Motivating pupils to read books in English

     ?АЗА?СТАН РЕСПУБЛИКАСЫ БІЛІМ Ж?НЕ ?ЫЛЫМ МИНИСТРЛІГІ 
     ?ОЖА АХМЕТ  ЯСАУИ АТЫНДА?Ы ХАЛЫ?АРАЛЫ? ?АЗА?-Т?РІК УНИВЕРСИТЕТІ
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     Бал?абай Сабыржан
     
     
     Motivating pupils to read books in English
     
     
     
     ДИПЛОМДЫ? Ж?МЫС
     
     5B011900- маманды?ы – «Шетел тілі:Екі шетел тілі (а?ылшын-?ытай)»
         
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     Т?ркістан 2017
     
?АЗА?СТАН РЕСПУБЛИКАСЫ БІЛІМ Ж?НЕ ?ЫЛЫМ МИНИСТРЛІГІ
     ?ОЖА АХМЕТ ЯСАУИ АТЫНДА?Ы ХАЛЫ?АРАЛЫ? ?АЗА?-Т?РІК УНИВЕРСИТЕТІ
     
     А?ылшын  филологиясы кафедрасы
     
     
     
       «?ор?ау?а жіберілді» 
     А?ылшын филологиясы кафедрасыны? 
     ме?герушісі ?.?.к.  ___________  Б.  Т?рлыбеков
     
     
     
     ДИПЛОМДЫ? Ж?МЫС
     
     
     Та?ырыбы: Motivating pupils to read books in English
     
     
     5В011900- маманды?ы бойынша– «Шетел тілі:Екі шетел тілі(а?ылшын-?ытай)»
     
     
     
     
     
           Орында?ан                                              Бал?абай Сабыржан
     
     

        ?ылыми жетекшісі                            
         п.?.к., доцент                                          Нышанова С.Т.             
     
     
     
     
     
     
     Т?ркістан 2017
CONTENT

INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

CHAPTER 1 THE IMPORTANCE OF READING BOOKS FOR CHILDREN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
1.1  READING  MOTIVATION  AND  DIFFERENT  METHODS  OF  ENGAGING  CHILDREN  IN READING BOOKS IN ENGLISH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.2 READING ALOUD TO CHILDREN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  21

CHAPTER 2 RESEARCH. RESULTS. ANALYSIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.1 QUESTIONNAIRE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.2  “SILLY BILLY” PROJECT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

CONCLUSION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . 61

REFERENCES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 63
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    INTRODUCTION
     
