Removing Barriers to Voluntary Reading for Reluctant Readers
Removing Barriers to Voluntary Reading for Reluctant Readers: The Role of School and Classroom Libraries
Mayson Hoene
I wanted to start off this blog by a question for you to ponder... Do you like reading?
If you answered yes to the answer above, then what has made you enjoy reading? If you said no, then what has made you reluctant to reading? If your experience is anything like mine, then you might slightly enjoy reading but felt like you never got the chance to read anything that you wanted to read. You may have felt like you never had a choice.
Reading is a huge part of education and is something you will use your entire lifetime, but why are so many students so reluctant to read? As stated in the article, by the time students get to middle school/high school their interest in reading declines. But why?? The reading points out three main issues that connected to children's attitudes towards reading.
1. choice
2. opportunity
3. access
Most student's are put off to the idea of reading because of choice. They see reading as something they HAVE to do with books/material that is forced upon them. Rarely do students get the choice to pick a book that they want or have interest in. This is where many lose their interest in reading. Looking back on my educational journey I felt as though I read what the teachers deemed as "important" and rarely did my teachers take the time to see what interested me or what I liked to read about. Therefore, my interest in reading grew thinner and thinner with time.
"Choice and interest in reading materials played an important role in these students' involvement with and enjoyment of reading at school."(Worthy, p. 486)
Opportunity is another reason student's don't take a huge interest in reading. Many schools don't have a frequent "free reading time" implemented into their classrooms to help foster a love of reading. They don't have the opportunity to read what they want in a safe place, such as school. Also, the books that are often in their school libraries aren't geared towards the interests/likes of the students themselves. Therefore, a limited selection of reading materials also contributes to reluctant readers.
The last concern influencing reluctant readers is access. Despite student's interests in books such as mystery or comics, as suggested in the article, they often lacked access to books such as these. Many students lacked access to books at home, therefore they didn't have choice in what to read in school nor at home. Many teachers/librarians/parents pick books for children that they seem to be of importance, not what the child wants to read. Such limited access gives students less opportunities to form a love of reading.
So what can we do?
To me, I think choice is crucial in forming a love of reading. Supplying children with the books they find interesting and giving them a choice to read what they want can be of importance. Like we've read in previous articles, book clubs can be of good use in this aspect. We can let the students choose a book of their preference (out of a list we have selected) and have them discuss the book they choose with peers who also chose the same book. The article also talks about how teachers often correlate reading with assignments, which then reinforces students to be reluctant readers. We need to foster a love of reading by having a free choice reading time weekly or even daily, and we also need to model to our students that we enjoy reading too. Teachers often use free reading time as a chance to grade papers. This also sends the students messages that reading isn't something you do for fun. Also, I think having a meeting with all students and the librarian before ordering books could be of importance. This shows the students that their opinions and interests matter and having them see their choices in their own libraries can instill a sense of pride.
Below is a link to a Ted Talk discussing how to inspire every child to be a lifelong reader. I highly suggest you watch as it gives some insight as to why children don't like to read, especially African American boys, and how we can help to change that.
Despite all the hardships it takes to create a love of reading, it's CRUCIAL to do so and I want to hear your opinions on the matter.
My questions for you:
1. What reasons do you suspect also contribute to children being reluctant readers other than the ones stated in the article?
2. How can we, as teachers, inspire a love of reading?
3. Like Barbershop Books mentioned in the Ted Talk, what ways can we bring a love of reading into our communities?
4. Share your personal experience on reading and how this affects how you want to approach reading in your future classroom.
