Reading for pleasure

Reading for pleasure

1. Bullock, A. (1975) The Bullock Report: A Language for Life. London, Her Majesty's Stationery Office. (Cited in: Education in England (2014) The History of Our Schools, Documents. Available: <http://www.educationengland.org.uk/.../bullock1975.html> [Last accessed: 18 February 2014].

   • Main aim of this report is to improve standards of literacy education
   • "It has been said (1) that the best way to prepare the very young child for reading is to hold him on your lap and read aloud to him stories he likes, over and over again. The printed page, the physical comfort and security, the reassuring voice, the fascination of the story: all these combine in the child's mind to identify books as something which hold great pleasure."
   • "Before the child arrives at school he should have learned to look upon books as a source of absorbing pleasure."
   • "...introduce children to books in their pre-school years and to help parents recognise the value of sharing the experience of them with their children."
     • Federation of Children's Book Groups
       • Gives parents information about "supporting and encouraging" their children's reading.
       • "...a national voluntary self-funded organisation whose aim is to promote enjoyment and interest in children’s books and reading and to encourage the availability of books for children of all ages, from first picture books to young adult."
       • "...to nurture a love of reading through the sharing of books with children."
       • "...links with children’s publishers, authors, illustrators and all organisations who support our aim of encouraging children to enjoy, read and share books and stories."
       • Founded in the 1960s by parents with a passion for reading who wanted to pass this onto their children.
       • DCBG. (2012) About. (The Federation of Chilren's Book Groups) Available: <http://www.fcbg.org.uk/about/> [Last accessed 20 February 2014].
   • Other organisations: The Children's Librarian

2. Methods for parents & teachers

   • Working together
   • Finding out what books children like to read
     • Newspapers, picture books, fiction, non-fiction
     • Nothing too difficult: hinders comprehension + enjoyment
       • Children know themselves when to move up a level
   • Books/technology going hand in hand
   • Books suiting specific genders - caution/flexibility though; not set in stone
     • A teacher who promotes reading for pleasure shouldn't "make gender-based assumptions about reading".
       • Allan, J. Ellis, S. & Pearson, C.. (2006). Why reading engagement matters. (Literature Circles, Gender and Reading for Enjoyment.) Available <http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/11/SRLitCir> [Last accessed: 20 February 2014].
   • Enjoyment through the teaching of reading
     • Group reading
     • Silent Reading
       • Extending Beginning Reading Project 1981 project
         • Not enough time spent reading in school to develop enjoyment in reading.
     • Literature circles
       • Remembering things they liked/disliked (genres)
       • Develop understanding of what they read
       • Reccommendations
     • Paired reading
       • A book of their choice
   • Seeing adults enjoying reading

3. Role of the library

4. Rose Review

   • http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/assets/0000/1175/Rose_Review.pdf

5. CfE

   • "Children who say that they enjoy reading and who read for pleasure in their own time do better in school."
     • Allan, J. Ellis, S. & Pearson, C. (2006). Why reading engagement matters. (Literature Circles, Gender and Reading for Enjoyment.) Available <http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/11/SRLitCir> [Last accessed: 20 February 2014].
   • "a wider general knowledge (Wells, 1986), a better understanding of other cultures (Meek, 1991) and more complex insights regarding human nature, motivations and decision-making (Cunningham & Stanovich, 1998; Bruner 1996)."
   • "because reading develops vocabulary, general knowledge and verbal reasoning skills, avid readers perform better across the whole curriculum, outperforming peers with the same basic cognitive ability but who read less widely. (Cunningham and Stanovich, 1998)."
   • "engagement results from a coherent curriculum, which builds intrinsic motivation to read, creates a physical and social environment for reading, provides instruction about strategic reading and comprehension and provides sufficient pupil choice in all areas of reading (Guthrie and Wigfield, 2000)."
   • "OFSTED (2004) reports that teachers who successfully produce avid readers regularly read novels to the class; offer pupils a wide range of reading materials; regularly discuss books and give pupils, including those who struggle with reading, the freedom to choose their own books."
   • "They actively promote reading in a variety of ways and intervene quickly to build both self-esteem and skills when children experience difficulties."

6. OECD PISA

   • Reading for enjoyment is positively associated with reading attainment and with writing ability (OECD, 2000)
     • "The Assessment of Achievement Programme shows that girls in Scotland are performing consistently better than boys in reading and writing at P4 and at P7." (OECD, 2000)
   • Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2011) In Focus 8. (PISA.) Available: http://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisaproducts/pisainfocus/48624701.pdf. [Last accessed: 21 February 2014].
     • The challenge for parents and educators is to instill a sense of pleasure in reading by providing reading materials that students find interesting and relevant