Motivating Readers with Authentic Texts

In the past 30 years, schools have seen a drop off in the number of students who enjoy reading.

In 1984 eight percent of 13-year-olds reported that they “never” read for fun. As of 2012, this number has tripled, and 24% of students report that they never voluntarily read during their leisure time.

Independent reading is an important component of any balanced literacy program, but this skill suffers when students don’t find meaning or relevance in the texts they’re shown in school. In this webinar, we’ll explore how districts can motivate and engage readers by incorporating purposeful, real-world texts throughout their ELA curriculum.

During this recorded webinar, we cover the following topics:

• Building reading stamina at a district level
• Identifying informational texts that honor students’ diverse interests, skill levels, and experience
• Leveraging digital media to build excitement around the act of reading