For children ages 8 to 18, literacy is no longer learning to read but reading to learn.
Eight to eighteen year olds should be offered increasingly diverse forms of reading materials and writing topics. Different types of writing (nonfiction, fiction, poetry, biography, etc.) can build a broad range of skills and can capture an individual child's interest.
With a firm connection between reading and writing, youth 8 to 18 years should begin writing about what they read, reading about topics they are writing on, and involving reading and writing in other areas of their school curriculum, such as social studies, sciences, and mathematics.
Making Reading Fun
Established readers should have access to literature that is of personal interest to them, which will increase their reading enthusiasm. For example, if your child is fascinated with horses, make sure he has access to both fictional stories and nonfiction books about horses.
Making reading fun for older children can also be as easy as talking to your youth about what he is reading, celebrating his reading accomplishments, or spending time discussing or researching topics that interest him: imagination is the key to fun! Involving art, music, movement, field trips, and other interests that your child has will connect additional fun activities to reading.