WHY do you like to READ?

Question

I am in a teaching credential program, and I would like to find some reasons that may help students to become motivated to read.

Part of the reason is that I have difficulty with ready myself. I found TV more interesting and entertaining, so I never got into reading when I was younger (also, there was not much family support) . I am 47 years old, and I struggle with reading now.

I do not want my students to fall in to this same predicament. If you can tell me why you enjoy reading, this will help me; especially if you can tell me why you enjoyed reading when you were growing up.

Thank you.

Answer 1

reading is an escape. it can be funnny, it can be sad, you can fall in love with a book. TV, though also intresting, doesn't have this invisible power. sometimes, just to be somewhere other than your own life, to enter another world, to love people in it, and to cry when one of them dies, is truely magical. However, there are alot of bad books out there, so dont give up if dont like one. reading increases your voacbulary and makes you intelligent, but the most important thing reading does is to be something enjoyable to do. dont give up on reading yourself, you dont have to grow up reading to read when your older.

Answer 2

I began reading at a young age and have always loved it. I am a college student and whenever I am reading for fun people constantly come up to me and ask "what class is that for?", when I tell them its just for me they are shocked. I love reading because it is something to do when I am killing time (a doctors office, the city bus, etc). I also enjoy getting drawn into a good story and using my imagination. There are books out there for everyone, you just have to try a variety to see what you like. More pros to reading are:

* increased vocabulary
* readers are generally better spellers as they see words constantly rather than hearing them
* converstaional topics; classics or controversial books bush as 1984, brave new world, and catch 22 arr interesting to discuss and debate in comparison to real world ideals
* help to keep the medium alive: less and less people are reading. I recently read in USA Today that the children's book company, Scholastic, will probably be going out of business after the Harry Potters are done (which they are now) because so few kids are reading
* statistics show that parents who have more books around the house have kids who do better at school
broadening your thoughts and incorporating new ideas
* an opportunity for analytical thought
* the ability to compare a novel with its film adaptation is interesting

I can't think of any more right now, but I'm sure they're are zillions. I am a big advocate of children literacy; therefore, adult literacy is necessary for this. I hope your class works out.

Answer 3

I like to read, and am considered the bookworm that reads anything, but the trick is you have to enjoy the type of book you're reading. If I'm not intersted in it, I can't read it. Tell your students to find something they're interested about and ask them why they like it- but don't tell them about reading yet. This kid talks nonstop about ghost stories and scary movies? Set them up with a good horror novel- they'll most likely enjoy it. They like fantasy and magic sort of things? Give them Eragon, Harry Potter, anything! A kid that likes to think about the future, give them Uglies! Once you find out what they're interested, give them a book that involves it, and they'll most likely love it.
Don't give study questions, don't give a test, don't say "You've got to read this much by then" - it'll turn it into a boring assignment. Personally, I didn't like to read when I was younger, but then I started reading Junie B Jones. Easy, funny, and as a little kid, I understood it. I still wasn't a big reader though. That series lead me to The Boxcar Children, where I was fasinated by the kids living alone. Harry Potter was something I didn't want to bother with until I saw the movie, now I'm a fanatic, and it turned me onto fantasy, which lead to tons of different books.
Start out slow with them, then start giving assignments and deadlines. Hey, a few years ago my teacher saw that I would probably enjoy a certain series, lent it to me, and it was great! Pay attention to their intersts and you'll definitely get them started.
Reading takes me somewhere that I'm not and it's just amazing to get away from th world sometimes- especially if your in school.

Answer 4

I enjoy reading because it keeps my brain active, I learn new words and I develope a style of writting. Did you know when your sleeping your brain is more active vs when you are watching tv? You always get correct spelling and is way more detailed than watching tv. Reading helps people get the ideas to invent things. It was Einstein that once said "imagination is more important than knowledge" And students get both from reading. Reading developes an imagination for the young and growing mind.

Answer 5

well i LOVE reading and im 13. i usually read every night when i have a book but my friends think im weird beacuse i like to read. i think that i like reading because it can take you away from your everyday life and that it gives you motivation and a deeper imagination. this is especially true for fantasy books. these books transport you into and different and exciting world that makes you want to be there. when reading you get attached to some characters, dislike others. When somthing horrible or amazing happens to them, you feel like you have known them all of your life and you feel their pain or you feel their excitement. i love this feeling of emotion you get when you read about your favorite characters when they triumph over evil or when they lose someone they love. i also think that reading expands your sense of vocabulary. you are introduced to new words every time you trun the page. you also get a strong sense of paragraph formation and properwriting ways. this will soon help when asked to write a paper in future years in school. i think reading is an amazing thing and i could talk about why it is so great but i have not the time. i hope this helped!

-Axel- Got it memorized?

Answer 6

I enjoy reading the local newspaper and trash magazines such as The National Enquirer.
Its easier to read about something you enjoy rather than something which is not relevent to today.
My daughter loved to read my books from nursing school which had photo's of bacterial skin infections and gross diseases. She looked at the photo and read up on what was going on.

Answer 7

Try 'Coupons for Good Readers'. It's available for 6.95 at any Barnes and Noble.

Also, I love reading. =D I'm fourteen. Been reading since I was three. It was an escape from my parent's divorce.

But as a popular adage goes:

Knowledge is power
Power corrupts
Corruption is evil

Answer 8

Books allow for a much more complicated and interesting storyline because one's imagination is not limited by only what one is seeing on the screen.

I definitely prefer books to TV....

Answer 9

Reading calms me. It takes me to another world. I block out everything around me...my problems, worries, stress. I can be alone. It makes me feel like I am involved in another life. No one bothers me or stresses me out...it is just me and the book. T.V. nowadays is distracting and uneducational. TV doesn't MOVE me. A book does.

Answer 10

it may be irrelevant to your situation but when i took an interest to reading my parents were getting a divorce and i needed an outlet. books became kinda like an alternate world were people were happy in the end. kinda like in that movie the neverending story.