Presentation given at SLA one-day conference "Reading for Excellence", 14th November 2014

1. Prue Goodwin pruegoodwin@btinternet.com
Literacy Unlimited
Creating Readers
SLA one day conference
Friday 14 November

2. School Library Association
SLA Guidelines
Creating Readers: A
Reflective Guide for
School Librarians and
Teachers
www.sla.org.uk

3. A common cause
• Teachers, parents, librarians, authors,
publishers, journalists and even politicians
want pupils to read for pleasure.
In fact, reading for pleasure is now in the
national curriculum.

4. Reading for pleasure in the curriculum
• develop a love of literature through widespread
reading for enjoyment
• develop the habit of reading widely and often for
both pleasure and information
• appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
• establish an appreciation and love of reading
• open up a treasure-house of wonder and joy for
curious young minds. Primary NC 2013 page13
• Make sure pupils engage in reading for pleasure
and information. NCEF: Curriculum change review 2014

5. Pupils should:
• be expected to read for pleasure and
information
• develop an appreciation and love of reading
independently
• read a wide range of fiction and non-fiction
• choose and read books independently for
challenge, interest and enjoyment.
English PoS Ks3 2013

6. What are the pleasures of reading?
• Getting totally lost in a book
• Being emotionally engaged with the text
• Becoming absorbed in an unfolding narrative;
needing to know what happens next
• Being fascinated by information on an intriguing
topic
• Anticipating enjoyment from reading - both
words and the images
• Talking to other readers – informally or in
organised book groups
• Being inspired by books (response).

7. … further, deeper, greater pleasures of
being a life-long reader?
• Having a close relationship with certain texts
for life
• Turning to a page that you know will provide
you with excitement, challenge, truth,
comfort or delight
• Seeing literature as the means by which we
can understand and accept ourselves and the
rest of humanity.

8. Teaching reading
Where does reading for pleasure
fit into the curriculum?

9. Learning to read: two aspects to organise
throughout school years
• Teaching reading – the active intervention by
teachers to introduce and develop all aspects
of reading and becoming a reader
• Individual development – provision of
individual support to all pupils by making
strategic interventions in their individual
understanding and in their book choices.

10. Developmental stages
Early stages – learning to decode print
and seek meanings from texts.
Transition – increasing
reading skills, literary
experience and
independence.
Independent - sustained reading
for pleasure and enlightenment.

11. Becoming a student
• Educational demands dominate
reading requirements.
• Encouraging reading for pleasure
tends to depend more on librarians
than on teachers.
• Reading books for pleasure is
in competition with technology
and social development.

12. Creating readers who read for pleasure
Teaching
• Reading aloud from a
variety of texts
• ‘Getting lost in a book’
starts when we read aloud
to pupils
– introduces books and
literary language
– increases literary
experience
– models how meanings
are lifted from the page.
Independent reading
Pupils become readers when
they can read with ease
• are engaged by the materials
on offer
• are not discouraged by poor
design of text or unnecessary
complexity of language
• are not being assessed on
what they have read
• are engaged in genuine
response with other readers.

13. Becoming independent
• In primary school, individual growth as a reader is
usually related to materials known
as ‘reading books’. (What is the purpose of
‘reading books’ in primary classrooms?)
• In secondary schools pupils have a variety of
experiences (reading for homework, library
sessions etc.) but are seldom given timetabled
time to read independently. Librarians offer
greatest support in facilitating reading for
pleasure in school. (What time during the school
day do librarians get to encourage it?)

14. What is the purpose of reading for pleasure (i.e.
independent reading) in school?
• To experience enjoyment and success; to be made
aware of how rewarding and fulfilling it is to be lost
in a book.
• To practise and enhance reading skills
To gain confidence in growing ability, feeling
independent and in control
To develop stamina as a reader
To increase literary experience
To begin to feel and behave like a reader.
The many pupils who do not experience pleasure in
school are unlikely to become readers.

15. Reading with ease …
• … gradually shifts the pleasure of reading from
performance to content
• … enables understanding beyond the literal as
the decoding skills do not detract from meaning
making
• … allows readers to experience being ‘lost in a
book’ as reading is as fluent as possible
• … introduces books and language which
stretches children’s literary experience, thinking
skills, imaginative ideas and vocabulary
• … accelerates their growing ability as readers.

16. Ask yourself why am I doing this?
How does it help create readers?
What made me a reader?
• read aloud to pupils from texts you love
• offer them accessible (easy) texts for
independent reading
• model ‘readerly’ behaviours
• have conversations about reading & books
• teach them how to select for pleasure

17. Remember that person, book or
situation that made you a reader?
Can you provide a significant
moment for your pupils?

18. We cannot make
youngsters read for
pleasure.
But by reading aloud to them, using high
quality texts for teaching and providing
accessible books for independent
reading we can offer significant moments
in the reading lives of our pupils.