Mayson,
ReplyDeleteI think you share some really important aspects to reading your blog. I agree that choice, opportunity, and access all play a huge role in students reading. The one that stood out to me the most was opportunity. I found something in the opportunity section that kinda angered me. "Students explained that the occasional free reading times were typically spur-of-the-moment events, scheduled as afterthoughts when there was a lull in regular instruction, such as at the end of a grading period or when an instructional activity" (pg. 486). My reaction to this was, well first of all that is really sad that the teacher does not even allow any free reading time in the day. Secondly, if a teacher is portraying reading as unimportant, and only necessary in spur of the moment filler times, that is how the students will also view reading. As teachers it is our job to foster a love for learning, and like you said Mayson, reading is a huge part of education. I think it is sad that some educators are showing students that reading is not important, yet we wonder why some students don't enjoy reading. I think to answer your second question, "How can we, as teachers, inspire a love for reading?". I think a huge part of doing so would to show them how much fun reading is! To show them how much you love to read, and it is not just a boring thing you have to do in school, but it is almost a privilege to get to read in school, because it can be that fun. Overall, I think the way we perceive education has an enormous impact on our students.
Allison,
DeleteI also captured that quote in my notes and it shocked me as much as it shocked you! I personally remember having reading time but not regularly. I also remember my teacher not reading along with us, which made us feel that reading wasn't important and that reading time was meant for goofing off. I believe this needs to change and it can start with us! I agree we should show our students that reading is fun but how? What are some examples of things we can do to foster a love of reading specifically?
Mayson, great post! I like the personal story at the beginning about your relationship reading. I think a way we could help inspire a love for reading is implementing Daily 5 into our classroom routines. During daily 5 time, there are different options students can choose from. During this time, one option is "read to self". Students can choose whatever book they want and read. This helps students find stories they are interested in and gives students a chance to read whatever they want freely. As teachers, we should have an equipped classroom library with different genres to help meet the reading wants/needs of all students. There is also usually an option, "listening to reading". There are different website students can use to listen to stories. This helps students learn how to read by listening to words and following along with the story. It is a great way for students who learn in a more auditory way. By adding classroom routines that can help foster a love for reading in students can be very beneficial to your students. You can give them a place where they feel safe to read what they want and have the choice on what to read.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Mayson!
Hannah,
DeleteThank you so much for you specificity! I love the Daily 5 idea and that it gives the chance for students to listen to books while also following along. I can specifically recall from my elementary years while learning to read that we would listen to the story aloud and also got "pointers" to put on our fingers to help us follow along in a fun way. These pointers ranged from regular finger looking pointers to girly ones and even scary ones. I believe this can make following along more engaging and also make reading more fun! I love hearing others ideas on how to make reading more engaging and how to turn every child into a life long reader.
https://www.reallygoodstuff.com/martian-finger-reading-pointers/p/156457/
Here's an example of similar finger pointers I am talking about for future reference!
Hannah,
DeleteI love your idea of the Daily 5. I think this is a perfect idea to reach the different kind of readers we could have in our classroom. I really wish I could have had something like the Daily 5 when I was in school, because all I had was the DEAR program, which was drop everything and read. Although I think it is important for students to do the actual reading, because that is something important for them to do. I think maybe you could have the Daily 5 implemented into your class, and also have the reading on your own time. I think the Daily 5 would be great, because it shows kids that there are other ways to learn, than just reading on your own. For example, I love listening to podcasts, and think I take in more information from listening to others read, than doing so myself. Great idea Hannah! :)
Mayson, I think also when using those things like the pointers, it is important to think about your class management. I remember when I was using those pointers, I played with them the majority of the time, and didn't find myself reading at all. It was just another distraction to keep me away from reading, which I also hated. So my question is, how do we find a way to allow the pointers to children where it is beneficial, but to those (like me) where it is just a distraction to not. I think it would be rude to be like, you can have a pointer, but you can't. So what is a good way to incorporate things like that without causing more of a problem?
