Author Description

" Reading for pleasure urgently requires a higher profile to raise attainment and increase children's engagement as self-motivated and socially interactive readers. Building Communities of Engaged Readers provides an inspiring and accessible account of a collaborative research and development project that achieved these goals.Uniquely, the book highlights the concept of 'Reading Teachers' who are not only knowledgeable about texts for children, but are aware of their own reading identities and prepared to share their enthusiasm and understanding of what being a reader means. Sharing the processes of reading with young readers is an innovative approach to developing new generations of readers. Examining the interplay between the 'will and the skill' to read, the book distinctively details a reading for pleasure pedagogy and demonstrates that reader engagement is strongly influenced by relationships between children, teachers, families and communities. Importantly it provides compelling evidence that reciprocal reading communities in school encompass:a shared concept of what it means to be a reader in the 21st centuryconsiderable teacher and child knowledge of children's literature and other textspedagogic practices which acknowledge and develop diverse reader identitiesspontaneous 'inside-text talk' on the part of all membersa shift in the focus of control and new social spaces that encourage choice and children's rights as readers Written by experts in the literacy field and illustrated throughout with examples from the project schools, it is essential reading for all those concerned with improving young people's enjoyment of and attainment in reading"-- "Building Communities of Engaged Readers demonstrates to both student and practising teachers, as well as advisers and policy makers, the key features of a reading for pleasure pedagogy. It shows how this refreshing and potent approach offers an alternative to standards driven literacy, how it can improve children's attitudes to and engagement with reading, as well as their performance and attainment as readers. Revealing the findings of the UKLAs high profile Teachers as Readers study, the book offers a wealth of strategies for developing communities of readers in and beyond the classroom. It explores how we can build rich reader relationships, how we foster reading communities who choose to read for pleasure, and who wish to be socially interactive about what they read. Key ideas explored include: Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in reading for pleasure Links to later achievement Strategies for developing teachers' knowledge of children's literature and other texts Activities focused on novels, picture fiction, comics and graphic novels Researching children's own reading practices New approaches to working with parents, families and communities. Written by experts in the literacy field and illustrated throughout with examples from real schools involved in study, Building Communities of Engaged Readers is essential reading for all those concerned with improving young people's enjoyment of and attainment in reading"--