Reading Activities

Some ideas to get your students interested in reading!

Judge a Book by Its Cover
Before reading a book as a class, show your students a picture of the cover on an overhead.  Have them work in groups or independently to deduce what the book is about by just the information on the cover.  This will get them excited about reading the book (Was I right in my prediction?  What is  this about?).  Also, it will help them work on their predicting and inference skills. 

Anticipation Guide
Provide your students with several controversial statements related to the book you are about to start reading.  Ask students to respond to each in a yes or no format.  These will be difficult statements, like "The death penalty is a just punishment for murder" or "It is never okay to lie."  This is a sure way to generate conversation in your classroom, and a good introduction to themes or topics in the book.  While reading, students can look back at this guide and see how their thoughts change or develop. 

Poetry
Have your students write poems about the books they read.  These can be from their perspective or through the eyes of a character.  This will help them make the story their own, connect and understand themes, and allow them to be creative. 

Ending Re-Write
Let your students know that it's okay to dislike the end of a book!  Have them rewrite the end in a way that they feel works better with the novel.  In this way they are showing they are fully comprehending the plot, characters, and themes of the novel and they are showing their ability to form a conclusion based on inferences made during reading.

Never-Mailed Letters
With this activity, students write letters to characters in the book about the character's actions or behavior.  Students may write as themselves or as another character in the novel.  This is a way of really getting to the heart of characterization and allowing students to show their creative voices.  A variation on this is to write a letter to the author of the novel and actually mail it.  If a student really enjoyed a book, they can show their appreciation for it by writing a letter of praise to the author. 

Sketch to Stretch
Here, students work in groups to create an illustration that best encompasses the themes or conflicts of a novel.  This helps them to visualize and to work with their classmates to form tangible thoughts and opinions about the reading.

Some main pointers in exciting your students

• get them up and moving--sitting in their seats (though sometimes a necessity) is boring! They will be much more likely to participate if you move them around, even if it's just to move them into groups

• use group work--if students can discuss their reading with peers they will be able to help each other even more than you can

• be creative! try new things and don't be afraid to make mistakes.

• have fun!  this means you as well as your students!  a key to keep in mind: if you're not enjoying yourself, your students probably are not either.