Samantha 0:00
Creating a strong culture of reading in your classroom can feel like a daunting task. But today’s episode will walk you through a couple of actionable steps you can take to get started. Buckle up joyful readers, you’re not going to want to miss this one.

Samantha 0:54
Hello, and welcome back to creating joyful readers. Today we’re talking about creating a strong culture of reading. Wherever you are, doesn’t matter if you’re a traditional classroom teacher, a media specialist, or a homeschool family with an office, you can create an environment that is conducive to helping grow readers wherever you are.

Samantha 1:12
Let’s start off by defining culture of reading. What does that even mean anyways? A culture of reading is a visible expression of how a community values and engages with reading. It’s an environment where reading is celebrated, respected, and encouraged as a regular activity. In a culture of reading people develop an attitude and skills that make reading a pleasurable and continuous activity. You want your space to feel like it belongs to someone who values the act of reading, much like a library or a bookstore. People should walk in and feel like the space encourages them to love a good book.

Samantha 1:43
Today, I have five ways you can make that happen without breaking the bank.

Samantha 1:47
Tip number one, create a classroom library. First and foremost, to create a strong culture of reading you need books. I’m a huge proponent of the classroom library and feel that all teachers should have one. Even teachers who don’t teach English language arts can have a small library of books that fit their content area. You don’t need a huge classroom library to make this happen. Use what you have. Even an inexpensive rolling cart is a great place to start. If you’re in need of books, check out your local thrift shop or used bookstore. Often if you know what you’re looking for, you can find plenty of up to date titles very inexpensively. If you don’t know what to get, check out my free resource: 100 YA Books to Add to Your Curriculum or Classroom Library at WWW dot Samantha in secondary.com/books. I also have plenty of other information about stocking your classroom library on my website, either search classroom library or browse the books section of my blog.

Samantha 2:41
Tip number two, invest in purposeful decor. I know some people sometimes scoff at classroom decor, but hear me out. I’m a huge proponent of decor with a purpose. I have a few ideas for things that can really spruce up your reading area on a budget. My first suggestion is to get a book tapestry. They really cozy up a space and many of them have great bookish designs. They also cover a lot of area for little money. My favorite ones are from an Etsy shop called tiff in the middle. Tiff is a former teacher turned small business owner and makes the cutest designs. My favorite design says books are magic, but she also has an adorable set of tapestries that feature of middle school and high school book stacks with current reads. Seriously, they’re so cute. Tiff was even nice enough to give my listeners a unique code for her store. Use the code SAMANTHAINSECONDARY at checkout and you’ll get a special discount. Thanks, Tiff. I think it’s really important for students to see authors and titles they recognize. It’s a great way to connect with students and help them feel comfortable in your space. I created a set of popular young adult author quote posters that you can grab in my TPT shop. I’ll stick the link in the show notes for you. The set includes eight posters that feature a current YA author with one of their quotes. Most of the quotes directly relate to reading where I could find them. There are three color themes included a bright palette, a boho style palette, and then a black and white set. You can print, laminate, and post. Finding a way to incorporate fresh up to date decor really helps to promote connection between the world outside of school and your classroom.

Samantha 4:14
Tip number three, share what you’re reading. Another great way to connect with students is to share what you’re personally reading. You can make a fun poster in a program like Canva then just switch out the books as you read them. I’ve also seen people share what they’re reading on their daily agenda slide if that’s a practice you subscribe to (and also one I highly recommend). If you want to get really fancy you can make a fun display. Hang a photo banner with clips and print out a new photo of each book cover every time you finish a book. Students will love asking you about the titles as you add them.

Samantha 4:44
Tip number four, showcase student book recommendations. As the year goes on, dedicate a space for students to showcase their own recommendations. In my experience there’s no better way to get a kid interested in a book than having a peer tell them it was good. Switch out what you feature in the space. Maybe start the year off by having them create a one pager about the last great book they’ve read. After your first choice reading unit create a summative assessment that also doubles as an easy feature such as an booktalk poster. I have plenty of project ideas coming up in future episodes, but if you need some right now, head over to my blog at samanthainsecondary.com and click on the projects icon.

Samantha 5:20
Tip number five: embed book recs into class. Another important aspect of creating a strong culture of reading in your classroom is providing students with high quality book recommendations as often as you can. Some people like to use Book Trailer Tuesday and show a book trailer to get students excited about a specific title. You can find plenty of options on YouTube. You can also start implementing First Chapter or First Line Friday, where every week you read the first chapter or first line of an engaging read. I often give suggestions for these in my Monthly Resource Roundup, so make sure you’re on my email list so those come directly to your inbox. I’ll put that link in the show notes as well. These little additions to your instructional routine will help students learn about new books they might not have otherwise come in contact with. It’s a great way to expose students to new titles.

Samantha 6:05
Today, we’ve gone over five ways you can transform your classroom or learning space to create a strong culture of reading. Build a classroom library, even if you’re starting with one small shelf, hang some purposeful decor, share what you’re reading in your personal lifes, create a dedicated space to showcase student book recommendations, and make sure you’re embedding plenty of high quality book recs into your lessons. I’ll have many more ideas in future episodes. But for now, I hope this gives you the inspiration to start where you are with what you have. Until next time, happy reading.