This is one of a series of thought pieces from the Literacy and English team at Education Scotland.  In this one, Helen Fairlie discusses some well-known research about reading for pleasure from the National Literacy Trust.

The lead up to Book Week Scotland seems like a good time to consider how we motivate learners to read independently for their own enjoyment.  An equally important question for me, though, is why does the amount that we read for enjoyment make such a big difference to our learning?

This paper was published by the National Literacy Trust in 2006, however the research that it refers to still tells us a lot about the difference that reading for pleasure makes to our progress in literacy, as well as revealing a lot about how motivation to read works.

Get involved and join the conversation!

Please read the research, consider your own practice and what happens in your establishment.

Some questions to consider…

• Do you recognise the benefits of reading for pleasure (p.8) in the learners that you work with?
• Rewards and motivation – Do reward schemes have a positive or negative impact on young readers’ motivation?
• Have cultural changes and technological advances changed children’s attitudes to reading? Are there ways to work with this?

Join the conversation on our Literacy community.

Find out how to get or update your Glow membership – How do I get a Glow login?

To find out more about Book Week Scotland (23rd to 29th November, 2015) go to the Scottish Book Trust website.