Reading should spark the imagination. In order to keep kids at it, make reading fun with classroom enactments. As you teach your students to read, you can also help them appreciate the power of the written word on their imaginations. Where literacy is a must if anyone is going to be successful in this world, it is still the best pass time available. What our minds can create is so much better than a movie, so get ready to have fun creating exciting scenes from the books your class reads.
Dress up days are fun, but why not take it a step further and help the kids actually recreate the setting from the book they are reading. It’s a teaching method that will keep even the most resistant student become engaged. As you do this, not only will they become engaged in the reading process, but you’ll be helping them advance in other forms of the written word, like plays. You can start with a class lesson where you and your students discuss the setting of the chapter or story you just read. Ask what that setting looks like. Announce that everyone is now a set designer for a movie. Break the class into groups. Some can design costumes, some can design the actual setting, some can cast the scene, and then the group can put it all together to see if their result matches what they imagined by reading. This could take a few lessons to complete, but the goal is to get kids to read in an engaged manner.
Reading comprehension is a big problem with literacy. The students may be reading the words but not understanding what they mean. Recreating a scene from a book will help them to achieve this. Once the set is complete, create a script of the scene and have your cast act it out in the setting and in their costumes. The story will come to life, and they’ll be excited to start reading again.