     Reading is the process of looking at a series of written symbols an getting meaning from them. When we read,  we use our eyes to receive written symbols and we use our brain to convert them into words, sentences and paragraphs that communicate something to us.
     Reading is widely used in the informative, esthetic purposes,  reading scope of  application in household, educational and industrial spheres where extraction of the information from the text through reading serves realization of various kinds of the active which motive is the satisfaction of the information need concluded in the text is even more various. Reading plays one of the major roles in the courses of foreign language training. 
     There are three main goals of reading. First, all aspects of our lives involve reading. Secondly, it is the main way to obtain information. The last goal is enjoyment. Without the ability to read, life functioning becomes difficult. It is this reason that educators stress the importance of reading; however, this is not always directly stated and understood by pupils. The problem is that children "who do not attach importance to learning to read will not be motivated to learn". It is stated that children who are successful in school are those who enjoy reading. Pupils who do not enjoy independent reading do not achieve the same successful academically or in life that those who like to read do.
     Actuality of the project. My diploma work deals with the problems of beginners' or young learners' reading books in English language teaching. This diploma work focused on motivating children to read English books. Nowadays children read books only when teacher says them to read or give them as a homework. Only in schools you can see the atmosphere for reading books. But at home children never read books by themselves. 
     Aim of the project. What strategies will work best to motivate the unmotivated pupils to read? If I want pupils to be excited to read, what strategies should I implement that will achieve this. The first is what reading strategies should be implemented in the classroom. Upon researching, I found an overabundance of reading strategies that claim to make pupils successful. I want to find a few of these that stimulate reading excitement for all pupils in my class. The second is what motivational interventions work best. Some pupils enter the classroom ready and willing to learn. I want specifically target those pupils who enter the classroom lacking or without this readiness.
     Subject of the project. I  will  try  to  provide  some  valuable  facts  clarifying  why  reading  in  English  is  important  and  beneficial  and  what  makes  a  good  teacher  of  reading.  I  will  write  about  various  active  and  passive  ways  and  methods  engaging  children   in   reading   in   detail.   The   theory   will   be   compared   with   the   practice  in the practical part of the thesis.
     Object of the project. I would like to analyze needs and use the research  results for the future reading programs in the basic school where I teach. The aim of  my research will be to analyze ideas, problems and deficiencies which will occur and to  suggest solutions of how to use the whole potential of the primary school pupils from  the  3rd  to the  5th  grade  in  our  school  and  strengthen  their  motivation  to  read  books  in English.  Moreover,  I  would  like  to  suggest  ideas  of  how  to  motivate  teachers  of  English to make story-based lessons part of their teaching.
     Theoretical value of the project. I have always believed that active lessons connecting to the real world promote motivation and excitement for learning where pupils are treated as thinkers and doers. Pupils will achieve academic prosperity when teachers give them the opportunity to succeed. This disposition will create for a successful learning atmosphere. To fully implement my action plan, I need to utilize novel strategies that motivate pupils to read in  a world where they believe that reading has a lackluster appearance. I also must understand what pupils need to jumpstart learning and promote social acceptance in the classroom.
     It involves them into the learning process and thus  they absorb the language naturally and with fun. The problem is that today’s children  do not  read  much  for  pleasure  in  their  free  time  and  their  ability  to  use  the  whole  potential of books is very low. I chose this topic as I would like to find the most suitable  and efficient methods and activities motivating children to read books in English.
     Practical value of the project. When I was on practice at school I found out the fact that children in schools read books not for pleasure, they read books only for practice. Reading English books are very effective way of teaching and learning the language. Through reading or listening stories, children develop their imagination, creativity and making predictions. 
             Every week I gave my pupils a sheet of paper where a text was written. And I gave them a time to read it silently. During this activity I spend most of my time managing pupils who don't want to read. Some of the pupils sat with a sheet of paper on their hands and didn't read it. Some of them tried to escape from reading and asked permission to go out and they tried to kill the time. Others just tried to read it  and understood what was written on it. Only a few pupils came to me and asked the translation of words. Reading can open new avenues for pupil thinking, driving their curiosity and building new ideas. As a future teacher, I want to be able to encourage all of my pupils to not only read but to love to read. I want pupils to be excited when they pick up a book. I want my pupils to be motivated to read!
            I  hope  all  the  information  and  valuable  facts  gained  from  this  diploma  thesis  will  help  me  to  improve  and  enrich  my  teaching  practice  and  demonstrate  children  that  reading in English is fun.        
                                                      
























1 THE IMPORTANCE OF READING BOOKS FOR CHILDREN
     
              Children  are  being  told  that  books  and  reading  are  good  for  them.  They  hear  it  especially from their teachers at school. However, teachers should be able to motivate  children  to  read.  Reading  books  has  both  social  and  emotional  value.  It  significantly  influences the child?s language development and communicative skills. In one analysis  of vocabulary development, through reading books and television programs, it was  found  that  even  in  preschool  children’s  books  it  was  noticed  that  there  was  more  sophisticated vocabulary than in adult television shows. Moreover, it has  been  proved  that  early  readers  show  better  results  on  language  screening  tests  than  children  who  started  to  read  later.  By  reading  books,  children  can  develop their fantasy and imagination, creativity, their general knowledge of the world,  moral   and   culture   values.   Furthermore,   reading   enables   the   children   to   dream  and enriches their lives. If teachers are capable of inspiring children to read, they can  help  them  to  think  of  books  as  a  great  source  of  new  knowledge,  pleasure  and  fun  and thus encourage children to want to be readers.    
       
