9 Strategies to Try to Minimize Fake Reading

Students who “fake” read may do so for a variety of reasons. Maybe they don’t really like their book, but have trouble finding one they do like. Maybe they have difficulty with sitting quietly and sustaining focus, even for just the five, ten, or fifteen minutes you are asking. Maybe they are not a confident reader, and their struggles to read outweigh their desire to read. Whatever the reason for the “fake” reading, here’s 9 things you can try to help combat the issue.

Implement A Rule About A Page Number To Read To

I don’t want students to read a book they aren’t enjoying, but some “fake” readers are constantly abandoning books and choosing new ones. Acknowledge that books can get off to a slow start and set a page number students have to read up to before they can abandon it. Having a set goal can encourage students to keep reading and they may find that they do like the book along the way.

Begin The Book With The Student

Again, some books grab students from the very first page, but sometimes the exposition can drag for students and they lose interest in a book before things start to get interesting. Offer to read the first few chapters or a certain number of pages with a “fake” reader to help them get into the book. If they like the book let them take off on their own and if they don’t, try to pin point what they didn’t like, pick a new book, and try again. 

Leverage The Influence of Peers

If you have access to multiple copies of books, pair readers up to read a book together. The students can set goals of how many pages to read daily or nightly, and check up on each other’s’ progress. The fear of missing out may keep your “fake” reader on track.  

Start A Book Club

If you have a group of “fake” readers, start a book club with them. Offer them a few different book choices, let them vote on them, and then start reading. You could alternate days of you reading to them, them reading to a buddy, or them reading independently. A class read aloud is also an option if there’s a large number of students in the class with the issue.

Engage Students With Audiobooks

It is hard to “fake” read a book when you are listening to it. As much as possible during our assigned texts, I offer the option of listening along and some students find they really like it. When we aren’t reading an assigned text, I encourage them to utilize sites like Libby or Epic to listen to audiobooks.

Add In A Little Self Competition As Motivation

Some students thrive on competition even if it is just with themselves. One year to motivate a particular group of students I created bookmarks where they could track the number of pages they read daily. Before using the bookmarks, we did a timed reading session in class. Students tracked how many pages they read during our ten minute independent reading time. Then we did some math to estimate how many pages they would read in a week at that rate or in a month. Students could also use that same math to estimate how soon they would finish the book.

Once students had a baseline for the number of pages read, I would do a quick check in at the end of independent reading time, asking students to give me a thumbs up if they met their page goal for the day and a double thumbs up if they exceeded it. If you want to celebrate pages read, you could also create a graph or a running total of the pages each of your classes reads each week or each month.  

Set A Purpose for Reading

Having students write about what they are reading is another way to encourage real engagement with their books. Students can read for a set period of time and then reflect on what they’ve read with a question or a choice of questions. This strategy, which can be repeated multiple times in a row, is often called reading sprints and pairs well with having students set page goals to ensure that they are actually reading rather than just turning pages. 

It is also a great way to tie your current learning objectives into students’ independent reading books. If you’ve been looking at tone or figurative language in a whole class text, ask students to apply those same ideas to their novel of choice. You can start with short reading sprints of four or five minutes with basic questions and then build up the length of your sprints to ask more complex questions.

Challenge Students To Sentence Hunt

Another way to get students reading closely and making connections between independent reading and the other parts of your class is challenging them to look for grammar or writing elements. 

For example, I might ask students to look for a sentence with three or more pronouns, or find a compound sentence. If students find a sentence before time is up, I have hem make note of the sentence and the page number and keep reading. This can be done in timed period of reading, similar to reading sprints.

Give Students Time To Talk About Books

Reading is a silent, independent task, but giving students time to discuss their books can increase engagement (and decrease the desire for socialization when students should be reading). I built time for talking about books into our class routine in two ways this year. First, students write a sticky note summary as part of their homework each night and then share these with a partner the next day in class before we begin independent reading. Second, all students meet with me once a week during independent reading, which is a time I can check in with them about their books and review their sticky notes with them if needed, asking probing questions.