I've always loved Jerry Harste's work.
I often repeat the adage that we have spent a lot of time teaching our children to read, but not enough time teaching them to learn to love to read. As I watched my girls pour over some great books today, and experienced their delight, it got me thinking about what type of classroom situation is best
Linda Gambrell identified six characteristics of classroom cultures that foster reading motivation for most students.
1) The teacher as an explicit reading model
2) A book-rich classroom environment
3) Opportunities for choice
4) Opportunities to interact socially with others
5) Opportunities to become familiar with lots of books
6) Appropriate reading-related incentives.