Reading Identity – Page 2

Last week, I was surprised to be asked to speak at another Danish school about the joy of reading to their 4th-9th grade students. Surprised because I am not really anyone who is invited to anything here in Denmark. And also; when was thelast time I went out to speak to students that weren’t my own?

At first, I was pumped. Getting to talk reading and sharing book joy is something that keeps me smiling. But then, as I thought some more about it, I realized that I was the wrong person to bring in.

Not because I couldn’t do the talk. I can. But because the work that might need to happen is work that needs to happen before someone like me comes in. I don’t believe that an outsider – even someone like me who lives and breathes books – can create the lasting impact they’re hoping for. A spark yes. Inspiration ,yes. But without a foundational change in how we view reading in our buildings, all I will be, is a flash. Someone who (hopefully) created joy, but didn’t really impact the culture, at least not yet.

Instead, I believe the real magic happens when we co-create a shared reading culture within your own school walls. When time is specifically made to decide o which type of reading culture you want to have, and we then take the time not only to protect what is already working, but also create new initiatives.

The best reading culture doesn’t come from one-off visits, but from sustained, daily practices that live and breathe in your classrooms and hallways. It’s about fostering local reading connections: Who are your reading role models? Who will lead the charge and share their own reading journeys, not just during a special event, but every single day?

This is why when we want to build reading joy and ownership among students, it’s essential to think beyond a single day or a single guest speaker. While guest speakers and single days can create the momentum, we need more to keep it going. We need to invest in the small, consistent acts that make reading feel alive, relevant, and shared.

So, what does that look like in practice? Here are some ideas for how you might get started – but don’t forget to also include your students. What would they say the focus should be? What would they say is working? What would they say needs to change?

Readers as Role Models and Community Builders

Student reading ambassadors: Choose students who can share book recommendations, host quick booktalks, or lead reading events across grade levels. Their excitement will hopefully spread.
Staff reading showcases: Create a “We’re Reading…” wall where teachers and staff post photos with their current reads, along with a short note about what they love about them. Let students see that reading isn’t just for kids – it’s for everyone. Or do it individually, I have shared my “Mrs. Ripp is currently reading and loving…” wall many times.
Cross-grade reading buddies: Pair older students with younger ones. Let them read aloud, share favorites, and have conversations about books. It’s about connection and mentorship, not just fluency.
Teacher Reading Swap: Each month, two or three teachers “swap” their current read and do a short booktalk for the other’s class. It’s a great way to cross-pollinate reading excitement and show that adults read widely too.
Surprise Guest Readers: Secretly invite parents, local authors, or even the school custodian to pop into classrooms to read a short passage from a book they love. Let them share why it matters to them – it builds authentic connection.
Digital Book Shoutouts: Start a “Reading Reel” on your school’s social media: teachers and students record 30-second videos sharing a book they’re obsessed with. It’s quick, it’s relatable, and it makes reading feel cool and visible.
Classroom “Book Pods”: Instead of traditional reading groups, let small student “book pods” form around a shared interest (like graphic novels, sports, fantasy, etc.). They self-organize discussions, book swaps, or mini-displays.

Celebrations and Rituals Around Reading

Reading Ritual Starters: Start or end the day with a tiny “bookish moment” — a teacher shares a one-minute excerpt from what they’re reading, or a student shares a sentence they loved from their book. A quiet, daily sprinkle of reading.
Bookmarks of the Week: Students create bookmarks with a favorite quote or character from what they’re reading and swap them with classmates. A small but personal way to celebrate reading lives.
Window Wonders: Encourage classes to decorate a window or small bulletin board with their current favorite reads. It’s not about big displays — it’s about little visual peeks into reading life, shared daily.
Quiet Reading Buddies: Once a week, two students pair up and read their own books side by side, no talking. Just sharing quiet reading time — the focus is on the joy of reading with someone, even in silence.
One New Word: Each day, invite a student to share one interesting word they came across while reading. It’s a micro-moment of wonder and wordplay that sparks conversation without taking over the day.
Mini-Postcard Reviews: Students write a tiny “review” (one or two sentences) on a sticky note or postcard for a book they finished. Collect them in a communal jar or box — a low-key, ongoing celebration of finished reads.
Reading Stretch: Between transitions, teachers read a single sentence from their current read aloud. It’s a way to infuse reading into those spare minutes, normalizing it as a shared part of school life.
Collective reading challenges: Instead of focusing on individual reading logs, have classes or teams set collective goals – like reading enough to travel (on paper) to a new city or country. Celebrate their journey together.

