If your students are not very adept at selecting books they can read and want to read it may simply indicate that they are relatively unpracticed at this activity. So help them by blessing 3 or 4 books every day. Blessing books is easy. Just hold up the book and tell the readers something about the book. Perhaps read a page or two aloud to allow them to hear what the book sounds like.
~Richard Allington
I LOVE to bless books. I love to hold up books I've just bought at thrift stores or unearthed from a cupboard or box in my classroom. Or when books arrive from book clubs.
I also read to and with my students every day. It is the one thing I will never let go. I know (as you do) that this is SOOO important for young readers. One way I bless books is with the little shelf of books that I read aloud during the school year. Kids desperately want to read those books, but I just say, "I'm sorry--those are my only copy, and I can't lone them out!" And just like any forbidden fruit, those are by far the most requested books when the bookmobile visits our school.
I have recommended lots of books over the past couple years here. If you click on the tag "books," you'll find these. Warning: These are not just books I recommend for 4th graders. It will be obvious. Use your discretion.
What quick strategies do you use to encourage readers, especially the reluctant one?
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