DeleteMayson,
ReplyDeletefirst of all, this has been one of my favorite articles to read as well as my favorite blog post to read. You asked the question at the beginning on why I didn't like literature. For me, literature in elementary school, I hated because I wasn't good at it. I could read something, I still read stuff ad I don't retain anything. While it takes my peers 15 minutes to read a couple of pages and respond, it takes me an hour, because I have to go back and read it multiple times to get what its saying then I have to on the sides highlight, draw pictures, and write notes relating the text to myself. However, I think that falls in line with exactly what you are getting at and the article was getting at. Had I had the ability to CHOOSE what I wanted to read, then maybe, I wouldn't have to take so many notes, I would retain the words on the page easier since I had interest. According to Worthy, "Sam's scores on the reading attitudes and habits survey were among the lowest in his grade level. According to his answers, he never reads before going to bed, rarely reads in his spare time, never reads books during school vacation, and would much rather draw than read. He considers school books a waste of time, does not like free reading time in school, has no interest in joining a book club, thinks reading is boring, and "dislike[s] reading because most of the time [he] is forced to read" (2014, pg. 484). In this situation I think that Sam's teacher needs to incorporate drawings into Sam's reading. He could read comics, or draw what eh is reading. By the sounds of the article, they are talking about Same as if he is a lost case, when in reality, they haven't even tried adapting to HIM. I think that is the most important thing we need to think about when teaching literature.
Ashley, I like what you wrote. I think choice is everything and that is one of the big take away from this article. I like what you said about incorporating comics so he could draw.
DeleteI wanted to point out a quote from the article. It says, "... Sam's claim on the survey that he almost never reads at home, not because he dislikes reading but because he does not have access at home to kinds of reading materials that interest him" (Worthy, 1996, pg. 485).
I think as teachers we should do a reading survey. Then, we can get an idea of what our students like to read so they get a choice on what they read. Also, with the reading survey, we could find out information like if they have access to books at home. As a teacher, we could supply books for students to take home that interest them. This could help them enjoy reading more. I think this could of helped you as a student, Ashley! I hope you take that experience as a student to help you ensure your students get more of a choice of reading!
Mayson-
ReplyDeleteI really have always loved to read. I think that this is because of the opportunities I had to explore different texts and listen to multiple people read texts other thought were too "old" for us. I think that there is some negative connotation surrounding reading. This is especially true in urban settings. This is due to the fear that if you are good in school, then you are trying to assimilate to the eurocentric culture that is being forced on children. I think that the best way to inspire children to learn to read, is to connect their lives to the reading. I am reading a book called "Keeping the Peace: Reflections on Life, Legacy, Commitment, and Struggle". It is an interview based book from Dr. Kazembe. Anyways, in one of the conversations, Dr. Haki R. Madhubuti (one of the interviewees) talks about the first time he read a book called " Black Boy" by Richard Wright. He says this was the first time he had ever read anything positive about black boys.This inspired him to read more. I think that it is really important to show student culture in a positive light.
My personal experience with reading was that my teacher read us books that were considered too advanced for us. He never thought we were unable to understand. We would work through the meaning together. I think this is why I want to utilize texts that are not necessarily easy. I think that students are able to understand more than most adults believe. This will allow for high expectations that will support advancement in the classroom.
Mrs. Bailey,
DeleteI agree ! Many of us expressed how our sixth grade students loved our science lesson & were eager to learn even though science is not provided at their school. However, for many of us science was provided in school but the way it was presented made us shy away from science and only see it as a "school" thing. Ironic right? What I am trying to get to is that we as educators have the power to make students LOVE or HATE any subject. Teaching is NOT about getting a $$check$$ & going home. We are affecting little minds..
Therefore, like Ms. Hoene pointed out it is vital we form a love for reading in our classroom & allow our students to choose the books that want to read! This correlates to what we have discussed many of times in class - KNOWING your students! As well as creating a loving classroom culture in your class from day 1.
- Lastly, I want to talk about my field experience in Dr. Kazembe's class. About ten students were gathered around the student teacher reading a book. Some students did not have their books out and were sitting down yawning. Some had their books out but were flinging it around. However, the book continued to be read..
In the words of Dr. Taylor, "Y'all not feeling the book? Y'all bored? You want to read something else?" These are the questions that need to be asked. At the end of the day if you're reading & no one is entertained then who are you reading for?
(**Disclaimer - I am not trying to come at this student teacher in anyway**)
Olivia,
DeleteThank you for making a connection between the reading and what you saw in field. Your comment caught my attention because we are in the same class for Dr. Kazembe's field experience. I saw what you saw-- far too many students disengaged with what they were reading. Some yawning, many of them not even looking at the book itself. It makes me wonder, since that student teacher went through the same program as us, does she notice this? Does she question it and wonder what she could do to improve this reading time? It is sad to watch what the article talked about play out in a classroom. I loved what you said, "at the end of the day, if you're reading and no one is entertained, then who are you reading for?" because its so true! Its about finding something that the kids will like and take interest in so that they can begin to meaningfully engage with literature.