              According  to  Halliwell,  language  teaching  should  be  combined  with  real  life.  However,  teachers  should  bear  in  mind  that  reality  for  children  involves  fantasy  and imagination  as  well.  Therefore,  the  role  of  imagination  and fantasy,  being  an  indispensable  part  of  all  children’s  books,  are  essential  for  children’s motivation to learn English.
             To help children develop their language skills through reading books, teachers can  provide  children  with  books  where  varieties  of  language  are  incorporated.  Some children’s  books  are  focused  on  the  sounds  of  language,  and  thus  provide  children’s  language   stock   with   new   phonemes.   Other   books   enable   to   develop   syntactic  complexity and the use of various adjectives and adverbs, such as the book  We’re Going  on a Bear Hunt. Craft books force children to understand and follow directions. Picture  books  enable  them  to  make  their  own  stories.  Realistic  books,  such  as  the  book  Silly  Billy, deal with children’s everyday problems. Discussions of these problems encourage  children to express themselves, their feelings and worries through the foreign language.  Poetry and nursery rhymes help children to learn rhymes, introduce them to figurative  language and encourage them to recite poems. The exposure to the language they hear  and  use,  when  discussing  the  language  of  books,  leads  to  the  children’s  acquisition  and immediate, spontaneous usage of the new language. The more of input they get, the more easily they automatize the language and use it  without thinking about it.        
             One  of  the  aims  of  all  teachers  of  English  should  be  their  effort  to  motivate  and support their learners to read books in English. Moreover, the teachers should be  able to inform children how to read effectively, which is the problem for the majority of  today’s young generation. 
             Using books in English language classroom is  unquestionably one of the most effective means of teaching English. Nowadays modern  concept of foreign language teaching offers various activities coming out from the usage  of foreign language literature.
             By  reading  books  in  the  classroom  and  the  use  of  various  pre-,  while-  and  post- reading  activities  such  as  storytelling,  games  or  drama,  children  can  start  to  view  the reading as a pleasurable, interesting and fun activity. Krashen notices that reading  for  pleasure  can  lead  to  the  comprehensible  input.  Moreover,  the  great  advantage  of  using  literature  in  foreign  language  classroom is its socialising factor as well as the fact that children have the opportunity  to build upon their previous knowledge and experience. All of these make children feel  safe and create a stress-free and friendly environment, essential for successful foreign  language learning.
     Being  a  professional  reading  teacher  and  being  able  to  engage  children  in  reading  in English is very demanding and responsible task.  However, if teachers achieve their  goals, they can cultivate children’s positive attitude to reading in English for a whole  life.     Good  teachers  of  reading  not  only  provide  children  with  information  about  the  advantages  of  reading  in  English  and  reading  as  such,  they  set  a  good  example  for  children  and  value  the  habit  of  reading  themselves.  They  are  in  regular  contact  with  local libraries and visit often libraries and bookstores to be well-informed about a range  of  books  being  offered  in  our  market.  Moreover,  they  have  accounts  with  online  booksellers  who  inform  them  about  new  books  coming  out  or  special  events  planned  for the future and book clubs that often discuss new children’s books. Furthermore, they  discuss their opinions about the books with their colleagues and friends and participate  in online discussions. In addition, keen teachers of reading in English have a possibility  to become members of the International Reading Association and the National Council  of Teachers of English. These organizations provide valuable information about books,  ideas and tips for teachers, organize special events and conferences for teachers or offer  grants  for  some  special  projects.  They  also  allow  teachers  to  discuss  their  thoughts,  problems and ideas online and thus make new friends worldwide. Being  a  good  teacher  of  reading  in  English  includes  a  conscientious  work  on  a teaching  portfolio.  Teachers  should  bear  in  mind  their  responsibility  for  materials  and support  they  provide  children  with  to  motivate  them  for  reading  in  English.  Therefore,  continual  accumulation  of  books,  picture  books,  finger  plays,  play  scripts,  puppets,  ideas  for  various  activities  and  projects,  useful  websites  and  other  resources  can highly facilitate and make their teaching process more effective.
            Apart from all the items mentioned above, engaging children in reading in English  requires  mastering various strategies and techniques necessary for   successful  and effective work with stories. Morrow mentions several techniques that every teacher  should apply in story-based lessons. These techniques are:       
     •   reading to children and showing the pictures       
     •   discussing stories read       
     •   reading the same stories repeatedly     
     •   using Big Books when reading stories       
     •   reading to children in small groups and one-to-one       
     •   engaging children       
     •   retelling stories       
     •   using buddy reading (e.g. looking at books with an older student)       
     •  using partner reading (e.g. looking at books with peers and children who have the same cultural background)       
     •  using choral reading (e.g. reciting a poem together)       
     •  using echo reading (e.g. the teacher reading one line and the child repeating it)       
     •  using tape-assisted reading       
     •  integrating storybooks into content areas, in particular, art, music, and play       
     •  engaging children in independent reading       
     •  engaging children in independent use of story props for retelling stories       
     • modeling for parents of English language learners  ways they can share books with children in their own language. One of the most important qualities of a good teacher of reading in English is his or  her belief in the power of stories and their effect on foreign language learning. These  teachers  make  story-based  lessons  a  regular  part  of  curricula,  work  with  stories  whenever possible and provide both children and their parents with occasions devoted  to  a  magic  time  spent  with  a  book.  Only  thus  they  can  raise  children’s  curiosity  and interest in reading in English and nurture passionate readers from them.  
                                                           
