Welcome to 2025! Are you one of those people who also gets super excited about the start of a new year? It’s like putting down a pen on a fresh page of a unused notebook, or getting out of bed on a bright new day, with all possibilities laying ahead!
Ok, maybe not all of us would consider getting up at the crack of dawn as a thrilling experience, but you get where we’re going with this; the start of a new year can help us refocus on our goals, reset our mindset, and reignite our motivation for the months ahead.
The same can be true for your students, but let’s be honest, more often than not they aren’t exactly buzzing with excitement to dive back into their learning journey after some time off over the holiday period.
To ensure you and your students kick off the new year on the right foot, we’ve gathered some practical tips and tricks to set them up for a successful literacy year – without losing sight of the fun, of course!
Understanding Student Motivation
It’s important to understand where your students stand when it comes to reading and writing, and it’s not just about their current abilities. Without understanding their relationship with reading, it’s going to be hard for you to tailor your lessons accordingly. Yes, it’s crucial to know what their literacy levels are (we recommend running LiteracyPlanet’s free Literacy Check to get a good overview). However, it’s also good to ask a few deeper and more reflective questions as well:
- What does reading mean to you?
- What was your favorite book when you were younger?
- How do you feel about reading?
- What would your perfect reading setup look like?
- Do you find it easy to read? If not, why?
- Do you think literacy is important? Explain why.
You can have them write their answers down, let them discuss it in small groups and have them present it to you, or get them to answer in a playful way. The important thing is that they’re honest with themselves and with you. Only then can you understand them and make sure you support their learning journey with the appropriate tools.
Creating a Supportive Reading Environment
For some students, reading comes naturally. They will soak in every book they see and easily get lost in all different types of stories. For others it’s not quite as simple. There’s not secret ingredient to get students that don’t like reading to become proper book worms. There are, however, certain set ups that can nudge them in the right direction and help them figure out what they like and discover the joy of reading.
- Make reading materials easily accessible
- Display books prominently in classrooms and homes
- Model reading behavior for students
LP Tip: Encourage reading in diverse formats, such as audiobooks or graphic novels. While these won’t replace reading an actual book, they can be a great way to ignite a literacy spark in those who have been struggling with reading so far!
You can also go down the route of gamification and start implementing platforms like LiteracyPlanet into your classroom. The fun and engaging content caters to all different types of learners with all levels and abilities, from phonics games and spelling games for kids, to advanced listening comprehension. Here’s what some of our customers have to say about our platform:
It is amazing the power gamification has on learning. One child, who really does struggle to make sense of words at this stage, turned to her neighbour and said, “I am doing really well!” and her buddy replied, “Yes, we are great learners.” This was just magical. – Paul, Year 1 Teacher
The immediate feedback LiteracyPlanet gives us as teachers is priceless. We are able to use this data to quickly see across the class what strategies we need to implement to ensure every student has the best possible experience. – Matthew, Head of Academics KG-Grade 6
If you want to give it a go and see for yourself, you can try LiteracyPlanet for free for 30 days – no strings attached!
Goal-Setting Strategies
When it comes to goals, it’s important to keep them achievable. There’s no point in shooting for the stars if it’s not obtainable. Communicate to your students that it’s okay to set small goals that they will reach instead of going bigger and ending up frustrated. Here are some more tips for setting up literacy goals in your classroom:
- Let students set their own reading goals (e.g. x amount of missions on LiteracyPlanet, or reading xx articles in the Intrepizine)
- Emphasize goals are flexible, not rigid rules
- Create a “Someday List” of books students want to read
- Set different goal timeframes:
- Daily reading goals
- Weekly reading targets
- Monthly reading objectives
- Annual reading aims
It’s also important to make goals meaningful and to give your students a certain level of autonomy in their learning journey.
- Allow students to choose their own books
- Permit students to abandon books that don’t engage them
- Create reading challenges that spark excitement
- Break larger goals into smaller, achievable milestones
Tracking and Motivation
As much as we would like to just learn to read for the fun of it, we have to make sure to set up our students for a successful future. For that, you need to be able to track their progress and to intervene where necessary. The following ideas can help you track progress, while keeping the motivation and momentum going:
- Use platforms like LiteracyPlanet for tracking, reporting and motivation (yes, it’s a one-stop-shop!)
- Celebrate small reading achievements
- Create visual progress trackers (create yourself or use LiteracyPlanet’s leaderboard and certificates)
- Provide positive reinforcement for effort, not just completion
With the above tips, you’re all set for a successful and fun start to a new year of learning literacy with your students! It’s about making it enjoyable while finding ways to support them with the things they struggle with. With the right goals, tools, and reading setup, literacy will become a breeze and a journey to enjoy!
