Increase Student Motivation 

Knowing what to teach and how to teach struggling readers is a process in itself, but knowing how to increase student motivation is another!  No matter how much you “know” about teaching reading to struggling readers, your intervention will be much less effective without student buy-in and participation.  Using these strategies to increase student motivation during your reading intervention will take your struggling readers from disengaged, too-soon defeated, and unwilling to excited, engaged, improving and dare-I-say, proud readers?  I’ve used all of these strategies to increase student motivation, and just as I have, you will begin to see increased participation and willingness to do the thing that is most difficult for your students; they’ll be reading and writing with enthusiasm!

If you are just wondering where in the world to begin with your struggling readers, be sure to download this free assessment to get started with phonological awareness instruction right away.

What Causes Lack of Motivation in Students?

We must remember what causes lack of motivation in students.  Our neurodiverse learners struggle for many reasons and reading intervention, by it’s very nature, is not fun.  It’s is the thing that’s most difficult.  This in-and-of-itself makes it hard for students to want to apply themselves to the learning at hand.  It takes a lot of cognitive and emotional energy.  Who wants to do something that is really hard, everyday, for sustained amounts of time?

Good News!  You CAN Increase Student Motivation!

The good news is that you CAN increase student motivation in your intervention!  In this post you’ll find some easy-to-implement strategies to improve student motivation and strategies that will take a little more time and patience.  You’ll get there.  And your students will be right there with you, willing and excited to read! 

Student motivation during your intervention is almost as important as the structured literacy content you teach to your struggling readers.  Only willing learners can be successful learners and you must transform your reading instruction today! 

In this post you will:

• Learn to implement ideas for struggling readers that will increase student motivation and add fun to your reading intervention
• Receive links for other ideas to increase student motivation
• Learn what a visual timer, repurposed game pieces and a stone jar have to do with increasing student engagement in the classroom
• Learn how to take your students from disengaged, reluctant readers to motivated and dare I say, excited readers?

How to Increase Student Motivation Using a Visual Timer

A visual timer is a must have tool for all teachers, but especially for reading intervention teachers.  In addition to struggling with reading, your students may also struggle with focus and time management.  They may feel anxious in the intervention classroom because these tasks are especially challenging and they may be away from their friends.  These difficulties may impede valuable reading intervention time with you, causing students to constantly be thinking about or asking, “How much time will this take? How many more minutes do we have?  When is recess?  When is break, when is lunch?”  Sound familiar?

This is an invaluable tool that I used in my tier 2 reading intervention, one that I use with my 1:1 students and one that I always recommend to my teachers in tier 3 reading intervention.  I can no longer be without this in my toolbox and my students depend on it. 

Having this visual gives students a good reference point.  Even if the number of minutes doesn’t make sense, they can quantify whether there is a LOT of time left or just a little with a quick glance.  This is helpful for student who struggle with math, also.  It truly helps them to visualize time. This link is one visual timer I use and love.

How to to Use the Visual Timer

There are several ways you can use it and you’ll find the best strategies for your students.  Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Set the timer for the entirety of the class, say 30 mins.  Let is serve as a countdown visual.  You can assign one student per week as the time keeper who gets to set it at the beginning of each class.
2.  Set it for 5 minutes before the end of the class to signal that it is clean up time.
3. Set the visual timer to signify when it will be time on the rug, or time to change adults in the classroom (for example, if you have a teacher’s assistant and you change groups)
4. Have your students earned “game time?” (Talk about a strategy to increase student motivation!) Set it for the 15-20 minutes you allot for free choice/game time.

How, exactly, is this helpful?

The visual timer will increase student motivation because our students need to feel respected.  Often we remind them to “pay attention” or “stay focused” but these words are ineffective.  When we say, without actually saying it, that “I understand that you are anxious about the time you are in here and you are curious when snack time, lunch, or recess will be and I’m going to help you meet this need,” this offers your students the respect of acknowledging that like us adults, they need to know what their day holds.  We validate their needs.  It offers a quick visual, allowing them to get back on track, to refocus and engage in our reading instruction.

