In short
- An extensive reading program works through volume, so every launch decision should protect the amount pupils read.
- Place pupils on books that are easy for them, and stock most books at the level of your average pupil.
- Give reading fixed time in class first, then add home reading, and keep checks light enough that they never replace reading.
- Start with one class for a few weeks, learn from it, and only then grow the program.
Most schools start extensive reading by buying books. The books matter, but they are not what makes a program last. Programs stall when pupils hold books that are too hard, when reading time is squeezed out, or when nobody can see who is reading. This article sets out six steps to start a program in one school, the principle behind each, and a four-week launch for the first class. It ends where the year plan begins.
How do you start an extensive reading program?
To start an extensive reading program, place each pupil at a level where reading is easy, gather enough books at each level, and fix a regular reading time. Keep accountability light, keep a simple reading record, and start with one class before you grow. Extensive reading means reading a lot of easy, self-chosen text for meaning. Every step below exists to keep that reading going.
- Level the pupils. Find the level at which each pupil reads easily. The principle: the material is easy.
- Gather enough books at each level. Aim for several books per pupil, most at your average pupil's level. The principle: variety and choice.
- Fix the time. Put reading in the timetable before you ask for reading at home. The principle: learners read as much as possible.
- Keep accountability light. Check that reading happens without testing every book. The principle: reading is its own reward.
- Keep a reading record. One line per book: title, level, dates and a short comment. The principle: teachers guide by knowing what each pupil reads.
- Start with one class. Run the routine, fix what breaks, then add classes. The principle: think big, start small.
The principles come from Day and Bamford (2002), who set out ten for teaching extensive reading. The practical steps follow the Extensive Reading Foundation's (2011) guide for schools. For more depth, Nation and Waring (2020) give a full chapter to setting up and running a program.
Step 1: Level the pupils
Extensive reading only works when the reading is easy. Day and Bamford (2002) suggest that for beginners, more than one or two unknown words on a page may make a book too hard. Intermediate learners might allow up to five.
The Extensive Reading Foundation (2011) calls this level the 'sweet spot'. Pupils know about 98% of the words, read quickly and need no dictionary. Below that, reading slows down and turns into study.
You do not need a formal test to begin. A first placement can be this simple:
- Put out books from two or three levels. Each pupil reads one page from the level you suggest.
- Ask them to count the unknown words. For a beginner, more than one or two on a page means trying one level down.
- Watch the speed too. A pupil who works through a page word by word is studying, not reading.
- When unsure, choose the lower level. In our experience, moving up feels like progress and moving down feels like failure.
The first placement will be wrong for some pupils, and that is fine. How to Match Students to the Right Graded Readers covers spotting a mismatch and adjusting levels over time.
Step 2: Gather enough books at each level
The Extensive Reading Foundation (2011) gives a simple sum: number of classes, times pupils per class, times books per pupil. Its example is four classes of 30 pupils, each needing three books to choose from. That makes 360 books, and the guide suggests 400 to 500 to cover lost and damaged copies.
| School | Classes × pupils × books per pupil | Books needed |
|---|---|---|
| One pilot class | 1 × 28 × 3 | 84, plus a few spares |
| The guide's example | 4 × 30 × 3 | 360, or 400 to 500 with spares |
| One year group | 6 × 30 × 3 | 540, plus spares |
The guide adds three practical points. Most books should sit at about the level of your average pupil, with slightly fewer above and below. If money is short, one book per pupil is acceptable to begin with. And spend only about 80% of the budget at first, keeping the rest until you see which levels run out.
Variety matters as much as number. Day and Bamford (2002) ask for a wide range of topics and kinds of text, because the program depends on enticing pupils to read. Include non-fiction as well as stories.
Label the levels so pupils can find them alone. Publishers grade differently, so the guide suggests your own scale of six to eight levels, with a coloured sticker on each spine. What Are Graded Readers? explains why one publisher's Level 2 is not another's.
A small library is not a reason to wait. In the meta-analysis by Jeon and Day (2016), library size made no significant difference to the effect of extensive reading. They suggest that teachers can start on a small scale in their classrooms when the school cannot provide a library.
Step 3: Fix the time
Reading that happens 'when there is time' rarely happens. Jeon and Day (2016) compared ways of organising programs. Extensive reading built into the curriculum showed the highest average effect (d = 0.91). Extensive reading run as an independent reading course showed the lowest (d = 0.24). They ask readers to treat this comparison with caution.
The Extensive Reading Foundation (2011) advises starting in class, where you can see that pupils read and show them how. Reading then moves out of class step by step. The guide suggests about 20 minutes a week at home at first, rising over a course or a year towards a book a week.
Day and Bamford (2002) treat a book a week as probably the minimum for a reading habit. They call it realistic because books for beginners are very short.
Make reading part of the course, not an optional extra. The guide warns that when extensive reading is optional, many students opt out. Explain why it helps and present it as part of English. For the arithmetic of minutes per week across a whole year, see How to Plan a Reading Program Across a School Year.
Steps 4 and 5: Light accountability and a reading record
You need to know that pupils are reading. You do not need to test every book. Day and Bamford (2002) write that extensive reading is not usually followed by comprehension questions. They accept follow-up activities for other reasons, such as keeping track of what and how much pupils read, and making reading a shared experience.
Some accountability does help. Robb and Kano (2013) describe a Japanese university that required first-year students to read five graded readers outside class, checked by short online quizzes. That cohort scored significantly higher in reading than the year before. Only about 70% took a quiz on even one book, and the authors note that extra time with English of any kind may explain the gain.
The reading record is the simplest tool. The Extensive Reading Foundation (2011) shows a class sheet of book codes by week, and a sheet per pupil that doubles as a portfolio. A useful record has five columns:
- Title and book code.
