Encouraging Literacy with Teacher Reading Goals
Want an easy way to encourage your students to read more? Try this simple classroom poster for sharing your personal teacher reading goals!
One of my favorite things about summer is summer reading! I absolutely love to read, but when the school year gets rolling it becomes difficult for me to find time to read for pleasure.
This is something I would like to change!
But how??
Modeling Teacher Reading Goals
A few years back, I visited the classroom of another teacher in my district and saw what I think is an absolutely brilliant idea.
She had set a goal for herself to read a book a month, and had created a simple sign above her desk. It shared the title of the book she was currently reading and kept a tally of how many books she had read so far that year.
She sighed when I asked her about it, lamenting her waning motivation to meet the goal. But I was so impressed by this simple idea!
What a fantastic example of modeling life skills for students!!
Even if she didn’t meet the goal, her students could see that she was trying and that is SO powerful.
It set the tone for her classroom.
I could feel how high her expectations were for her students and for herself, all through this simple little sign.
Why I love It
Why do I love this idea so much?? There are 3 main reasons.
It Models Goal Setting
So I really don’t know if I could keep up with a book a month myself. And that’s ok! But I love that this teacher aimed high for herself and her students.
She set a perfect example of setting a reasonable goal for herself, and shared the progress she was making along the way!
What an incredible skill for students to observe and emulate.
It Helps Create Connections with Students
What’s #1 of my Top 4 Secrets of Successful Junior High Teachers??
RELATIONSHIP BUILDING. RELATIONSHIP BUILDING. RELATIONSHIP BUILDING.
This simple sign provided a conversation topic between the teacher and her students! It began a sort of mini teacher-student book club, where students could come and talk to her about what they were reading!
When you connect with your students, you will be able to better understand their needs.
It Encourages Literacy inside and Outside of the Classroom
When I was in high school, I remember 
my history teacher carrying a book around with him. It sat on his desk or his little lecture podium, and he didn’t ever even mention it much, but I knew that he was reading for fun.
I remember noticing a specific book that looked interesting.
YEARS later, I saw that same book in a bookstore and I bought it because I REMEMBERED MY TEACHER READING IT!!
How powerful is that??
We just never know what influence we have on our students. I was watching, noticing, observing even the little things that my teacher did. And it stuck with me.
And I know that what you do sticks with your students too.
When we are reading, they notice. And hopefully they will start reading too.
Teacher Reading Goals Poster
So whether you feel motivated to read a book a month, or you just want to hang this up and hope kids don’t notice that the book hasn’t changed in a while…
I’ve created a cute and simple sign for you to use, based on this wonderful idea that I observed all those years ago.
I hope it helps encourage you and your students to read for enjoyment, because you deserve a chance to hang back and relax with your favorite book!
I’ve created 2 different signs, just for fun! One is landscape and one is square.
Simply click on the image of the poster you would like to download!
Then, laminate the sign or stick it in a page protector, and you can use one of these wet erase markers to fill in the book title and goals!
Book Recommendations for Younger Students
To help you on your quest to read more, here are some of my favorite books that students will also love!
Most of these are books that I have read over and over again as a kid, and continued to revisit occasionally in adulthood as well!
These are the books that sparked my love of reading, so I want to share them with you and encourage you to take the time to read them even if you’re not a kid anymore!
Click on the book to add it to your library! You can also get unlimited reading by joining Kindle Unlimited. Or if you prefer audiobooks, many of the books on my list are available for FREE with an Audible trial. Click here to join Audible or get a FREE TRIAL!
- Ender’s Game – Young Ender Wiggin is training to defend Earth from an attacking alien species, at the cost of his childhood. An entertaining and thought-provoking read for upper elementary all the way up to adults.
- The Giver I reread this book often because it carries such a phenomenal message. In a futuristic society that has become increasingly impassive, Jonah carries the weight of the world’s emotions.
- Holes A fun and exciting adventure about a boy who is unjustly sent to a reformative boys camp. Forced to dig a hole every day to “build character,” Stanley soon uncovers a mystery that will change his luck forever.
- The Book Thief This poetic book about a child in war-torn Germany has a way of connecting deeply with your heart. The language creates vivid imagery that help you understand how it truly must have felt to be a child at war.
- Tuck Everlasting A captivating story of a family who never grows old. Will young Winnie Foster keep their secret? This little book has it all – fantasy, mystery, adventure, and more!
- Ella Enchanted As a young girl, I completely fell in love with this unique spin on the classic “Cinderella” story and I still love it today! For me, the true magic is in how relatable Ella’s character is to real life. A stubborn and fun-loving girl, she faces insurmountable hardship but is determined to write her own destiny.
- The Ickabog I absolutely loved this latest book by J.K. Rowling, which she told as a bedtime story for her kids. It is a creative story about a legendary monster, pompous king, and brave young citizen who saves his town. This story was illustrated by kids during the pandemic, which makes is so much extra fun!!
- Harry Potter Sorry guys, I had to!! I was in 3rd grade when Harry Potter came out and I followed him all the way into adulthood, waiting impatiently for YEARS between book releases. If you think you’re too cool for Harry Potter, I’m begging you to give it a try. I personally guarantee that you will FALL IN LOVE with this phenomenal series.
Book Recommendations for Older Students & Adults
If you teach high school students, or are looking for more options for your personal reading, here are a few of my personal favorites and recent reads!
As you’ll see from my list, most of my favorites are history or historical fiction but I tried to include a few other genres as well!
Non-Fiction:
- The Hiding Place – The famous story of Corrie Ten Boom and her family. If you’ve never read this book, it will change your life. An incredible story of tragedy and forgiveness.
- A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of WWII – Like the title says, this is truly an incredible story of two air force pilots from opposing sides who crossed paths during the war. Such an interesting perspective on war time and bravery shown all over the world.
- Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust Another life changing book, told first hand from a survivor of the Rwandan Holocaust. Horrific and eye opening, this is another amazing story of tragedy and forgiveness.
- Innocent on the Middle Fork A memoir from one of the first men who kayaked the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho. I love this book because rafting the Middle Fork runs deep in my personal history, but it is a fun quick read for anyone who loves adventure books!
Fiction:
- The Help One of my all time favorite books and movies! The Help is an eye-opening and highly entertaining historical fiction about racial prejudice in Jackson, Mississippi during the 1950’s.
- The Bourne Identity (Series) Totally different from the movie, this book is full of suspense and intrigue! If you love a good mystery, this is a fantastic series for you!
- The Count of Monte Cristo The most epic revenge story of all time. It took me forever to finish, but I loved every page of this 1000+ page book. It leaves you assessing your priorities in life, and the language is beautiful.
- Persuasion My favorite of Jane Austen’s writing. I love this reminder that it’s never too late for love! *Swoon*
Happy Reading!
So there you have it! Everything you need in order to get started on your teacher reading goals this year!
I hope what I’ve shared today will motivate you to make time to read for personal enjoyment, and that it will increase literacy in your classroom too!
Happy Reading!
share your own book recommendations in the comments below!