A Free Option

Rather than purchasing a visual timer,  download this free clock clipart from Just Go Teach.  Put it into a powerpoint, enlarge it to a full 8.5 X 11 inch page and insert into a plastic sleeve.  Use an erasable marker and viola!  There you have it, your own FREE visual timer.  It won’t count down but it will give a good visual and you can easily keep it in your tool box as a strategy to increase student motivation.

Strategies to Increase Student Motivation Using Repurposed Game Pieces

Not only do kids LOVE games, and consequently any learning becomes fun (even rti reading intervention) but the brain loves novelty.  Remembering these two concepts for your reading intervention and using them to guide the strategies you choose to increase student motivation will take you a long ways!  Adapt them with your own creative ideas and you’ll have engaged and happy struggling readers in no time!

Thrifting for Student Engagement and Motivation in Literacy Intervention

I’m famous for going to the thrift store, purchasing old games, and using just the pieces to create engagement in the classroom or intervention environment.  This targets BOTH of the golden concepts for your struggling readers that are sure to engage: all kids love games and the brain loves novelty. 

Headbandz

Start with the game Headbandz; I see this game in thrift stores all the time! Keep that novelty concept in mind.  Put one of those blue bands on your own head and insert a card with the new concept written on it during your “new concept” portion of the reading lesson.  For example, if you are introducing a new short vowel sound such as short o, insert a card with the short o with a breve over it as a reminder throughout the rest of the lesson as you do word work, fluency and dictation.  The kids get a kick out of this and look forward to seeing what you’ll put in it next lesson.  Pro Tip: don’t say a thing, just wear it. (Yes, think “captivating.”)  

Poker Chips

Poker chips are another fun, cost-effective engaging reading manipulative.  Use them for your phonemic awareness lessons to represent sounds.  If you want to make sure that each sound is a different color (and often you only find red, white and blue poker chips), use those Avery round label dots of different colors on the chips. Use red chips only to represent vowel sounds.  

Looking for letter tiles and have no funds for classroom resources? (Yes, I spent many years as a classroom teacher!)  Get those white dot labels, put the consonant graphemes on blue chips and the vowel graphemes on red chips. Viola!  Easy-to-customize, inexpensive and versatile letter tiles for your reading intervention lessons! This allows you to inexpensively keep individual, customized sets for each group of students in your small group reading intervention.

Use the hot glue gun and glue magnets to the back of your poker chips and you have moveable tiles that can be used for demo on the white board.  You can demonstrate phonemic awareness with these on your magnetic white board, and if you have a small enough group, the students can do the activities on the white board using these. You can also link spelling with phonemic awareness with the chips you have written the graphemes on. The brain loves novelty and just seeing the chips used in this way is exciting.  You’ve already grabbed their attention and this alone will improve student motivation.

Tile Rummy

I found a game called Tile Rummy for math.  But I spray painted the chips white (they had numbers on them) and wrote my graphemes on each tile.  It also has these great little tile holders, which only add interest.  Remember, the brain loves novelty!   These can be used for graphemes OR morphemes.  The increased the kinesthetic input into reading lessons is a strategy to increase student motivation that will work every time; students love reading manipulatives!

Playing Cards

Thrift stores tend to have LOTS of playing cards. You know those kinds with the fancy pictures on the back, like the gold trimmed ones with the geese flying above the lake that Grandma used to have?  The brain loves novelty and when you pull these out, the kids are automatically intrigued.  Get small white labels and transform those into Go Fish cards instantly. Use words with the target skill you are working on.  For example, if you are wanting to review r-controlled vowels, write r controlled vowel words on each card.  If you’re looking for single syllable word lists or multisyllable word lists to help you make these, go here.

Player Pieces

Don’t ignore the “player” pieces in those old board games!  Repurpose these pieces for the fun, easy-to-prep printable games you find.  Once again, the students will be delighted with the pieces they recognize from their own games and once again, you see that you have discovered how to increase learner motivation using that phrase you must remember: the brain loves novelty.

A Strategy to Motivate Students That May Surprise You: The Stone Jar

If I told you there was an easy and novel way to increase student motivation, to add movement, augment your social-emotional learning and add joy to your reading intervention that won’t take away valuable teaching time, would you believe me?  It’s the stone jar.