     1.1  Reading  Motivation  and  Different  Methods  of  Engaging  Children  in Reading Books in English         
     
     There are various methods and techniques of how to motivate children to read books  in English. It is one of the key tasks for teachers to evoke in children a love for reading  and  create  their  ability  to  choose,  understand  an  evaluate  books  they  read.  Shin  emphasizes  that  “when  compelling  and comprehensible  reading  material  is  available,  direct  encouragement  can  result  in children reading more”. According to Ellis and Brewster, teachers  should always notify clear possible outcomes before an activity or a group of activities  connected  with  a  book.  Thus  the  work  becomes  more  meaningful,  understandable,  motivating  and  stimulating  for  children.  Gambrell,  distinguished  Professor  of  Education  and  reading  specialist,  and  Marinak,  Assistant  Professor  of  Education,  mention      that   researchers      have    recognized      several     factors    influencing      reading  motivation.  These  are  “self-concept  and  value  of  reading,  choice,  time  spent  talking  about books, types of text available, and the use of incentives.” They also emphasize  the research’s  confirmation  that  child’s  motivation  is  essential  for  successful  reading.  As far as self-concept and value of reading are concerned, Gambrell and Marinak found  out that boys are as self-confident about reading as girls, however, they find reading less  valuable than girls. Worthy and McKool notice that giving children the possibility to choose what they  want to  read increases their reading  motivation as  well. Furthermore, Gambrell highlights the importance of small group discussions that  allow  children  to  express  themselves  and  discuss  their  opinions  about  books,  which  engage children in learning. “Reading  is  Fundamental,”  the  oldest  and  largest  children’s  and  family  non-profit  literacy  organization  in  the  United  States,  supporting  motivation  to  read  of  children  and families in need by delivering them free books and literacy resources and providing  sets  of  books  to  schools  at  no  cost,  suggests  ten  tips  how  to motivate  young  readers.
            Promoting children’s reading literacy in English in an early childhood classroom can  be divided into two groups. There are “active ways” (such as reading aloud to children  or  literacy  play)  and  “passive  ways”  (such  as  classroom  arrangement  or  a  classroom  and school library). All of these provide great opportunities for teachers to encourage children’s reading motivation. Moreover, all these methods help to create  a friendly, stress-free reading environment. 
     To  promote  reading  literacy  in  an  early  childhood  classroom  and  to  motivate  children to read books in English, thoughtful teachers can provide children with various  active ways that can become a rich part of every school day.  Among these activities,  family involvement, such as parents’ active participation in lessons, “school-to-home”  projects,  using  of  drama  in  response  to  stories,  storytelling,  reading  aloud  to  children  and school projects are ranged. All these methods highly influence children’s attitude to  reading in English as well as enable teachers to nurture whole-life enthusiastic readers  from their pupils.                                        
        A  child’s  reading  motivation  can  be  significantly  influenced  by  effective  teacher- parent cooperation. Efficient cooperation on both sides leads to the support of children’s  love for reading and successful foreign language learning. According to Hurtov?, et al.,  it is important to integrate parents into their children’s learning process. There are  various methods and techniques how to involve  parents in supporting their children’s  reading  motivation  in  English.  The  parents’  role  is  crucial  in  this  process  as  they  are  children’s  first  teachers.  They  can  spend  more  time  with  their  children  than  teachers  at school.  Thus  they  should  be  very  careful  about  their  children’s  attitude  to  reading  and time devoted to reading at home. If they want to get a proper grasp of children’s that is published by Masaryk  literature, they can subscribe periodicals such as  “Lad University, Faculty of Education in Brno. It is proved that children who come from families in which reading is a part of their  everyday lives find reading important. They can see that their parents are used to read  books before going to bed or they read newspapers daily and therefore these children  come  to  school  with  the  expectation  that  they  will  become  readers  like  their  parents.                                                            
