It’s no secret that reading has countless benefits, but what happens when the reader starts to lose steam?
Stamina is necessary to reach reading goals. Helping students increase and maintain reading stamina is crucial to success inside and outside the classroom. It’s normal to lose stamina now and then; the key is learning how to get back in the swing of things when that happens. Keep reading to learn five strategies to help readers of all ages build their reading stamina and discover how Beanstack can increase reading stamina.
Why Is Reading Stamina Important?
Before discussing strategies to boost stamina, let’s examine its relationship to reading and why it’s important.
Stamina is simply the attention and effort required to continue doing something. Any sort of prolonged task requires stamina, including reading. Maintaining reading stamina is becoming increasingly difficult today, and not just for struggling readers.
Reading stamina is critical to developing reading comprehension and fostering a lifelong love of reading. However, reading comprehension is declining in schools today, which has worrisome implications for reading achievement. According to the 2022 NAEP Reading Assessment, reading scores for 4th and 8th-grade students continue to decline.
Strong reading stamina has a long-term impact on students. It can help students navigate longer tests and assignments in other subjects. It can help boost attention spans and encourage students to continue challenging tasks rather than give up easily. As students get older, reading material only gets longer and more complex. Reading stamina is an important life skill and will help students throughout their education, career, and life.
Strategies to Boost Student Reading Stamina
Sustaining students’ focus on reading for extended periods of time is no easy feat. There are so many distractions in today’s technological world, all competing for readers’ attention. With so much information available at lightning speed right at their fingertips from a smartphone, students have less need to sort through lengthy text in search of answers to a question.
As consuming short-form video content on social media platforms becomes increasingly common for school-aged children, kids adapt to holding full attention only for extremely short amounts of time. Additional research shows that the average person’s attention span when using a digital device has decreased by a staggering 66% since 2004.
It may not be realistic to expect students to excitedly trade in their social media content for full-length books overnight, but small changes lead to big improvements. Improving reading stamina will ultimately help sustain students’ focus on reading for longer periods. This can be achieved through a holistic approach that encourages reading stamina in the classroom and at home.
1. Read in a Variety of Ways
Every child has their own unique interests, goals, and needs. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to selecting a form of reading. Students must be able to choose a method of reading that fits their individual needs.
Silent reading time or independent reading is great for fluent readers who enjoy working alone. Small group reading is an effective strategy that allows students to read to someone else and listen to someone else read. This is a great option for classrooms with students with diverse learning needs who may find greater success with audio rather than visual instruction.
Providing a combination of types of reading improves reading stamina by meeting each child’s individual needs. It shows them that their needs are valid and reinforces the idea that reading is acceptable in various ways.
2. Choose “Just Right” Books
A common roadblock for reluctant readers is being pressured to read beyond their level. Trying to push through a book that’s too difficult is a fast way to burn out and give up. It’s key that students have at-level books available so they can be challenged without being discouraged.
If even “just right” books become daunting, remind students that reading books below their level is okay. The key to stamina is finding the right elements to keep students reading.
3. Set Reasonable Goals
Another reason students can lose reading stamina is reaching for goals that may be too difficult. Start small by choosing a reasonable number of minutes for the child.
The number of minutes can increase over time so that they are eventually reading for longer periods of time—or not! Reading consistently is the goal. For some students, reading in short blocks with frequent breaks might be the most effective strategy, and that’s okay.
4. Celebrate Progress
Celebrate time spent reading to boost reading stamina and self-esteem. It’s important to remind students that their successes should be celebrated, and consistent reading is the goal.
Students will feel a sense of accomplishment for their progress without the pressure of attaining a particular level or passing a quiz. Use positive reinforcement to reward reading stamina and encourage further reading.
5. Foster Community
Participating in reading groups in your community shows your child that reading is important for readers of all ages, levels, and abilities. Reading communities fuel accountability and friendly competition as students will look forward to reading and discussing it with those in the group.
Group reading allows readers to lean on one another and support each other’s reading stamina. This is especially helpful during school breaks or for children who need additional reading enrichment.
How Beanstack Helps Build Reading Stamina
Beanstack supports all of the above strategies through a range of features designed to encourage reading. Use Beanstack to help apply these strategies seamlessly into your classroom or child’s reading routine. The best approach to increasing reading stamina is to make small changes in multiple areas, and Beanstack makes it easy.
Log Various Forms of Reading
As mentioned above, there’s more than just one way to read, and Beanstack supports reading in all forms. Students can track their independent reading or log when their parents read to them. All forms of reading count, whether they’re reading an ebook, a graphic novel, or even listening to an audiobook.
Readers can log time spent reading in any form through Beanstack’s user-friendly reading and book tracker. Reading stamina builds as students log their progress and are encouraged to maintain reading streaks over consecutive days. Book tracking is quick and easy and can be done on a schedule that fits their needs.
Gain Insights to Recommend “Just Right” Books
Our Lexile Insights feature offers educators key insights into student reading habits, including the average level of books they’re reading. This information can be used to make title suggestions and help keep students on track.
Students are also encouraged to choose their own titles from Beanstack’s expansive collection. Allowing students to read self-selected books builds reading stamina by empowering them to make their own choices and drive their own progress. Students will be excited to pick out their books and log their progress.
Set Goals Through Gamification
A great way to support kids in goal-tracking and making reading fun is through Beanstack’s gamification features. Reading challenges offer a way for students to contribute to class, school, or district-wide reading goals. Reading streaks and badges increase engagement and stamina by strengthening kids’ intrinsic motivation to read.
Readers can participate in a community goal in addition to individual reading goals within challenges. We emphasize time spent reading and habit-building over quizzing and levels. This helps to set reasonable goals and doesn’t make kids feel singled out for reading books at a different level than their peers.
Celebrate Time Spent Reading
Acknowledging reading efforts and celebrating student progress at every level is important. Digital badges and achievements instantly reward students for their time spent reading. Beanstack’s intuitive dashboards help educators track reading progress and make it easy for them to see when larger recognitions like physical prizes and experiences should be awarded.
Unlike quiz-based reading platforms that pressure students to reach a certain level, Beanstack encourages reading stamina and creates lifelong readers with less stress and no tests. Students will not feel like they need to race through difficult texts just to earn points. Instead, they are rewarded for reading effort and time spent reading.
Foster Community and Connect With Other Readers
Beanstack fosters community and encourages engagement by helping readers connect to library programming, resources, books, and each other. Boost the reading culture in your community by connecting with your local library and participating in programs all year long.
Cultivate new readership and join the 10,000+ public libraries and schools around the world that use Beanstack to engage their communities. Increase student reading stamina through family literacy programs, book clubs, and reading challenges in your area. Show your kids that reading is important for people of all ages.
We’re Here to Help
Help improve student reading stamina in your school district by bringing Beanstack to your community. Schedule a demo or request a quote to start engaging readers today.