How to Connect Reading Improvement to Real Life
Students know they have to read in school so they can learn new information, master new skills and progress to the next grade. Many kids develop a love for books and become avid readers; others only read when required. This latter group is the one that has the most difficulty realizing the importance of reading in their everyday lives, especially when they become adults. With some creative classroom activities, teachers can demonstrate how reading is connected to the real world, which may motivate unenthusiastic students to improve their reading skills.
Instructions
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Make young children aware of all they can learn through reading. ReadingRockets.org suggests that teachers pair text with experience. For example, prior to a field trip, pass out brochures or information sheets from the site the class will visit. Have students read them several times before the visit. They should be getting eager for the trip to occur. As they became more fluent, they comprehend more about where they were going and what they will experience.On the day of the last reading, talk to the students about how their level of excitement increased every time they read the brochures.
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Engage older students in activities that emphasize the importance of reading every day. TeachNet.com suggests that teachers get students to bring items to class that they read outside of school and display them on a bulletin board in the room. These items might be cereal boxes, TV guides or menus. This demonstrates to middle and high school students that becoming a better reader can impact even seemingly incidental, everyday actions.
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Point out practical advantages of reading improvement. Get job applications from local businesses and have students complete them in class. They can use fictional information for work history and education portions. Do not assist the class while they are completing the applications. During the next few class sessions, call students to your desk. Go over the application with each one as if you are interviewing them for a job using their written information. If there are incomplete statements or answers that indicate misunderstanding, stop to clarify, then emphasize that poor comprehension may cause them to make a negative impression on their prospective employer resulting in failure to get the job.
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Demonstrate to students how reading for pleasure can help them build vocabulary. Have each student research a topic of personal interest like a favorite singer or movie star. They can read magazine articles or access the Internet. Instead of writing a report on what they learned, they will write at least five words they encountered that are unfamiliar to them and write the definitions. Reluctant readers will see that they can learn from non-academic texts.
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Send students on a virtual trip to a specific destination in the U.S. Instruct them to use Internet map searches or atlases to determine the most expedient route from their current location. Have each student write a summary of directions compiled from their research. This will prevent them from simply copying turn-by-turn directions used by sites like MapQuest. Have students bring their summaries to class and swap with a classmate to determine if they could find their way to the targeted place without major difficulty. This activity helps students learn comprehension strategies they can use outside school.
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Tips & Warnings
Teachers can also use college applications to connect reading and real world experiences.
