Beyond supply: Strategies to promote book use in the classroom and at home

• In Event: Reading in Motion: Book Supply, Book Use and Assessment of Habit of Reading

Proposal

This third paper acknowledges book supply challenges from the first paper and moves beyond to investigate practices and strategies relevant to the use of books once they exist within classrooms and within the home. This research aims to fill an evidence void and make practical evidence-based recommendations to practitioners. Findings are drawn from a review of relevant research and project documents from both lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and higher-income countries (HICs). The findings also offer important food for thought about how to bridge those two spaces. A rigorous review of over 80 documents and 17 consultations (semi-structured interviews or email correspondence) with international experts from prominent organizations and institutions inform findings. Documents reviewed include research and project documents.
The presentation begins with an investigation of supply-related strategies in creating a book-friendly environment, and then moves on to identify strategies to effectively promote the use of books in the classroom and at home to help unlock the potential of reading for children, teachers, and families, and instill a love for reading.
Several strategies stand out from the literature as particularly effective for promoting book use. Implementers should consider the following actions to support the development of a book-friendly environment:
• Ensure careful and attentive design of classroom environment so that it is print-rich with the creation of a specific, child-friendly book area and dedicated reading spaces (Cozzolino et al., 2014).
• Provide teachers with training in increasing book utilization, including creating and managing a book-friendly environment.
• Supply a wide variety of age-appropriate fiction and non-fiction books that are culturally, contextually, and linguistically relevant and accessible to students.
• Consider electronic resource strategies with deliberate planning if context-appropriate.
• Ensure proper care and management of reading spaces including properly keeping and displaying books, rotating books, caring for books, and checking out books.
Implementers should also consider using the following strategies to foster book use and develop a love of learning in the classroom and home:
• Implement dialogic reading strategies to extend reading beyond the text at school and home (Anthony et al., 2014; Knauer et al., 2020; Dowdall et al., 2020).
• Adapt read-alouds techniques to guide students’ attention and inquiries (Allison, 2020; Room to Read, 2016)
• Adopt gamified and movement-based instruction to activate different learning styles (Kreider, 2018).
• Train educators in practices that strengthen reading skills and develop a love for books.
• Use a variety of training and coaching modalities to support teachers’ book use practices.
• Develop workshops for caregivers.
Beyond these findings, the brief also suggests areas for further research. Studies on the type and quality of books used, and the effects of shared reading interventions on different age groups and genders would further enrich the knowledge base. Similarly, investigations of culturally relevant and local practices as well as interventions that scale-up support for lower-literate caregivers and classroom libraries may also improve awareness of promising book use strategies and benefit young readers and their communities.

Authors

• Amy Mulcahy-Dunn, EnCompass LLC

• Emma Venetis, EnCompass LLC

• Karla Giuliano Sarr, EnCompass LLC