How to Get Nonreaders and Reluctant Readers to Read
Recently, Scholastic’s Instructor magazine featured the article “10 Reasons Nonreaders Don’t Read — and How to Change Their Minds.” We, of course, couldn’t help but see audiobooks fit into many of the excellent suggestions on how to change nonreaders into readers. We highly recommend you read the full article.
Reading Gives Them a Headache: Audiobooks are, of course, perfect for anyone who has vision issues! Even after a special problem like light sensitivity is diagnosed, audiobooks may still be useful for a break from having to look at the text. Though we always recommend a “listen and read” method that pairs print books with audio, students who need a break from the print will still be able to keep up with the rest of the class by just listening.
They Can’t Read as Fast as Others and Get Left Behind, Don’t Want to Get Put into the “Slow” Group, or Think They Are So Far Behind They’ll Never Catch Up: Speaking of keeping up with the class, using audiobooks in a “listen and read” fashion is a great way to keep everyone on the same page (or at least reading at the same pace). Research has shown that students’ reading comprehension actually raises when pairing audio with print—even in unique instances like Scholastic discusses, where a student can read quickly, but not comprehend at that speed. So whether the whole class uses audio or just those that need help keeping up, audiobooks are a great way to keep everyone up to speed.
They Fear Reading Aloud: If you still choose to use the “round robin” method of reading, students practicing with audiobooks will be able to build fluency and confidence for when it’s their turn to read aloud to the class. Alternately, you can play the audiobook for whole-class listening. Students will all be able to listen to a trained and talented narrator reading the book, rather than their peers possibly stumbling over words and phrases—which will improve comprehension.
They Expect to Fail or Can’t Remember : As mentioned before, pairing audio with print increases comprehension—so students who before struggled to understand the text will now be more confident come test day.
They Think They Have to Finish Each Selection, No Matter How Long or Difficult, or Aren’t Interested in the Matierial: We believe in giving students choice. But audiobooks may help students get through a selection that they’d otherwise find too long, difficult, or boring. And once they’ve finished one, they might be inspired to try more longer and difficult passages. Audiobooks allow readers to access a higher reading level than print alone, which can increase confidence in nonreaders and reading enthusiasts to try something they may not have picked up previously.
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