           Some children, especially those from economically disadvantaged families, have neither  such a strong reading model nor enough exposure to reading literacy at home. Parents  have never read to them before going to bed or even do not have books at home. These  children  are  seriously  disadvantaged  at  school.  As  a  result  of  that,  each  proficient  teacher must be sensitive to the social context of the classroom and try to find ways how  to make each child from the class feel responsible for the classroom friendly, stress-free  reading environment.
             If  teachers  and  parents  are  able  to  cooperate  with  each  other  effectively,  they  can  highly  influence  children’s  motivation  for  reading  in  English.  Teachers  can  advice  or recommend parents what they can do to support reading books in English at home,  such as to read to their children or tell them stories in English, if they can speak English,  or  they  can  give  them  tips  for  reading  with  their  children.  En  example  of  such  recommendation with tips for parents can be seen below.    
     
     TIPS FOR READING WITH YOUR CHILD
     1. Find a relaxed time and setting
     2. Talk about the book s you read.
             * Look over the cover, title, author, picture and predict  what you think may happen and why you like the book.
     
                  * As you read, share connections to your life.
                            ?This picture reminds me our trip!!!
                            ?Oh, I remember feeling like this!!!
     
                 *  Ask questions from your children. For example: 
                            ?Do you know anyone like this?
                            ? How would you feel?
     
                 * After reading, share your favourite parts. For example:
                            ? I really liked ..... .
                            ? .... was so funny!!!
           Figure 1: Tips for parents for reading with their children   
            
     It is beneficial for parents to come into the classroom and take part in English lessons  and activities based on reading literacy promotion. Parents can read aloud to children  in English, help them to publish and bind books or tell them simple stories in English,  especially  family  stories.  If  parents  cannot  speak  English,  they  can  observe  teachers  how to work with books and ask them for books with  CDs they can take home, listen  and read with their children. In general, parents can make their families’ lives part of  the curriculum.  Careful  teachers  try  to  involve  parents  in  the school  activities  and  programs  focused  on  motivating  children  to  read  books  in English.  According  to  Wasik,  all  children  have  a  chance  to become  more  successful  readers  when teachers involve parents in the reading literacy programs.  Morrow notices, that teachers’ task is to make parents welcome in schools. On the other  hand,  they  should  bear  in  mind  difficult  position  of working  parents  who  cannot  participate in lessons so often. For those parents, varieties of times, during which they  can  come  to  school,  should  be  provided,  to  enable  them  to  spend  at  least  two  hours  twice  a  year  at  school.  Furthermore,  teachers  can  provide  workshops  for  parents  to  discuss  activities  in  the  school  reading  literacy  program  in  English  where  teachers  should recommend parents how they can help their children at home. In addition, they  can provide parents with a list of books in English which could be useful for their home  libraries or which they can borrow from the local libraries.    
     
