Create a literature-rich environment. The key to getting kids to read is to have books that interest them. Create a classroom library that includes all the different genres at different reading levels and on a wide variety of topics. Plaster your walls with motivational posters about the importance of reading. The more exposure you can give your students to the enjoyment of reading, the more likely they are to engage in the activity.
Teach phonics, phonemic awareness and sight-word recognition. Phonics are the individual sounds a letter makes, while phonemic awareness refers to the sounds within a word that blend together to make the word. Sight words are commonly used, everyday words that students learn to recognize on sight, such as at, or, and, or, the. With these tools, students will have the ability to sound out new words or recognize familiar ones when decoding text. The better students get at these skills, the more fluent they will become, opening the way for increased comprehension.
Introduce graphic organizers to increase comprehension. Graphic organizers are tools that help students organize their thinking and express understanding. After introducing key reading concepts, such as comparing and contrasting, model how to use graphic organizers to demonstrate understanding.
Provide plenty of opportunity to practice reading to increase fluency. Have story time everyday, give kids free reading time in class as much as possible, invite volunteers to come in and read with students or partner your class with a younger class and have them read to their buddy. The more authentic opportunities students get to read the more fluent they will become.
Offer vocabulary development. There are four different types of vocabulary: listening, speaking, reading and writing vocabulary. Increasing a student's vocabulary improves his chances of decoding difficult text and comprehending what is read.