Melissa,
DeleteJust like you, I had a teacher who did not really do the right thing in reading. I feel like everyone got something out of their own personal time reading then ever in group work. I was like Sam and did not pay attention while reading the book. I did, because it was about boring science stuff I did not care about or a book the had to do with stuff that did not make since. As a class, we never got a choice in reading or during free reading time. We had to read a book that we had to do homework and test on. So, it felt like we were in high school and we were in third grade. I do not want to let my students feel like their thought or input are not important during reading. I did not like it and I want to end the issues I have had to make their future better then my past.
Ms. Hoene,
ReplyDelete"Choice and interest in reading materials played an important role in these students' involvement with and enjoyment of reading at school."(Worthy, p. 486)
I wanted to comment on this quote you added into your blog! I feel this is extremely important! I commented above on Mrs. Bailey's post about how much power we as educators have! We can make a student hate reading because of the way we present it. Some of us have expressed how getting into blocks truly made us change our outlook on reading! Personally, my vocabulary has increased and I have gained so much knowledge! I want my students to share these amazing experiences as well!
- I wanted to add that you did an amazing job on your blog Ms. Hoene! Keep up the good work!
DeleteOlivia,
DeleteThe fact that you have grown so much in blocks and you allow yourself to share that is amazing. I love seeing each and everyone of us grow in these courses and I agree that there are many who have started to grow a love for learning. I think you point out something very real though, we want our students to experience the milestones we are reaching in our own learning. This statement is huge because our students have the opportunity to grow as learners and to grow a love for learning but we have to be the ones to plant those seeds. I think each and everyone of us have grown as learners but that's because our professors are planting those seeds. So in order for our students to reach the milestones that we have in our own learning we have to be planting those seeds for them and Mayson and many others have pointed out that we do this by giving our students voices.
Ms. Hoene,
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate the question you asked at the beginning of your blog post. You asked us to ponder if we liked reading, and if so, why we think we enjoy it. I have always loved reading, but I've never really thought about why. Perhaps I was one of the few who felt they were given choice and developed a love for reading because I was allowed to find books that interested me. To me, there is nothing like finding a genuinely good book that completely captures your attention. This is why I want to zero in on your discussion of choice. Our students may not ever get to experience this feeling before they have already developed a negative mindset about reading, and then it might be too late. To answer your question about another factor that may attribute to a students reluctance to read, the word that comes to mind is relevancy. I believe this goes hand in hand with choice because, when given the chance, students will pick out books that interest them and connect to them in one way or another. Without giving the opportunity for choice, we are not giving our students the chance to find a book that will make them fall in love with reading. Sure, not every one will like to read. However, in the end, even if we only help one student develop a love for literature, it will be worth it!
I agree Hunter,
DeleteI focused more when I read a book that captures my attention. Students should have this opportunity to read what interests them. I think every teachers would like to see their students not wanting to put their books down. I believe the same reason you mentioned about how most students aren't given book that reflects their attributes. As teachers, we should use many ways to engage students to read. It will be a difficult process, but it is possible for every student to find a love for reading.
Eva,
DeleteYes I couldn't agree more. Growing up I wold read all the time for fun. My teachers encouraged us to read. I would read the the Junie B.Jones books in less than hour some days. I loved to read when I had the choice of what I got to read. When I got to high school and was put into in a 11th grade reading level for some reason there were books that I wasn't able to get I would got check it out and their system would flag it and they would question if I was going to be able to comprehend the book. Those texts are very inaccurate. We had to read to a person out loud that we didn't know, so I would get nervous and stumble on some words and would lose points because if it. I wasn't fair. We should be letting students figure out what they want to read, find their interests. Now in college, we are learning about our career, so it is a little easier to read, but it's hard when we have so much reading from each class, as well as papers, projects, tests, and quizzes all the time. It's hard but it will be worth at the end when we graduate and start setting our classroom for the first time.