            
     
       Reading  motivation  can  be  highly  reinforced  with  the  parents’  help  at  home.  Teachers can provide parents with materials, recommendations and ideas for engaging  children in reading books in English at home. Three great examples for home-directed  reading  motivation  activities  or  school-to-home  projects  are  “home  books,”  “book  baggies” and “family literacy bags.”       Home  books  are  simple  books,  usually  made  by  teachers,  with  pictures  and  very  short and easy storylines. They can be made from one sheet of paper. Teachers can send  them home regularly  for children to read them aloud to their parents.  Before sending  them  home,  teachers  read  the  book  through  several  times  with  the  children  at  school                                                          
     to help them to be able to read it at home on their own. It is inevitable to ask parents  to be  patient  if  the  child  struggles  with  reading  aloud.  Parents  should  read  the  books  with  their  children  as  many  times  as  possible,  however,  not  to  overload  the  children  with reading the books longer than the teacher recommends.
             These books are a great practice for reading aloud in English. Furthermore, they do  not disadvantage parents who cannot speak English as their task is merely to listen with  interest what their child is reading. The child has read the book at school many times so  mostly no extra support for English is required. Moreover, children are very often keen  to  explain  parents  what  the  book  is  about,  which  is  another  incentive  for  reading  motivation.
              Book  baggie  consists  of  a  simple  paperback  book  in  a  bag,  an  activity  sheet  with  instructions,  such  as  to  draw  a  favourite  character,  and  a  CD  with  a  recording  of  the book.  Teachers  can  buy  these  book  baggies  in  publishing  houses  like  Oxford  University  Press.  Children  can  take  them  home  for  several  days.  Parents  are  asked  to read  the  book  with  the  child  and  help  with  the  activity  sheet.  After  that,  the  child  brings the book baggie back to school where the bag is repacked and passed to another  child.
              In this way, all children are working on a different book until they  read all the book baggies provided by the teacher. Later, parents can be invited to school                                                         
     and together with their children and other children and their parents discuss and share  opinions about the books. It is desirable for teachers to announce such a “book baggies  session”  before  starting  the  whole  process  of  sending  the  baggies  home  to  strengthen  parents’  encouragement  and  responsibility  for  reading  the  books  with  their  children.  These baggies are again a great tool for parents who cannot speak English as the stories  are  very  simple  and  comprehensible.  Moreover,  CDs  with  a  recording  of  the  book  on them function as a good reading model for both children and their parents.
            Similarly to book baggies, family literacy bags help to encourage reading in English  at home and support the role of parents as teachers. By reading with their children every  day  and  discussing  what  they  are  reading,  parents  can  highly  promote  a  delight  of  reading  in  English  even  if  they  cannot  speak  English  much.  Family  literacy  bags  are  “a theme-based  collection  of  books  and  related  interactive  activities  that  kids  bring  home  from  school  to  share  with  their  family”  (“Family  Literacy  Bags:  A  School-to- Home  Project”).  Teachers  can  arrange  and relate  these  bags  to  the  topics  or  grammar  that is discussed at school at that time. Therefore, these packs are a great opportunity  not  only  for  reading  motivation  but  also  for  entertaining  foreign  language  learning.  Several elements of a suitable literacy pack can be listed: 
            
