By Sara Gross
Teaching young children to read is one of the most powerful gifts we can give them. However, sparking a love of reading is what keeps that gift growing for a lifetime.
As the founder of ReadBright, a highly effective structured literacy program aligned with the Science of Reading, I’ve spent decades watching children transform from hesitant decoders into confident, joyful readers.
For over 30 years, I’ve worked as an educator, literacy coach, and curriculum developer. In that time, I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t when it comes to helping young learners fall in love with reading. And while strong instruction is essential, so is creating a classroom environment where reading is meaningful, exciting, and accessible to every child.
Here are 10 proven strategies to help you do just that.
1. Start with Success: Use Decodable Readers for Beginners
Early readers thrive when they experience success, and one of the most effective ways to provide that success is through decodable readers. These carefully crafted books use only the phonics patterns students have already learned, giving them the tools to read independently from the very beginning.
Instead of relying on pictures or guessing strategies, students apply their decoding skills in real time. This builds confidence, reinforces instruction, and helps children see themselves as capable readers. When reading feels achievable, students are far more likely to enjoy it (and keep coming back for more).
2. Follow Their Passions: Let Students Choose Books They Love
There’s nothing more powerful than putting the right book in a child’s hands. When we offer a variety of both new and familiar texts, from fiction and non-fiction to funny and factual, we help students see that reading can be personal and relevant. Therefore, build a classroom library that reflects your students’ interests, backgrounds, and curiosities. When they see themselves in books, they’re more likely to pick them up.
3. Read Aloud with Joy
Read-alouds are more than just listening time; they are magical moments that build language, comprehension, and imagination. Choose books you love, and let your enthusiasm shine through. Use voices, gestures, and pauses to draw students in. When you read with joy, students associate reading with delight. That emotional connection matters.
4. Celebrate Growth, Not Just Fluency
Reading is a journey, and every step counts. Thus, celebrate when a student decodes their first word, finishes their first book, or sticks with a challenging sentence. Recognizing effort builds resilience.
In ReadBright classrooms, we often use simple milestone trackers or ‘reading celebration days’ to help students reflect on how far they’ve come.
5. Create a Cozy Reading Environment
Make reading feel special. Set up a corner with cushions, soft lighting, and easy access to books. Let students take ownership by decorating the space or choosing the ‘Read-Aloud of the Week.’ When your classroom says, ‘Reading is important here,’ students believe it.
6. Bring Books to Life
Reading shouldn’t exist in a vacuum. Connect stories to hands-on activities, writing prompts, or real-world experiences. For example, after reading a non-fiction text about seeds, plant some seeds in class. Or, read a story about kindness, then write letters to a local nursing home. When books become part of students’ lives, their meaning deepens.
7. Let Reading Be Active
Young children need to move, which they can do while reading! Try echo reading, partner reading, or ‘popcorn’ reading where students jump in with known words. Act out scenes from a story or make up gestures for vocabulary words. These multi-sensory experiences are fun and neurologically powerful.
8. Make High-Frequency Words Pop
At ReadBright, we call high-frequency words ‘pop words’ because they pop up often in text. We want them to pop out of students’ mouths quickly and confidently. These are the words students will encounter again and again, but many of them don’t follow regular phonics rules, making them tricky to decode.
Use songs, motions, visuals, and repetition to help students recognize and recall these words automatically. When pop words become familiar, students can focus more energy on new words and enjoy smoother, more fluent reading.
9. Foster a Community of Readers
Reading should be social. Pair students for partner reading and let them recommend books to one another. Also, invite guest readers like parents, older students, and staff to model reading for fun. When students see that reading connects people, they’re more likely to think of it as something they want to be part of.
10. Be a Reading Role Model
Children notice what we do. If we talk about our favorite books, set aside quiet time to read with students, and show our own love of learning, they pick up on that. Share your reading life with them and let them know that reading is for everyone, not just kids.
When we create classrooms filled with celebration, choice, connection, and consistency, reading becomes more than a skill; it becomes a passion. And that’s a gift that lasts a lifetime.
At ReadBright, we combine this kind of joyful classroom culture with systematic, research-based instruction. Our structured phonics lessons are built on the Science of Reading and influenced by Orton-Gillingham principles. But beyond the methods, our mission is simple: help every child not only learn to read—but want to read.
Sara Gross, MSEd, is a veteran educator with over 30 years of experience in early literacy instruction. She is the founder of ReadBright, a highly effective structured literacy program for K–2 students that combines evidence-based phonics with joyful, decodable content. Sara is passionate about helping teachers bring reading success—and a love of reading—to every child.
