Reading is a key skill for the development of critical thinking, the acquisition of knowledge and successful integration into society. In today's digital age, reading literacy is essential for understanding different types of texts, it stimulates creativity and contributes to personal development. Nevertheless, research shows a decline in reading motivation, especially among young people, which highlights the need to promote it. For more than 60 years, the Reading Badge has strengthened reading culture in Slovenian primary schools. With an organized approach, mentors want to increase the interest in books even in their free time. Learning to read is a demanding process that requires support and motivation, with the key role of reading motivation. Teachers use different approaches to attract students to participate in the Reading Badge, and the impact of family and wider social environment is also important, as reading habits are often transmitted between generations. In the master's thesis, we investigated how students of the 4th and 5th grade of primary school participate in Reading Badge and what their attitude towards reading is. We wanted to know why students participate in the reading badge, who or what motivates them to read, how teachers check the content of the books and whether the final awards are important to them. We found that students generally have a positive attitude and opinion about reading. They also have a positive opinion about the Reading Badge. Students perceive reading as a pleasant activity, as well as making them relax and have fun. Reading Badge is also perceived by most as a fun activity and not as an additional school work. However, participation in the Reading Badge is more popular with girls than with boys. One of the reasons may be that girls are more intrinsically motivated to read than boys. We did not find a connection between students who participate in the Reading Badge reading more books than those who do not. However, we found that most students participate in the Reading Badge because of the desire to read and because they enjoy it. Nevertheless, they are most encouraged to read by their parents. Teachers also have a non-negligible role in encouraging them. It depends on the teacher how they check what they read. Students also want to be able to draw illustrations of the content more often. We have found that rewarding students would be the best way to encourage them to participate in a Reading Badge. For the majority of students, the reward at the end of a Reading Badge is important. In encouraging them to read, in general, it is important for them to be aware that they learn something by reading. Encouraging words and collaborative reading also help a lot. The aim of the master's thesis is to encourage teachers to reflect on their approaches to motivating students to participate in the Reading Badge. The emphasis is on innovative and creative methods of promoting reading, which would encourage students to participate even more. We also want to encourage teachers to include students' individual interests in the selection of books and ways of checking what they read. By doing so, they can in the long term contribute to the improvement of reading literacy and the formation of long-term reading habits of students.
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