Slow readers will be more motivated to read when they understand the text. For this reason, you must teach your elementary students to develop proper reading comprehension skills. When you assign a text, provide students with questions for consideration which outline the text. Also, assign writing activities for texts that students have finished. Both of these strategies will improve your students' reading comprehension skills, which makes reading both easier and more engaging to slow readers.
Proper reading routines ensure that students dedicate adequate time and effort to their reading activities. Set aside a specific amount of time every school day for classroom reading. Also, consistently give your elementary students reading assignments for homework. Encourage them to apply the reading routines they learn in the classroom at home. This motivates slow readers to keep reading regardless of their speed. Over time, a consistent reading routine will improve both their reading speed and comprehension abilities.
For proper motivation, your elementary students must enjoy the reading assignments they are given. This is especially true for slow readers, who are likely to get frustrated and exhibit poor reading performance when they are not engaged with the text. To ensure all students have enjoyable options to choose from, provide books of various genres and content, such as mystery stories, scary stories, illustrated books and poetry. This way, students can develop their own literary tastes which will increase their motivation to read and engage with texts.
Provide multimedia material that supplements the reading assignments. For example, show a movie adaptation of a book read in class. This offers slow readers an alternative medium through which to enjoy the assignment, thus increasing their motivation to read other texts. A similar strategy is to read books aloud to students during class time. By hearing the text read aloud, students are able to improve their reading fluency and vocabulary. This will also help slow learners engage with a text, which will motivate them to continue reading on their own.