When students are reading, teachers usually like quiet classrooms, seeing
the quiet as indicative of learning taking place. However, there are some
disadvantages to these quiet reading classes because they are not
interactive, and it’s been shown that interaction between students and
students and teacher leads to greater processing of the material and
therefore more learning. In addition, it’s difficult to impossible to assess
learning taking place without some talking; indeed, it’s hard to tell if
students in a silent classroom are even reading and not daydreaming or
actually nodding off! Finally, these quiet noninteractive classes are simply
boring, and boredom is not an incentive for students to come to class and
learn. The followings are some methods to address these concerns in
reading classes by making them interactive.
- Knowing students’ level of instruction is important for choosing
materials. Teachers should hand out a passage that seems to be at
their students’ approximate level and then hold a brief discussion,
ask some questions, and define some vocabulary to determine if the
passage is at the students’ instructional level. If too easy or too hard,
adjust the reading passage and repeat the procedure until you reach
the students’ optimal level.
- Though it’s important that the material be neither too difficult nor
too easy, a text should be at the student’s maturity level as well. For
example, it’s inappropriate to give children’s storybooks to adult or
adolescent students. 
- Teachers should ask students about their interests and collect reading
material to match those interests. Teaching reading with texts on
these topics will heighten student motivation to read and therefore
ensure that they do read and improve their skills.

- A discussion before the reading on its topics builds background
knowledge and the comprehensibility of the text as well as giving the
teacher an idea of where students’ background knowledge needs to
be developed more.
- Students should work in groups each session, reading aloud to each
other, discussing the material, doing question and answer, and so
forth. Group work provides needed interactivity to increase
motivation and learning. Students may choose their own groups or be
assigned one, and groups may vary in size.
- Make connections to other disciplines, to the outside world, to other
students. Help students see the value of reading by connecting
reading to the outside world and show its use there.
- Too often we complete a reading and then don’t revisit it. However,
related activities in vocabulary, grammar, comprehension questions,
and discussion increase the processing of the reading and boost
student learning.