It just happened in my classroom organically.  I have shared it with dozens of teachers like you and literally watched kids go from bored and disengaged to focused and motivated.  I kid you not.  (That’s my mom’s phrase, and the stone jar was inspired by her!)

Let me tell you more about this magic tool and how to improve motivation in students by using it.  One of my mom’s most peaceful, inspirational and favorite places among her life’s many hardships was the beach.  She’d go for hours if she had the chance and carefully select stones that she loved for some reason: the color, the design, the shape, the feel.  This led to an extensive collection of beautiful beach stones that  I inherited. Well, it’s nearly a universal law that all kids love stones and rocks.  (I’m almost positive!) So I decided to use them for student engagement and motivation and just like that, the “Stone Jar” was born. It has became a memorable part of my every learning environment since.  

Stone Jar Rules (Keep it Fun and Simple)

• Fill the jar and the class or the student (if you teach 1:1) will get 15 minutes of free game time (carefully selected literacy-based games, of course!) 
• You MUST get your stones in the jar before the teacher finishes counting down, or they won’t count (count from 5 to 0)
• You may not touch the stones until the teacher begins to countdown
• You can earn a dice (or even a mega dice) for certain extra effort, skill increase, etc.
• I, the teacher, will NEVER take stones out, with ONE exception:
  • If anyone decide to be dishonest intentionally, the jar is emptied

This is a classroom management tool I have used for over a decade to motivate my struggling readers in the classroom and during one on one instruction.  The kids look forward to it and have fun guessing and dreaming about when it might be full. Pro tip: you do NOT have to use beach stones. You can use marbles, pom poms, or any another equally intriguing small object.

How to Increase Student Motivation with “Teacher vs. Students”

This is a quick and easy strategy for classroom management that will improve student motivation.  All you need is a white board and marker.  First establish the rules and the winner’s prize and then you’re off!

Make a t-chart on the white board, Teacher vs. Students and set the rules:

• Teacher gets points is students are interrupting, disrespectful or… (fill in the blank)
• Students get points for: participation, respectful behavior, and/or…(fill in the blank)

Keep these rules consistent each time you play.

Race to 100 is one way to keep track of a class’s points.  Once they get 100, they get a game day.  Use a simple graph to keep track of their points, and hang it somewhere in the room. Select a student to fill in the # of points at the end of each class, or you can do it for the sake of time.

Almost always, this game leads to the class as the winner, however don’t let your students suspect this is the case!

This is a strategy to increase student motivation that is tried and true, and that will add joy and excitement to your reading intervention.

Use Well Chosen Games to Motivate Struggling Readers

There are no rules in structured literacy or the science of reading that tell us teachers that we cannot use games during our reading intervention lesson.  No research tells us that they are a waste of time.  Pro tip: choose games wisely.

Choose games controlled for the skills you are working on or that you want to review.  Choose games that are created by reputable sources knowledgeable in the science of reading and what works for struggling readers.

Have a collection of games that are legitimate boxed games to offer during an earned free choice time.  Games such as Scrabble, Roll and Read, Kendore Learning games, etc, are useful to have on hand.

Have a collection of easy to print and prep games that you use to reinforce your lessons.  There are many resources available for this purpose.  Visit my TpT Store and find some here.  Be sure to check out Florida Center for Reading Research. They have an EXTENSIVE library of free games for your reading intervention centers.  Wherever you get them, get them!  They will only help to increase student motivation and skill retention and they will make your reading intervention fun.  

Reading Intervention Classroom Ideas to Increase Student Motivation

Have you ever noticed how when you walk into any place, you get a feeling?  Classrooms are the same, they can invite learning, encourage participation, and inspire students.  Sometimes intervention classrooms get the short end of the stick in terms of colorful student artwork to display, fancy projects or Star Student displays, etc.  We can make our classroom appealing and inviting in simple ways, however.

Rug Space

A dedicated rug for game day or activities is helpful.  Look at the thrift stores for one, ask your administrator or try a Go Fund Me page ( include games, manipulative and books for your reading intervention).  Students love to “go to the rug” because it’s not an everyday event in reading intervention and it just makes things more exciting.  Plus, it makes the room more inviting and comfortable.