Reflection and Building Reading Identity

“My reading life” maps: Have students draw or write about when, where, and how they read, and what reading means to them. These reflections can be surprisingly powerful.
Reading Time Capsules: Have students create a “reading snapshot” – what they’re reading now, their current favorites, and one book they hope to love next year. Seal it and revisit at the end of the year.
Bookish Mood Boards: Instead of just writing about books, let students create mood boards (digital or physical) to capture the vibe of their current favorite read – colors, textures, images.
“Why I Abandoned This Book”: Normalize that not all books work for everyone. Students can reflect on a book they didn’t finish and why and create a bulletin board. It’s a great way to build critical thinking and give permission to stop reading what doesn’t click.
Reading Playlist Pairings: Invite students to create a short playlist that pairs with the vibe of a book they’re reading. Share the playlists with classmates – a creative, multimedia way to share bookish identity.
“Who am I as a reader?” activities: Structured exercises where students think about their favorite genres, their reading goals, their best reading memories. This builds ownership and identity.
Meaningful reading goals: Move beyond page or book counts. Encourage goals like, “I want to find a book that makes me think,” or, “I want to reread an old favorite and see if it still feels the same.”

Saying no to the speaking invitation wasn’t easy, after all, who knows if I will ever get a chance like that again. But without the other work happening, I am just not enough to create a culture shift for students. Not yet anyway. After all, a reading culture isn’t something you import – it’s something you grow together.

conferences, Reading, Reading Identity

A small tweak for better reading goals

April 24, 2025April 18, 2025 Pernille Ripp

I think we are all really good at setting goals. But goals that we actually attain? Those are harder. So when I think of the reading goal work I do and have done with students, there is a small tweak that has made a big difference: including the why. And not in teacher lingo, but in the everyday kid language that shows us this is something they have truly reflected on.

Why have they chosen what they chose? What should the end result be?

Does it even align with who they are and what they have the capacity for right now?

This small tweak can lead to a deeper understanding of how they want to grow overall and move goals from being checklist items to meaningful pursuits. It can also show us which kids are just setting goals to please the adults or get it off their to-do. There is a lot of parroting that happens in schools, kids know what we teachers want to hear and so often when it comes to setting learning goals, kids tell us what we want to hear. Asking them to pause and add on an answer to “in order to” gives us a chance to open up for much broader conversations, and also continue our focus on developing readers and not “just” reading skills.

I have shared my reading survey before, but here is my 6 week survey that I use every 6 weeks to check in with students. This is where they set new goals and it has been updated with this addition.

being a teacher, Reading, Reading Identity

Using Self-Compassion to Help Readers Grow

April 21, 2025April 18, 2025 Pernille Ripp

Another post first shared on Patreon, but one that is oh so relevant as we continue to attempt to build meaningful reading relationships.

I came across a fascinating article that discussed the three pillars of self-compassion and how actively developing it can help us alleviate anxiety and depression. Immediately, my mind jumped to reading identity and overall school affinity for students. How does self-compassion and seeing your own worth tie in with how we develop and what we are willing to try?

So I have a few ideas for how we can take this work and bring it into our classrooms as a part of what we already do. In my experience, some kids who hate reading have this reaction because of how reading makes them feel; worthless, and so when we focus on developing self-compassion, they can sometimes shift their mindsets into one of awe rather than disappointment.

