As part of our celebration of National Reading Month, Education.com is sharing free reading resources each week in March. With specially curated stories for each grade level, this is the perfect time to explore the magic of books and celebrate the joys of reading.
For more ideas to inspire a love for literature, check out these fun and easy ways to incorporate National Reading Month in your classroom.
Boost reading comprehension with leveled books
Not only should we encourage children to read more, but we should also make sure they understand the words they’re reading. Help young readers develop fundamental literacy skills and foster a love for reading by choosing the right books! While a few new words in a text can help expand their vocabulary, too much of a challenge can hinder their reading comprehension.
Education.com’s leveled books are written to support various reading abilities and help students find their perfect reading level! Ranging from Pre-K to 2nd-grade levels, these leveled books are a collection of the same stories written at different degrees of difficulty. If kids find a story too challenging or too easy, they can read the text at another level.
Encourage children to write their own stories
Get your students excited about books by helping them bring their imaginations to life through writing their own stories! If kids are having a hard time sitting down and writing, encourage them to write about topics they enjoy, whether that’s sports or video games.
Additionally, consider a writing contest for children who thrive on competition and challenges. To celebrate Reading Month, Education.com is hosting a Story Challenge in March for young authors to submit their original pieces! Winners will be featured on our site and win one year of an Education.com Premium membership.
Create a reading challenge
Contests are a great way to keep kids engaged in their learning! They tap into our innate desire for competition and gamify the learning process. Naturally, a reading challenge can motivate your students to read more and allow them to have fun along the way.
Here are some quick tips for launching a successful learning contest:
- Set goals and a clear timeline. How many pages should kids aim to read? When do you want to complete the challenge?
- Is planning a competition too much to do alone? Consider getting more educators involved to make it a grade-wide or school-wide contest.
- Visually track progress to encourage students to reach, or surpass, their goals.
- Fuel the competition by including exciting prizes, such as a field trip or ice cream party!
Engage your students with novel studies
Instead of giving your students independent reading assignments, invite them to participate in an interactive reading experience. Using a novel study with your entire class or a group of students can build community and develop a love for reading. Throughout a novel study, learners can enjoy the benefits of lively discussion, authentic vocabulary development, and exposure to experiences outside their daily realities.
If you’re unfamiliar with implementing novel studies, Education.com’s new novel study worksheets can help! Designed by experienced educators, these resources will minimize your prep work and let you focus on supporting students’ critical thinking and literacy skills. Each set includes a pre-reading worksheet, discussion guides, various post-reading activities, and a link to a novel-specific vocabulary list from our friends at Vocabulary.com. Take your class through an engaging read on The Giver by Lois Lowry, Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery, or The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate.
