Getting children Motivated about Reading

One of the biggest things I learned about literacy this year was about the way to help children get motivated to read. We read an article on reading self efficacy; from this article I learned that we should be "providing [children] with high-quality children's literature and increasing opportunities for reading both at school and at home." (Gambrell,1996, p17) For me this is a great way to motivate children to be literate and increase their motivation because if we give our children good books to read and the time to read, then children are obviously going to be more likely to read. The article went along to say that, "One of the key factors in motivating students to read is a teacher who values reading and is enthusiastic about sharing a love of reading with students." (Gambrell, 1996, p20) Having a role model who loves to read is incredibly important to fostering a love of reading in children. Many children may not have this kind of role model in their homes. So if these children haven't before had a role model who likes to read, they may be swayed by a teacher who professes her love of literature. It is incredibly important for a teacher to be excited about all of the subjects that she teaches, but when a teacher shares her love of reading the children will be motivated to try it out for themselves. Because the child will be curious the child will be motivated to learn to read and try to find enjoyment in it. We can also be excited as parents or other parental figures in the lives of children by modeling good reading behavior, and sharing and vocalizing our positive thoughts about reading with children. I learned that it is our responsibility as learned adults to foster this love of reading and literacy in the children around us.