that reading makes them feel bad about themselves, now feel safe. They can join in discussions about what has been read because they are not overloaded with decoding pressure. They are hearing some of the millions of extra-special and rare words that only children who are read to daily hear. They have a chance to glean meaning from what else was read and, because they feel safe, they can ask about the words that you didn’t talk about. You can evince joy and curiosity when encountering new or beautiful language and phrases. You can talk about the pictures that are forming in your own head as you read. And none of this has ​‘work’ attached to it – it is all done purely for the love of it. In our school, this reading time is protected in the timetable because our leadership know the central importance of this part of our offer.

From this still, small space of happiness, you can spread the web of reading pleasure. Now the children see you as someone they can go to for advice on what to read next and, if you know your authors, there’s a much greater chance that you will put the right book into the right hands at the right time. From here, they really do take over. Children talk! Don’t just allow this – encourage and expand it.

Classroom Tweaks

As with any classroom routine, it takes training. But simple, quick tweaks to classroom practice give children a forum to become the reading influencers in the room.

Tweak 1 – now commonplace in our school – reading scrapbooks that the children can choose to take home and create celebratory pages about anything they have enjoyed reading. They have a few minutes under the visualiser to share what they have created and explain why they loved that read.

Tweak 2 – shared reads that get voted for every week. This is common practice in early years and KS1. We’ve adopted it across all year groups for the sheer love of reading. It means that every week you can refresh your offer. Children bring in books from home to be part of the vote and so the joy rolls on. Every book we’ve shared goes into the shared reads box which is often the focus point for at least a couple of children in every book club session.

Tweak 3 – book clubs. These were specified on page 92 of The Reading Framework (DFE, 2023) and we were already offering them, just not giving them a name. So we began naming it and it really helped with the routine setting in class and giving teachers a structure in which to allow bookchat. Once a week it’s ​‘Book Club’. This is when all the classroom non-fiction books / graphic novels / magazines are out to be explored. It might be a time wholly given over to verbal reading recommendations. It might be time for a book blanket / bookwave / book flash, where we all get our books out and see what everyone is reading. It might be a time to buddy up with one of the classes in the other key stage and share stories, or it might simply be in class with the children chatting freely with you and each other about what they are reading and why it’s so good.

Tweak 4 – make it comfy. Bring in cuddly toys and cushions and allow the shoes to come off. As adults, we largely don’t sit upright at a desk to read for pleasure so why expect it of children? We let them get comfy first, then we settle to read.

All this creates a shared, social space where each reader feels safe, respected and they are readers. There is wide anecdotal evidence from parents who affirm that their children are reading more for pleasure when they are provided with the space and guidance.

Things to consider

● What are your children’s current reading habits?

● What does the ​‘Reading for Pleasure’ offer look like in your school?

● Which of the four tweaks would suit your setting or class?