     •   An engaging theme — one that will spark thinking, creativity, and observation  skills         
     •   Three or four theme-based books (fiction and nonfiction), selected at an appropriate reading level         
     •   Related interactive activities, for example: puzzles, sorting/matching cards,            dramatic play props, art supplies         
     •   Letter to parents explaining the purpose of the literacy bags and a brief list            of reading tips         
     •   Parent response form (optional)         
     •   Checklist of the contents to make returns to school easy         
     •   Colourful,  inexpensive  backpack  to  store  and  transport  everything.  One  with a clear plastic sleeve is perfect for slipping in a labelled drawing or photograph  that illustrates the theme 
               Furthermore, several benefits of using family literacy bags can be specified:   
          
     •   Strengthen the family-school partnership         
     •   Help parents to become more aware of the class curriculum         
     •  Allow all parents — regardless of culture, circumstance, education level,  or English language proficiency — to feel that they are involved directly in their child’s learning         
     •   Provide parents with a structure and model for reading with their kids                                                          
     •   Establish a regular family reading routine   
     •   Make reading fun and interactive, igniting an enthusiasm for literacy   
     •   Build an awareness of the breadth of books available for children   
     •  Show  parents  how  to  connect  what  you  read  in  books  to  what  is  happening      in the world around   
     •   Stimulate conversations around reading   
     •  Encourage  home-to-school communication (“Family  Literacy  Bags:  A  School-to-Home Project”)  
                                                      
            To allow children to act out stories is a very effective incentive for engaging children  in  reading  in  English.  Since  children  usually  love  acting,  dramatization  is  a  great  motivation for them to read a book in English in advance. Drama is a very effective way  how   to   bring   the   story   into   life.   Moffetts   emphasizes   that   dramatazing   a   story  significantly  helps  children  to  understand  its  meaning.  Furthermore,  he  highlights  the importance  of  reading  or  hearing  a  story  before  dramatazing  it.  Children  need  to  have  a chance  to  absorb  the  story  first.
            Dramatic plays both encourage children’s interpretive imagination and involve them spontaneously in the stories. Teachers can provide children with various props, such as  puppets or costumes, or props including reading, such as the book of spells. These props  help children get into characters, motivate them for reading in English and support their  dramatic play  at the same time. Moreover, many  children’s books, such as the books  We’re  Going  on  a  Bear  Hunt  or  The  Three  Billy  Goats,  are  simple  and  have  easy  repetitive patterns, actions and chants that are beneficial for children to practice and act  out.
                 Reader’s  theatre  is  a  great  technique  of  how  to  both  motivate  children  to  read  in English      and     practice     children’s      oral    reading      in   English,      reading     fluency  and comprehension  in  a  natural  amusing  way.  It  is  a  strategy  that  allows  children  to  improve their reading aloud in English. Generally, no props or costumes are needed as  the  reader’s  theatre  is  based  on  performing  by  reading  scripts  aloud.  Without  using  props, children learn that only by changing their voice and using their facial expressions  and  emotions  they  can  convey  the  meaning  and  make  the  story  to  be  more  dramatic.  The  goal  of  this  approach  is  to  practice  children’s  reading  skills  in English.  However,  children  have  a  real  reason  for  reading  aloud,  so  they  practice  for purpose, which is extremely motivating for them. The main goal of this strategy is to  develop children’s reading fluency in English, which highly influences comprehension.  This is achieved by entertaining and enjoyable re-reading. Furthermore, reader’s theatre is an effective opportunity for engaging struggling readers in reading in English as this  technique is based on the continuous practice and reading from scripts. Therefore, these  children do not have to be afraid of failure because no memorization is required. Finney,  an educator who gives seminars about improving reading instructions, provides several  tips for teachers who want to try reader’s theatre with their children:          
     •   Choose only scripts that are fun to do with lots of good dialogue. Boring scripts            are no better than boring stories.         
     •   Start slowly and spend the time necessary so pupils feel comfortable            in the performance mode.  Provide opportunities for pupils to practice. Pupils do not memorize their parts; they alwa.......................