Reading is an incredibly complex brain capability. It is not something that just happens, but something we have to train our brain to do, thus the need for specific reading skills teaching, as well as positive reading experiences. When kids don’t develop as easily as they see others do, they often turn that inward, seeing themselves as less-than, rather than recognizing that many components need to be in place to develop as a reader and that we inherently develop at different speeds. And we can try to speak this out of existence, but we all know that ultimately the deeper realization needs to come from the child themselves.

Adding these ideas into the reading conferring that hopefully is happening provides us with an opportunity to dig deeper into how kids view themselves as readers, and the next steps they can take in their journey. So it is not that it is one more thing to do, but rather a new lens and line of questioning we can explore with those kiddos who despite all our attempts still hate reading.

I use a lot of surveys with kids in order to see how they view themselves as readers. My beginning of the year one – which can be used any time – can be accessed here but sometimes a quick survey like this one can also be a great way to check in and deepen conversations.

I would love to know your thoughts on this. Do we even have time for this? How do we make the time? What are the conversations we can have with kids that help them take over the ownership of their reading development?

Reading, Reading Identity

Let Students Speak Books: Simple Ideas for a Shared Reading Community

April 20, 2025 Pernille Ripp

I have been thinking, writing, speaking about reading identity and building joyful reading opportunities in school for more than a decade. Ideas still come, but at times, they slow down. After all, there are mnay tried and true ideas that still work, even as they get re-shared throughout the years. We finetune, we adapt, we consider, we reflect, and we put things into practice to see if this little tweak, this little idea is THE idea for helping a child build their reading culture.

We all know so many of the components of a reading environment that works a for a lot of kids. Independent reading time, book choice (As my niece said today, “I only like to read books I decide myself”), embracing diverse preferences not just in reading material but also in how we read, who we read with and how we work with reading. We allow and encourage book abandonment, and we spend precious minutes recommending books to speak books with our students. We lead the way as a committed adult reader who wants to showcase all the paths into reading and why it matters.

Bit it doesn’t always work. Even this, is sometimes not enough. And I get asked a lot; then what. But how can we take it further? Because an adult-centered reading community is an artificial one at length for students. It has an expiration date that lines up with when the adult says goodbye.

This is why some of our time has to be focused on that shift in who is at the center of the reading culture. How can we shift from being the sole source of reading knowledge to cultivating a shared knowledge base? How do we establish and grow a casual reading community that goes beyond just the teacher-student interactions and start to draw in each other as fellow readers?

Like I said, I have shared many ideas throughout the years – in my book, Passionate Readers, this community, and on social media. But here are a few more to get those readers talking, sharing, and seeing each other as the valuable resources that they are.

I have linked to the resources I have created as well.

Choose my Book for Me

Have each child fill in a reading desire sheet: length, genre, format, favorite previous reads etc – see sheet for questions and to make your own.

Then have students identify four people they would like to find a book for – 2 friends and 2 not-yet-friends. Assign two students to each child, ensuring everyone has two individuals to find a book for.

Share the reading desire sheet and let them loose, pulling books they think these people may like.

Pile them up and have them add them to their to-be-read list.

…Then You Might Like

Have students fill out their favorite themes of books on a quick tally sheet.

Then group 3-4 kids into small groups putting them in charge of their chosen theme.

Each group creates an “If you like this book, then you might also like these books…” poster.

Hang and share in your classroom.

Adult Favorites

What do the adults in your schools and community love to read and what would they recommend to someone in your classroom?

Have adults come in or share a recorded brief (2 minutes or less) book talk with students offering their favorite reads for this age group.

Play one every day or create a library where students can access at their leisure.

For ideas for adults with guidelines, go here

Fill a Box

Grab some shoe boxes or other smaller boxes and group 4-5 students together.

Let them loose in your book stacks – collaborate with your librarian if you don’t have a classroom library – and as a group, have them fill each box with recommendations of books they have loved.

Swap boxes with other groups, give a short rundown of titles selected if you want, and have kids write down book recommendations on their to-be-read lists.

