Great Tips to Motivate/Encourage/Trick Teens to Read

Make a list or bulletin board of awesome and ominous opening lines in YA books. Let the authors' words do the "hooking" all by themselves.

SCAN ----> WATCH ----> READ

This links to "50 Great Ways to Use QR Codes in the College Classroom" (but many suggestions are applicable to books/reading motivation).

John Green, Patrick Ness, Sherman Alexie, Jacqueline Woodson, Lauren Oliver, and even Mo Willems' Pigeon are active and entertaining to read on Twitter. Have students seek out (but not stalk) their favorite authors.

There are many bloggers who read, review, and recommend books for teens. They are fans who share their excitement, hype up new releases, and encourage teens to read books BEFORE the movies come out in the theaters.

This is a link to a great"What to read after Diary of a Wimpy Kid" list on Pinterest.

Have students create cardstock book blurbs that stick out of books and beckon others to read them. Additionally, students could create podcasts recommending books. Post these podcasts on your school website.

Hold a Tournament of Books, having students vote for and narrow down the school's favorite book.

Take pictures of students and people in the school who were caught reading and post them on bulletin boards or around the building.

Use a printing service such as Vistsprint to make stickers for students to sign/put in books when they are the FIRST person to read a new book.

“This is how I show my students that I love them—by putting books in their hands, by noticing what they are about, and finding books that tell them, ‘I know. I know. I know how it is. I know who you are, and even though we may never speak of it, read this book, and know that I understand you.” ~Donalyn Miller, The Book Whisperer

Have students keep track of the books they read (see Goodreads). Maybe the library circulation system can keep track or you could give them a tracking sheet or reading log. Celebrate their successes. For example, have students hold up cards with the number of books they've read during the semester and take a picture.

"WHY" from a parent/teacher's point of view.

Show students these to help them find books they might want to read AND so they can get ideas for creating their own book trailers.

This is an example of an author who has created a playlist for her novel. Others do, too (see: Sarah Dessen's Along for the Ride, Colleen Hoover's Maybe Someday, and Kody Keplinger's The DUFF). A BETTER idea is to have students create soundtracks for the books they read/love. They can share the soundtracks (along with reasons behind their song choices) via posters or on your website.

"So, when I start a new book, I start a new playlist, too, and I work on them concurrently. With Eleanor & Park, the playlists took the shape of mixed tapes for each character. (Because 1986.) (And because I like to overdo things.)"

Answers to questions about setting up classroom libraries, deciding how much time to allow for independent reading, etc. Geared toward elementary teachers, but info. can be used in any grade.

Encourage kids to use this as their phone's wallpaper. "Reading books makes me happy. Being on my phone makes me miserable. So, I made a wallpaper for my iPhone's lock screen to remind me that I have a choice."

Tips that could be used with any age student.