- Level, so you can see a pupil move up.
- Date borrowed and date returned.
- Pages read.
- A one-line comment, such as 'exciting' or 'a little easy'.
Read the records once a fortnight. A pupil whose line has not moved needs a conversation, not a test. 15 Extensive Reading Activities for the EFL Classroom has checks that take a minute or two.
Step 6: Start with one class
The Extensive Reading Foundation (2011) sums up its planning advice as 'think big, start small'. Picture the program in five years, but begin with what you can run well now. A good program, the guide adds, should survive lost books, thin resources and the dip in enthusiasm after the big start.
Starting small also helps you win colleagues. Macalister (2010) interviewed 36 teachers on university preparation courses in New Zealand. They believed extensive reading helped language learning, yet those beliefs did not generally lead them to include it in class. Robb and Kano (2013) report the other side: many of their teachers became converts after seeing the effect on their own students.
So make the pilot class easy to copy. Use one slot, one record sheet and one set of book boxes. When other classes join, keep what worked and change one thing at a time. If the program stalls later, Extensive Reading Challenges (and How to Solve Them) works through the usual causes.
A four-week launch for the first class
Here is one way to run the first month. It follows the order the Extensive Reading Foundation (2011) suggests: a shared class reader first, then self-selected reading in class, then reading at home. Treat the timings as an example.
| Week | What pupils do | What you do | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Read one very easy book together, a chapter at a time. Discuss how it differs from textbook reading. | Choose a book even the weakest reader can manage, with at least one copy for every two pupils. | Pupils feel what easy, fast reading is like before they choose alone. |
| 2 | Hear why easy reading helps. Learn the colour levels and the borrowing routine. Choose a first book from the easiest shelves. | Explain that there is no test after each book. Read your own book alongside them. | Day and Bamford (2002) ask teachers to orient pupils, because habits from hard texts run deep. |
| 3 | Read silently for 10 to 15 minutes each lesson. Change any book that is too hard or dull. | Move quietly round the room and ask: Is it easy? Do you like it? Start the reading record. | Choice includes the right to stop a book. |
| 4 | Start home reading, about 20 minutes a week at first. Return and choose books at a fixed time. | Check the record. Move pupils whose books are too hard down a level. | Reading moves out of class only once the habit has started. |
At the end of week four, look at three things: who has finished a book, who has changed level, and who has not turned a page. Then decide whether to add a second class.
Classroom example (invented for illustration)
A teacher starts with one class of 28 eleven-year-olds and 90 graded readers in three colour bands, most at the middle band. In week three she notices four pupils on the same page for two lessons. Each reads a page quietly to her and finds four or five unknown words. All four move down one band and start turning pages. By week four, every pupil has finished at least one book, and a colleague asks to join next term.
How iRead handles this
In iRead, a pack is a CEFR-levelled set of stories, and each story is a graded reader. A school picks a global pack by level, theme and values and copies it into the school in one click, or builds school packs from its own books. Attendance at sessions is recorded automatically, and students keep a Reading Passport, one record of their reading. A school can run a free pilot with one class for 4 to 6 weeks, with full dashboards, before any school-wide decision.
The core principle: Extensive reading works through volume. Every launch decision, from the level to the record, should make it easier for pupils to keep reading.
See it in iRead: In iRead, every story, quiz and game is levelled to the CEFR, from A1 to C2. A school can run a free pilot with one class for 4 to 6 weeks before any school-wide decision.
See the iRead programKey takeaway
Place pupils low, stock most books at the middle level, fix the time, check lightly and keep a simple record. Then run it with one class until it works.
Frequently asked questions
How many books do we need to start an extensive reading program?
The Extensive Reading Foundation (2011) suggests multiplying classes by pupils per class by books per pupil. Three books per pupil gives real choice. For four classes of 30, that is 360 books, or 400 to 500 with spares. One book per pupil is acceptable when money is short.
Should extensive reading be graded?
Grade the reading done, not the details of each book. Day and Bamford (2002) say extensive reading is not usually followed by comprehension questions. A reading record, a short conversation and a brief check on finished books show who is reading without turning every story into a test.
Should we start with the whole school or one class?
Start with one class. The Extensive Reading Foundation (2011) advises 'think big, start small': plan for growth, but begin with what you can run well. A pilot class shows you which levels run short, and gives colleagues a working routine they can see and copy.
How long before an extensive reading program shows results?
Expect months, not weeks. Jeon and Day (2016) warn that the benefits take time to appear, so a program should not be dropped quickly. In the first weeks, look for habits instead: books finished, books changed, and pupils asking for the next level.
Sources
- Day, R. R., & Bamford, J. (2002). Top ten principles for teaching extensive reading. Reading in a Foreign Language, 14(2), 136-141. doi.org/10.64152/10125/66761
- Extensive Reading Foundation (2011). The Extensive Reading Foundation's Guide to Extensive Reading. Extensive Reading Foundation. erfoundation.org/guide/ERF_Guide.pdf
- Nation, I. S. P., & Waring, R. (2020). Teaching Extensive Reading in Another Language. Routledge. doi.org/10.4324/9780367809256
- Robb, T., & Kano, M. (2013). Effective extensive reading outside the classroom: A large-scale experiment. Reading in a Foreign Language, 25(2), 234-247. doi.org/10.64152/10125/66870
- Jeon, E.-Y., & Day, R. R. (2016). The effectiveness of ER on reading proficiency: A meta-analysis. Reading in a Foreign Language, 28(2), 246-265. doi.org/10.64152/10125/66901
- Macalister, J. (2010). Investigating teacher attitudes to extensive reading practices in higher education: Why isn't everyone doing it?. RELC Journal, 41(1), 59-75. doi.org/10.1177/0033688210362609