A New Page for the Authors of Tomorrow
Whether you’re young or old, male or female, classic novel enthusiast or beach holiday reader, there’s no doubting the importance that literature plays in all of our lives. Most importantly, the ability to be able to read your chosen text and equally, understand it to the level required.
Like many things in life, our abilities improve over time and with regular practise, commitment and crucially, nurturing and support, we can master any challenge presented.
For young children, learning to read is one such challenge.
Anna Page, English Co-ordinator and Year 3 Class Teacher at St. Luke’s C of E Primary School, Formby, explained, “Seeing children’s love of reading blossom, is one of my favourite parts of being a teacher and the earlier that they’re surrounded by it: being read to and with, looking at illustrations and beginning to read independently; the sooner their understanding and passion for it will flourish.”
So, here’s the important question: how do we plant the seed? How do we ignite a fire that will burn brightly? How do we inspire the love of reading in young children?
Fiona Govan, Deputy Headteacher at St. Luke’s, said, “It’s one of those questions that we continuously look to review as we strive to find exciting and innovative ways to introduce children to reading from a young age. We want it to be interesting, but we also want to ensure that we help them to learn the skills that they need to be able to read independently. Interestingly, we’ve found that we’ve needed to adapt our strategies when approaching reading with boys and it’s had some wonderful results.”
One of the strategies that St. Luke’s have begun to introduce to inspire the next generation of Orwells and Tolkiens has been done through their ‘Buddies’. (A programme in which classes from different year groups are partnered and children are given a ‘Buddy’ with whom they regularly spend time with.)
Carl Ayre, Year 5 Class Teacher, said, “Our class is partnered with another in Year 1 and the children love spending time with each other, so we decided to use this as an ideal opportunity to focus on reading: girls being inspired by girls and boys being inspired by boys; and it’s proved a great success.”
During one ‘Buddy Time’, the boys from Year 1 were invited by their counterparts in Year 5 to a ‘Book and a Biscuit Afternoon’, which saw them bring their favourite book to school and share it over a biscuit on a sunny Friday afternoon. The children: sat together, read together, were read to and spoke of why they like the book that importantly, they chose to share.
Allowing children to choose what they’d like to read is crucial as it provides them with real ownership and a genuine feeling of accomplishment. As adults, we expect to have choice in every part of our lives, so we should provide our children with the same.
Sharon Cowey, Headteacher at St. Luke’s, said, “Providing children with the opportunities and time to choose, read and enjoy books is incredibly important. For our boys especially and we’ve taken this into account by organising a plethora of visits by male authors such as Stephen Cole (who has continued the Young Bond series), so that they can meet and hear authors who are seen as positive male role-models in their lives.”
At one time or another, we’ve all looked at another person as a role-model, but to young boys, they can almost be viewed as superhero type characters: dads, grandads, uncles, brothers and teachers. In providing them with positive male-role models, many ambitions can be achieved including inspiring their love of books.
On a recent visit to a local Formby Pre School (Pine Pixies), Carl Ayre chose to share one of his favourite books, Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers, with the children during story time.
He said, “It was a wonderful experience! It was lovely to read to children of that age (2 – 3) and I’m sure that some of the children will have found a new favourite. As a teacher, I think it’s important that we inspire our up and coming readers: both boys and girls.”
So, what are you waiting for? With the endless variety of books out there by such colourful and exciting authors and illustrators, there’s a new favourite for everybody.
You never know, you could inspire and ignite the flame in a star of tomorrow.
Top tips for inspiring young readers
• Give them time and opportunities to choose their own books
• Introduce them to a variety of books of different types and authors
• Be a positive role model by modelling reading
• Visit your local library, book shops and take them to book readings and signings
Useful websites to visit
Book Trust – A non-profit organisation, which provides services such as online book recommendations.
www.booktrust.org.uk
Waterstones – The British book retailer has stores nationwide, but is also an excellent online resource.
www.waterstones.com