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You are here: Home / All categories / Getting Kids to Read Longer

Getting Kids to Read Longer

August 29, 2016 • 9 Comments

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An easy reading tip for getting kids to read longer and stay motivated to read.

Getting kids to read longer is a goal of many parents and teachers.  In this post, we share one idea that will help to motivate children to read.

Have you ever tried to diet? Each week or maybe every day, we step on the scale to measure our progress and hope that we lost more than the day before.  If you are like me, I shed the shoes, and jewelry, and jacket if I’m not feeling overly confident of my success for the week.

An easy reading tip for getting kids to read longer and stay motivated to read.

Helping kids develop a stamina for reading is a lot like this dieting process.  Kids have to be motivated to read longer.  They need to see their success on a regular basis just like we need to see that number on the scale go in the downward direction each time we step on it.

Eventually, kids will build a reading endurance and that success will internally power them to read more.  It’s similar to the point our bodies get to when we start craving the healthy foods over the sugar packed bag of M&Ms.

But, I don’t start craving salads every day for lunch overnight.  I have to do it one cherry tomato at a time.  Let’s help kids build reading stamina one minute at a time.

BEAT YOUR TIME ACTIVITY

a tip for motivating kids to read

Materials Needed:  Beat Your Time Sheet (free printable down below), timer, marker or crayon

Introduce the Beat Your Time Sheet.  Explain to your child that he will track the time he reads each day.  The stopwatch function on a cell phone works well for this.

Each day after a period of timed reading, he should record the number of minutes read in the next box on the sheet.

Compare the number to the day before.  If the time is longer than the day before, color in the box.  Yay, the time was beaten from the previous day.

Continue trying to beat the time each day.  Every time a record is broken, color in the new box.

After 30 days, reflect on how much progress has been made and celebrate (maybe with a trip to the bookstore!)

Variation

-Instead of each child tracking and beating a reading record, use the sheet for tracking family read aloud time.  See how long you can read together as a family!

Ready to start?  Download the sheet below and start reading.  Don’t forget it’s one cherry tomato at a time or in this case one page of a book at a time.

DOWNLOAD THE BEAT YOUR RECORD SHEET

P.S. Would you like to meet the needs of ALL your growing readers?  Join our email list for literacy resources and book recommendations.

 

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9 Comments Filed Under: All categories, Learning to Read Tagged With: reading tip

About Jodie Rodriguez

Jodie Rodriguez is a mom of two young boys and an early childhood/elementary educator with over 20 years of experience. Jodie's passion is helping parents, teachers, librarians and anyone else interested in nurturing and reaching ALL of our youngest growing readers.

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  1. Hamad says

    September 5, 2016 at 2:44 pm

    Great idea. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  2. malathy says

    September 5, 2016 at 2:43 am

    I live this idea. Going to try with k2 and the grde ones. Thankyou

    Reply
    • Jodie Rodriguez says

      September 5, 2016 at 7:36 am

      Hope you have lots of success with it.

      Reply
  3. Anna says

    September 4, 2016 at 5:49 am

    I love your tip for getting kids to read longer, Jodie! My kids love using a timer. I’ll have to try this with my first grader.

    Reply
    • Jodie Rodriguez says

      September 4, 2016 at 5:54 am

      Thank you Anna!

      Reply
  4. Kate @ Mom's Radius says

    September 1, 2016 at 12:50 pm

    Thanks so much for sharing this! I am going to use it with my 1st grader. He is supposed to be reading 30 minutes a day by the second semester, and we struggle with even 5 minutes sometimes. I think this will really help!

    Reply
    • Jodie Rodriguez says

      September 3, 2016 at 8:45 pm

      I’m so glad it will be helpful Kate.

      Reply
  5. Dominic Adams says

    August 29, 2016 at 10:23 am

    What a wonderful plan! Look forward to sharing your ideas! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Jodie Rodriguez says

      August 30, 2016 at 6:15 am

      You are so welcome Dominic.

      Reply

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