1 Minute Book Talk

At the end of independent reading once a week, have students stop and do a 1 minute or less book talk to their table group (or group them together).

Have them share what they are reading, why they chose it, and one other question from this list or ones they make up themselves.

Share the most shocking or surprising moment you’ve encountered in your book so far.
What keeps you hooked and motivated to continue reading this book?
On a scale of 1 to 5, how would you rank this book in terms of enjoyment?
Who do you think would enjoy reading this book?
If you could ask the author one question about the book, what would it be?
Share a favorite quote or passage from the book that resonated with you.
Has this book made you see something in a different way? How has it changed your perspective?
Make a TikTok dance or gesture that represents the overall mood or theme of the book.
Imagine if this book were turned into a movie. Who would you cast as the main characters?
Share your favorite character from the book and explain why they’re memorable to you.
If you could recommend this book to anyone (real or fictional), who would it be and why?
Share an interesting fact or trivia related to the author or the book’s setting.
What emotions has this book made you feel?
Show us your reading spot or favorite place to dive into this book.
If you could live in the world of this book for a day, what would you do or explore?
Share a book-related tip or hack that has enhanced your reading experience.
In three words, describe the overall vibe or atmosphere of the book.

Think Like a Marketer

Have students find a book they would like to advertise. Can be one they have read or not.

The goal is now to create an advertising campaign for this to entice as many readers as possible. What should the tagline be? How should the book be photographed? Think like a marketer – how would the book be placed, what props would be present, what would the angle be?

Have students create posters using Canva with their images and taglines and share them around the school as a way to entice further readers. You can even run a campaign and see how many kids end up borrowing the book.

Giving students an opportunity to be the ones that speak books more than the adults is a way to shift ownership. It becomes commonplace when we give it value, time, and space to be developed.

So what are ideas that you like to use? How have you shifted the ownership of the discovery of books into the hands of your students?

being a student, being a teacher, Reading Identity, Writing Identity

Embracing Change: Helping Students Break Free from the Self-Consistency Fallacy

June 10, 2023 Pernille Ripp

I never thought I would step out of the classroom as a teacher. There was no vision of my future that didn’t have me being a teacher, yet taking a break from physically teaching and working in marketing as a brand writer has been an incredible experience. Not only am I now 100% certain that I want to get back in the classroom, but I have also gotten to test so many of the writing strategies I have taught students throughout the years, expanded my own knowledge of the corporate tech world, and had to push myself way beyond my comfort zone. Starting over in a career at 42 is not for the fainthearted.

But this was something I would have never done had it not been for how awful I felt last school year. I needed to become something else in order to preserve what I was.

But still, seeing ourselves through the many roles we play means we often get stuck in the self-consistency fallacy – the belief that our past choices and behaviors must dictate our future. Just as watching the same play with the same actors repeating the same lines would grow tiresome, sticking rigidly to who we think we are can hinder personal and academic growth.

And so it made me think, of course, about the very kids in our care who only see themselves as one thing – a kid who doesn’t read, someone who is bad a math, someone where school doesn’t work. But they can be so much more. As educators, we know it is vital to help students realize that they have the power to change not only their academic trajectory but also their identities and passions. And we tell kids this all the time, often to very deaf ears. After all, it is easy to tell someone that they can be whoever they want to be, but often we have no way of knowing how to change.This is where teaching them about the self-consistency fallacy can help.

The self-consistency fallacy, also known as the continuation bias, path dependence, or battle against determinism, exerts a powerful influence on our lives. It often compels us to make choices based on our past roles and interests, even when our desires and aspirations have evolved. Similarly, it can limit our relationships, health choices, and overall life direction. However, it is essential to recognize that we are not bound by our past decisions and beliefs. We are dynamic beings capable of change and growth—a verb, not a noun according to Anne-Laure Le Cunff, who recently wrote about the self-consistency fallacy which started all of my thoughts.

To help students overcome the self-consistency fallacy, we must foster an environment that encourages reflection and expansion. By posing questions, we can challenge students to let go of preconceived expectations and explore new horizons.

