Blogging A to Z: Join a Book Club
Peer pressure is definitely something that can be tapped into (in a good way!) when it comes to reluctant readers. Find a book club in the area for your reluctant readers and their friends. Because if everyone else is reading, won’t your reluctant reader want to as well?
Find a book club at a local library, book store, or maybe even through school. It might take some asking around to find one that fits your reader’s interests and schedule. Not all book clubs are created equal, so it’s okay to try different ones until you find the right fit. Some book clubs are going to be more structured with specific questions to answer and books to read. While you might find others to be more relaxed and allow readers to follow the flow of conversation to see what comes up. A good book discussion will encourage readers to read even more!
Create Your Own
If you can’t find a local book club – create one of your own! A book club isn’t very difficult to pull together. Start off by inviting some friends over, have plenty of food, and then, talk books. Some book clubs all read the same title and answer questions about it. Others read in the same genre, but read a book of their own choosing and share what they like and dislike about each title. No matter how you go about creating your own book club, always make sure there are yummy snacks and a leader to keep the conversation going.
Reluctant readers may be, well, reluctant to attend a book club meeting if they don’t consider themselves readers. But, most book clubs are filled with book-loving people who want to talk about books with other people. Encourage your reluctant reader to take a friend along for moral support, the more the merrier!
For the month of April, I’ll be sharing tips for reaching reluctant readers as part of the Blogging A to Z Challenge. There are dozens of reasons why a child might be considered a “reluctant reader.” As summer nears, continued reading practice helps students to keep the reading skills they learned while reading for fun. But, that’s not easy when a child doesn’t want to sit down and read. I’ll be sharing 26 tips to meet reluctant readers where they are. And hopefully find a way to make reading bearable, if not even something they want to do!
