"Students will read if we give them the books, the time, and the enthusiastic encouragement to do so. If we make them wait for the one unit a year in which they are allowed to choose their own books and become readers, they may never read at all. To keep our students reading, we have to let them."
"A classroom atmosphere that promotes reading does not come from the furniture and its placement as much as it comes from the teacher's expectation that students will read."
3 likes
Source: Donalyn Miller (2013). “Reading in the Wild: The Book Whisperer's Keys to Cultivating Lifelong Reading Habits”, p.26, John Wiley & Sons
About the author
Same author
More quotes by Donalyn Miller
"Reading changes your life. Reading unlocks worlds unknown or forgotten, taking travelers around the world and through time. Reading helps you escape the confines of school and pursue your own education. Through characters - the saints and the sinners, real or imagined - reading shows you how to be a better human being."
"Exposing students to lots of books and positive reading experiences while building a network of other readers who support each other provides students with tools that last beyond the classroom setting."
"I try to teach my students that books are a mirror, reflecting their own lives, and a window, giving them a peek into someone else's."
"I realized that every lesson, conference, response, and assignment I taught must lead students away from me and toward their autonomy as literate people."
"Readers enjoy talking about books almost as much as they like reading."