The role of recreational reading in classrooms.

Abstract

While reading for pleasure is its own reward, an issue for classroom teachers is whether leisure reading and recreational reading have a place in the classroom. The question for this research study is, what precisely is “recreational reading” and what is its role in an elementary classroom? The most appropriate way to answer this question is with an extensive literature review and synthesis. Results of the synthesis indicate that students from grade four to college age who enjoy and engage in recreational reading experience higher academic achievement than those who do not, while time spent by students reading outside of school is impacted by factors such as access to reading materials, reading enjoyment, and other ways available to occupy their time. Results also indicate that student positive attitude toward reading declines as a student progresses through elementary school, that attitudes appear to be gender related (with girls having a more positive attitude than boys), and by adolescence, students prefer the text format of magazines. Student enjoyment of reading appears to develop in part from support and encouragement from adults who discuss what students are reading, and the common classroom practice of Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) appears to be most effective when teachers include discussion of student self-selected reading material. In addition, results suggest that classroom teachers can further encourage recreational reading by making themselves more knowledgeable about children’s literature and by providing access to student-preferred reading materials in both the school and classroom library. These results are applicable to elementary teachers and therefore will be presented in the form of a professional development video.