Deck of Cards Activity

A strategy to hold students accountable for reading

Make a deck of cards with choices on them: Good faith, mini quiz, discussion, in-class essay, etc. 1.) The students are assigned a reading for homework 2.) Their fate is left up to chance 3.) Students choose a card at the beginning of class, which designates how they will be tested on their reading 4.) The Good faith or lucky card allows the students to be free from a graded assignment 5.) Always shuffle the cards before allowing the students to choose to keep them guessing

Motivate Students to Read

Resources
The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller Educational Leadership: Becoming a Classroom of Readers by Donalyn Miller

Helpful tips and ideas for Secondary English Teachers from Skyler, Caitlyn, and other experts

Problem
As Secondary English Teachers, we will encounter students who lack the motivation to read. This brochure offers a list of solutions to combat this problem.

They were robots, trudging through the unit and completing the assigned activities

The book is not the problem, the teaching is

Solutions to make students want to read on!

Give Students a Choice
In The Book Whisper, Donalyn Miller believes that giving students the power to choose what they read will motivate them.

Make a Classroom Library

If the teacher creates an atmosphere where reading is encouraged and valued then students will be more likely to want to read in general

Teaching Reading Strategies

Pre-reading
Look at authors background, the cover of the book, history, title, talk about the book like is a movie trailer- if you are excited, your students will be too!

How This Can Work

The role of a teacher is not dictate lessons, but to guide students as they form their own ideas, opinions, and interpretations of literature.

How This Can Work

Free Reading Fridays
The only way to insure students are actually reading is by giving them time in class to read maybe they are behind on the book the class is reading or were absent a day. It gives students a chance to read something other than required texts reading for fun, which seems to be a foreign concept. Students choose a book from the classroom library or one of their own and read for the duration of the day. Give participation points for staying on task by requiring a written brief summary during the last five minutes of class.

Read with a purpose

Asks students to take notes while reading, fill out a study guide, define vocabulary, look for literary devices, use V.I.P. note taking (Very Important Post-it notes)

Techniques
- Readers Notebook: write reading response or thoughts - Book talks instead of book reports: discussion of their reading - Reading Strategy Worksheets - Universal Writing Prompts Applied to ANY book: Theme, character development, audience, symbolism, close reading

Different Kinds of Reading Responses Make Real World Connections Create Reading Groups and Literacy Circles
Focus groups, safe environment to discuss reading, a place to bounce and generate new ideas

Different Ways of Reading

Audiobooks, Reading Aloud, Independent Reading, Popcorn Reading, Act Out Scenes