Supporting my students to continue (or start) to love reading is such an important part of my job as a teacher librarian. It’s the joy of a student coming back to tell me how much they loved a book I recommended and they need another one. The joy of a student who thanks me for finding and purchasing books in a format that work for her, when no one has taken that time before. It’s having a group of students with stacks of books, sharing and laughing and telling each other they must absolutely read this one first. It’s a student who asks for something a little different and can find what they are interested in on our shelves. It’s seeing a student with a stack of diverse books, unique and perfect for them.
Seeing my students grow and develop as readers is such an enormous pleasure and privilege.
But not all students feel this joy. Not all students identify as readers. In fact, I’ve struggled for years with classes who predominantly say they don’t like reading, or recount stories of reading trauma. So my mission and focus this year is on building our identity as readers. And changing the language from something that’s negative – I hate reading, I’m not a reader – to something a little more open, more accepting.
Over semester 1, with both my Year 7 and 8 classes, tucked neatly between sessions on research and recording skills, fable, First Nations Knowledge stories, and library orientation, we’ve been talking about who we are as readers.
I am the kind of reader who…..
I start students with a statement to complete. I am the kind of reader who….. Their statement must be positive and I share with them how I’d answer. I am the kind of reader who loves romance and mystery. I am the kind of reader who love standalone titles and short series and duologies and why that is. I am the kind of reader who loves books that hook me in, with likeable characters, with twists. I’m the kind of reader who has fallen in love with graphic novels and now verse novels. I am the kind of reader who used to read a lot, 150+ books a year and now just reads a few. I am the kind of reader who loves to flip through a beautiful non-fiction book.
I then ask students to complete their own responses. Some groups I’ve asked them to do this verbally, sharing with those around them. Some we’ve done it on separate pieces of paper and some have completed pages in their library journals. They are allowed and encouraged to draw, make lists, create graphic representations, put as much detail as they want.
The response from students has been amazing. The discussions have been incredible. Yes, there are a few students who still want to write “I don’t read”, but I challenge them. What would make you like reading? Do the books need to have pictures? Short chapters? Not many words on the page?.
I’ve learnt so much about my students through this process. I’ve learnt that some love short chapters and others like long. I’ve had amazing discussions about verse novels and so many students have wanted to borrow them. I’ve learn that some students are dyslexic and need books with a different font or more spaced out lines. It has been an incredible discussion opener.
Reading identity
We then start to talk more about what a reading identity is. This is sometimes in the same session or sometimes another one, depending on what other content I need to cover in our sessions and how engaged the students are. In this, we talk about how all reading is good reading. I talk about how reading might change depending on mood, interest, and current timing, whether we need something that’s easy and familiar or more of a challenge. I reinforce that we are all good readers. And that might look different for all of us. I reiterate that formats we prefer differ, some of us enjoy audiobooks, others prose novels and it’s all good reading. We talk about needing books in different fonts, different colours, different sizes, finding the right book for our brain and something that catches our interest. I’m being very open with the students and it’s amazing how open they are being in response. Now, when we move to browsing and finding books, the selection process is far more intentional.
Getting to know me as a reader –
For my Year 8 students, I’ve also been asking them to complete a reading identity sheet. I’ve noticed that Year 8 is when that love of reading really starts to decline, so asking them some simple questions gives me lots of information to help them. Things like getting a rating of how they feel about reading, now, in the past and want to in the future. What books they might have enjoyed and I tell them that this might be a recent read or it could be Billie B Brown or Pig The Pug from when they were younger. We talk about genres and formats, the difference and how all of them counts as really good reading. And the last box is all about what interests them, nothing to do with reading.
With these forms, I then encourage students to start browsing for books using this as a guide. They might like to try and format or genre they know they like. They might revisit a book they once enjoyed. They might like to search up on the catalogue one of their interests. This information helps me and I’m seeing how it helps them to be more aware of their likes and interests and connecting that to reading.
Keeping a record
I’m also starting to ask my Year 7 students to keep a record of what they are reading. I’ve seen one English teacher do this with her year 7s for a few years now, it’s their only English homework. Read for pleasure and then write a very short response about what they’ve been reading. She reads them during our lessons and responds to them with questions and comments. I love it. And I see how it gives her classes more structure, more ownership and more routine with their reading and as a result, those classes maintain their reading patterns.
It’s hard to replicate this with all classes as I only see them once a fortnight, but it’s something I’m starting to introduce. We’ve started by talking about authentic ways to record and track reading. I’ve shared my reviews, my Goodreads lists. I’ve shown them pictures of reading journals. And then we practice making a reflection on a book we’ve read recently, just something simple like the title and author, a rating and then something about the book. Some students used the pictures I showed them as inspiration and drew pretty bookshelves and empty book covers to start to fill out.
Some classes prefer writing about what they’ve read and some are social groups, who love to chat, so I tailor what we do for each group.
We then start to create recommendations and book lists. I show them how to make a list on the library catalogue and we all contribute to a class list – Year 7R’s Top Recommended Books and these are shared on the Library homepage and newsletter.
Some teachers run with the idea and then create a class recommended reads poster for their classroom.
It’s all about building the discussion around reading and recognising the differences in our reading identities.
Final notes
It’s exciting and it’s creating a buzz with my students. It leaves me feeling so full of joy when a class leaves the library with armfuls of books and chatting about what they are reading.
There are other classes that are a struggle, more of a challenge and already far more disengaged with reading. But we are working to support them all and I hope these little routines and discussion help.
Grab the slides and templates
I’ve made a special edition copy of these slides for you to grab, edit and use.
Grab the getting to know me worksheet