Teachers Talk about Literature

Cover 2 Cover had an unexpected benefit in terms of building up a culture of reading in a school and this is reinforced through articles that I have read.

One of my colleagues was assisting me with Library supervision several weeks ago. They actually leaked out their favourite book to a group of students. The teacher in question was one of those featured in the staff favourite books guessing competition.

I recall that they shared some details about the book and this got the students interested.

The students who took part in the guessing competition themselves and even after the answers were publicly revealed (once winners had collected their prizes) learnt a lot about teachers' reading preferences and I hope it might encourage them to read. If teachers can reveal their reading preferences and share it, it will motivate them to read, whether it is the books featured or other books.

Most importantly, the message conveyed to students was that teachers, even with their busy schedules put time aside to read.

Even I learnt a lot about what my colleagues like to read. I could tell that the books meant something to them.

But in the classroom, what could you do as a teacher to promote reading as a fun activity?

• Find books with storylines that relate to the work being studied in class e.g. The Lord of the Flies is fantastic in reflecting how important having laws are in society. 
• Sharing background information, especially classic novels can be used to relate them to history.
• Share quotes or extracts from books with your class.
• Talk to students about your reading and invite them to share what they read with you.
• Get students to try and identify books or stories that relate to the content studied.
• Share books relating to a specific subject, e.g. Adam Spencer's books on numbers are great for mathematics.

There might be some other ideas. What could you suggest?