Birthday Flags

Use scrapbook paper to cut triangle shape flags, write each student’s birthday on a flag and hang the banner in your room.  Keep them up year to year and students love seeing previous students and friends’ names and birthdays on the flags.  PLUS it reminds them there are lots of kids who have struggled in the same ways they struggle.

Get the editable version here. Type in students’ names and birthdays, print on bright paper and viola, a beautiful celebration of birthdays. Students delight in seeing their special day given such important recognition all year round.

Brag Board

Use a dedicated space and have students bring in a photo, artwork, or representation of something they are proud of.  So many of our students have talents in areas that they do not have space in school to share. ALL students have SOMETHING to be proud of, even if it’s a new puppy or pet rat!

Framed Pictures

While you’re in those thrift stores looking for games to repurpose to increase student motivation and engagement, pick up a few picture frames.  Hang them in the room with pictures of famous people who struggled in school.  Pro Tip: Wait til the students ask why they are there and you have the perfect opportunity to talk about how so many people and many very successful people have struggled in school.  They will understand they are not alone when they see people like Walt Disney and Thomas Edison as well as famous actors and actresses with dyslexia in those frames. 

Above All, Build Connections With Your Students

Though seemingly obvious, building strong relationships with your students is a strategy to increase student motivation and participation that I cannot stress enough.  Kids want connection with adults.  They want to be seen, heard and understood.  This is especially true for our struggling students in need of reading intervention.  

Get to Know Your Students

Take time to get to know your students.  This is some of the most important time you will make in your teaching day.  Ask students about themselves and tell them about you. This can be peppered in efficiently and meaningfully into your sessions.  Check in again.  If a student tells you one day they are going to have a soccer game, ask them about it.  If a student tells you they are going to their Grandparents house this weekend, ask them what they did at their grandparents when they return on Monday.  Pro Tip: Write it down!  Jot a note on a sticky note and put in your lesson plans! (Sticky notes are one of my favorite teaching and organizational tools ever!)

Acknowledge Each Student by Name Upon Entry

Make sure you acknowledge each student by name upon entering the classroom and make eye contact.  Make sure to do the same throughout your lesson.  This simple step can make all the difference in your students feeling seen and heard by you. I literally just opened an email with this quote: “The simple act of greeting students at the door, by name, in the morning increases academic involvement by 20%.” (Nese, 2021, CPC Conference) I don’t know what this CPC conference was, but it sure was an affirmation for me that this is an important strategy that will surely help motivate your students to engage in class.

Personalized Birthday Cards

Birthday cards are a gift in and of themselves that go a long ways to increase your connection to your students.  You can get an inexpensive pack of blank and cheerful cards at the Dollar Store, or Michaels, or a similar place.  Keep a box on hand.  Write a personal card to give to your student on his or her way out the door. Write a couple of sentences, make sure to include three positive traits and/or strengths that student possesses.   This may go much further than you will ever know.

In a bind with no box of cards on hand? You’ll find an easy printable version in this birthday banner display.

Let’s Recap How to Increase Student Motivation in Your Reading Intervention

1. Use a Visual Timer
2. Repurposed Game Pieces
3. The Stone Jar
4. Teacher vs. Students
5. Well Chosen Games
6. Create a Welcoming and Personalized Environment
7. Build Your Connection

Looking For More Ideas?  These articles may be of interest:

37 Ways to Help Students With Dyslexia

Strengths Chain For Kids

It’s a Marathon not a Sprint

Reading intervention is a marathon, not a sprint and it’s an exciting journey.  But it is not always easy.  Kids can feel defeated and you can feel the same. I’m always willing to help, you can sign up for my newsletter here.  Knowing where to start and how to teach is one thing. Take comfort in knowing that once you understand why motivating students is important and you use these strategies to increase student motivation your practice will transform.

Sign up for my newsletter to receive more helpful tips and information for your reading intervention.

Take your reading intervention lessons from ho-hum, run-of-the-mill and routine to captivating, engaging and motivating today!  You will have students running (oops, my apologies!) to your reading intervention sessions because you’ve learned the secrets to increase student motivation!

Cheers to empowering our struggling readers,

-Lori