In the face of pressure to cover curriculum and ensure every learner makes academic progress, it's easy for a deeper purpose of reading to get overshadowed. Students must learn how to read, and they must also develop advanced literacy skills to analyze, critique, and glean meaning from complex texts. But alongside these goals, we also want students to want to read—we hope to light sparks that turn reading from a task into a lifelong source of pleasure.
It's tempting to assume that once students gain the necessary skills, a love of reading will naturally follow, but that's not always the case. Research shows that reading for pleasure yields significant academic, emotional, and social benefits. This suggests that students, classrooms, and entire school communities benefit when we make space to nurture not just reading skills, but a genuine love of reading.
Some benefits of reading for pleasure are straightforward, such as stronger reading comprehension and improved writing skills. But the ripple effects go further: higher content retention, better grades across subjects, and greater college and career readiness. Reading for pleasure can also foster empathy and belonging. As students explore new worlds and connect with characters both like and unlike themselves, their understanding of themselves and others deepens.
When reading becomes solely about performance or students don’t connect with assigned texts, the joy can fade. That's why it's worth taking steps to ensure that reading for enjoyment coexists meaningfully with academic rigor.
Reading enjoyment often drops off after elementary school, as texts become more complex and the focus shifts toward close, critical reading of assigned texts. Therefore, it's important to instill a love of reading early and continue nurturing it over time. In younger grades, we can encourage families to read with their children as a joyful part of daily life. At home and in school, students should have access to a wide variety of texts, including fiction and nonfiction related to their interests.
In classrooms, this means building rich libraries, creating space for choice, and weaving independent reading into the rhythm of instruction. When students can choose books and other pieces that speak to them, learning and motivation for reading grow.
District and school leaders can create conditions for reading for enjoyment. Pacing guides and curriculum plans can leave room for flexibility and free reading. Teachers may wish to carve out time for independent reading, offer themed book clubs, or weave compelling texts into science, math, or other content areas.
Choice is powerful, and students of all ages should be able to select texts that speak to them. Classics and literary fiction can be offered alongside graphic novels, science fiction, and fantasy. Content-area informational texts can be presented along with magazine articles, biographies of athletes or artists, and trivia books. What matters is that students read and know their choices are valued.
Reading for pleasure builds cognitive skills, empathy, and open-mindedness, and should be elevated as a priority. When students enjoy reading, academic outcomes improve and students become lifelong, joyful readers.