Teaching Students HOW to Read at Home

In school, we all have a fairly structured reading time.  A time when students know when they should be reading, what they should be reading and where they should be reading.

But, what happens when they get home?  That structure isn’t always there.  Students may struggle with how to read a book at home.  It’s important to guide students and explicitly teach how they should be reading once they leave the school building.

Want to watch or listen to this information? Check out my YouTube video about Helping Students Read at Home:

It is such a sweet story that lays out the process of becoming a reader, making it the perfect read-aloud! Read it aloud all the way through with your students once.   Then go back through the story to brainstorm ideas for each step with your students.

1. Find a story

• Where do you find books?
• What types of books do you like?
• What makes a good story?

2. Find a reading buddy

• Who do you enjoy reading with?
• Who is someone you know that reads a lot?
• If you could read with anyone, who would it be?
• Who could read to you?
• Who could you read to?

3. Find a cozy reading spot

• Think about your house, where would be a comfortable place to sit and enjoy a book?
• Would you rather read inside or outside?
• Where else can we enjoy books?

The story then goes into 7 more steps on how to bring story elements to life, such as asking questions and changing your voice for different characters.  These are things you are modeling every day in your class!

Create an anchor chart together.  Have each student write down their own answers so that they can bring it home to share with their family.

Encourage Reading at Home

It doesn’t stop there though!  Continue to encourage students to read at home throughout the year:

• Bring in photos of yourself reading at home.  Ask kids to bring in photos of themselves reading in their favorite spot (or secretly ask parents to send them in!).  Hang them up around the room!
• Allow time for students to share not only what they read, but who they read with and where.  This is a great conversation for morning meetings!
• Talk with your class about how they can connect books to real-life activities such as cooking, games, traveling, etc.
• Have conversations with your students about books – which ones you are reading, the books that you like and even the ones that you didn’t enjoy.
• Ask them for suggestions of what to read next.  They’ll be so excited to share book titles with you!

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