This also ties beautifully in with the identity work we can have students do throughout the year. A great place to start is by taking students through some or all of these questions starting with who they are now, how people see them, and how they would like to be seen. Of course, these can be modified to fit the age group you teach.

What are some of your strengths and talents that you value about yourself?
How do your friends and family describe you? Do you agree with their perceptions of you?
Are there any aspects of yourself that you would like to change or improve? Why?
How do you think others perceive your interests and passions? Is there anything you want to explore further?
Are there any activities or hobbies you’ve been hesitant to try because of how others might see you? Why?
How do you express your true self in different environments, such as at school, with friends, or at home?
Do you feel comfortable expressing your thoughts and opinions openly? Why or why not?
Are there any societal or cultural expectations that have influenced how you present yourself to others?
Imagine the ideal version of yourself. How would you describe this person? What traits or qualities would they possess?
What steps can you take to align your current self with the person you aspire to become?
Are there opportunities that you have dismissed because they don’t align with your existing trajectory?
What new paths could you explore if you were not bound by your past choices?
If you could start from a blank slate, who would you be? What would you be interested in? How would you be known?

Asking students to consider how they are seen and whether they agree with that opinion is an important place to inspire change. Is how they are known who they want to be? Are there other parts of themselves they would like the world to know about? Are there parts they would like to not be known for?

It is crucial for students to understand that the most significant opportunities for learning and growth often emerge from unexpected tangents. Encourage students to embrace the “weird” projects that pique their curiosity, explore fun ideas that may not have apparent professional benefits, and engage in collaborations unrelated to their career aspirations. Encourage them to break free of the stereotypes that often confine them.

By venturing beyond their comfort zones, students can cultivate a diverse range of experiences that will shape their unique stories. But even more importantly, they can change their static notions of who they are.

As educators, we have the privilege of guiding students along their educational journeys. By addressing the self-consistency fallacy, we can help students realize that they possess the agency to shape their academic and personal trajectories. By encouraging reflection, asking thought-provoking questions, and embracing change, we can inspire students to explore their true passions, foster growth, and build the foundation for a fulfilling future.

PS: Are you looking for coaching, in-person support, or virtual presentations? I am available and would love to support your work. Whereas I am physically located in Denmark now, I can travel if needed. In fact, I was just in North America in February 2023 and plan on bouncing back and forth. If you would like me to be a part of your professional development, please reach out. I am here to help. For a lot more posts, resources, live and recorded professional development, please join my Patreon community where most of my sharing takes place these days.

building community, first day, first week, picture books, Reading, Reading Identity

Booklist: Great Picture Books for The First Day or Week of School

August 1, 2022 Pernille Ripp

Cross-posted from my Patreon community where I post min-pd videos, specific unit plans, and also do livestreams once a month.

I started compiling my pile of great picture books to read for the first day of school and then…the list grew. A lot. Because so much of what we do on that first day of school depends on the type of mood we are trying to invite, the focus we choose to have, and of course, the age of our students.

So, the link shared here will show you more than 50 great picture books you could use, 20 that I love personally, and then another 30 some suggested by other educators. Some are new, some are old, and all serve a great purpose of discussing norms, modeling fluency, opening up discussions, creating memories, and focusing on reading as an act of community creation.

Reading a picture book aloud has been a personal first-day must for many years in our classroom. I want kids to see that we will spend valuable class time on reading, that read-aloud is not just for younger children, and that their voices get the space they deserve in our time together.

I know I missed amazing titles, which would you add to this resource?

I am excited to be heading out on the road again to be with other educators in-district or at conferences while continuing my virtual consulting and speaking as well. Whereas I am physically located in Denmark now, I can still offer virtual and in-person work. If you would like me to be a part of your professional development, please reach out. I am here to help. For a lot more posts, resources, live and recorded professional development, please join my Patreon community where most of my sharing takes place these days.

Category: Reading Identity

A Few Ideas for Building a Whole School Reading Culture