Book Commercials

Have You Advertised A Book Today?

Have you ever noticed how your students will fight  flock to your classroom library to be the first one to read "the book" you just finished reading to the class? Did you ever wonder why other books in your class library sit there, unread, week after week? It's because they weren't advertised. 

When you are excited about something, so are your kids. You should have seen how excited my kids were, today, when I showed them a bag of rocks. Truth be told, rocks don't get me too excited, but I had to "act" excited so the kids would be excited (and, there were).

To help motivate you students to read, try to do a "book commercial" for at least 5 books a day. To do a book commercial, follow these simple steps:

1. Choose a book, and get familiar with it.

2. Display the book and tell the students that it's the most amazing book because...........

3. Be sure to do a picture/book walk.

4. Build enthusiasm by asking who thinks they will want to read it today.

*Book commercials only take seconds!

Another way to motivate your students is to recommend books for particular students. Don't you notice how we, as adults, tend to read books that others have recommended to us? I know I read anything my sister recommends because I know she has great taste in books. 

When you come across a book that you know will interest one (or more) of your students, be sure to tell the student(s). For example, "Amy, I saw this book about Kenya, and I just knew you had to read it because you lived in Kenya." 

What a way to show your students you really know them AND you care enough about them to recommend a book just for them.

How do you motivate your students to read?