Mayson,
ReplyDeleteI agree that we must always give choice to the students. One thing I found interesting in the articles was about Sam. It noted, “Everyone in the whole class seems to be interested in class except for [Sam] and one other boy. I can’t really get him to focus. . . . I’ll call on him to read just out of the blue just to see if he’s following along and he’s not. He hasn’t the faintest idea where we are” (Worthy, 1996, Pg.484). I think this was confusing and a bit out dated thinking. I cannot believe that it had to go even more steps to see the issue at hand. I believe the power of choice is always needed in life and especially for Sam. So, one thing I will say that maybe doing book clubs or even individual books to read and do a project on it. Something that would demonstrate the skills they learned.
Also, to help inspire them, I feel like letting them choose part of lesson each week. Let the students have a say and they have more interest in them. Also, my personal issue with reading is the choice. I think I was forced to always read something I did not want. I was called on while not reading with them. I got in trouble and no one helped me get more engaged into the reading.
DeleteChristopher,
DeleteIn response to you post, I also wanted to add on the fact that he may not have been following along that day because what they were reading was boring. For example, I hated "Lord of the Flies." Not only because I didn't choose it, but because it was confusing, boring, not culturally relevant. But it's apart of the curriculum to read for 10th graders. So this is where we begin to see the importance of changing the curriculum to be culturally relevant. And I think being culturally relevant ties back to the article because it talks about have topics that interest your students in your classroom library. Page 486 talks about her classroom library had magazines, newspapers, novels.....(Worthy, 1996). None of this sounds interesting, and it also doesn't state if it was based on reading levels or if she just threw the stuff in there. It sounds like she just got some stuff and thew it in there, and for that it is useless. Classroom libraries need to have interesting topics but also be challenging and not something like a magazine, which is not pointless but needs to have some more guidance with it.
Mayson,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your take on this article. I feel, unfortunately, many of us can share stories in which we have poor experiences in school when it comes to reading. I loved to read, but I felt that I wasn’t given the opportunity to read what I was interested in. Therefore, reading because a very big “job”, rather than something I was committed to pmeiarily because I wanted to be. According to Jo Worthy, “According to student, opportunities for free reading time in school we’re infrequent” (Worthy, 1996, p. 486). This aligns with what I was explaining with my reading experience. We must allow opportunities for our students to grow as readers and develop a confidence when reading. And by doing so, they can grow a love for reading. By engaging with literature in such a way, we are fostering curious, inquiry-driven learners. By fostering such curiosity, we help students develop their sense of self as both learners and social activists who have their own values and belief systems.
Mayson,
ReplyDeleteI really appreciated the Ted Talk you chose to go along with your post. To answer your question about what we can do to bring a love of reading to our student, I think having a library of books in our own classroom could help foster a love for reading. I believe students should have a choice in what they read especially when given free time. I think Professor Rowley as well brought in really interesting books that she would read to us before we actually started class. Giving students ideas of what they might like based off books we might read before class starts. It also helps if we can explain the why behind our love for reading. I have never had a love for reading and I think can be hard for educators who don't love to read. Like many of our peers I never had a choice in what to read and reading always felt like a job, it still does feel that way if I am being honest. However, I get the why behind the articles, and the texts we are reading in blocks. I think there are many ways to approach this question and some ideas may work and some may not but the most important thing we can do for our students is giving them their own voice by having a choice and giving them the resources to have the opportunity and access to grow a love for reading. Opportunity and access go hand in hand and when we give our students the resources they need they can grow so much more. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Great Job Mayson,
ReplyDeleteI thought your blog gave so many reasons to why most students are reluctant to read. I had the same issue as most students in which I wasn't given choice, opportunity, and access to read. I felt like my teachers constantly forced me to read books that didn't interest me. I loved fantasy and historical books through middle school and high school. I rarely those books in most of my courses. The main reason I didn't read regularly in school is because I wasn't given enough time to read. I wished there were days in which I didn't have so much homework and I was only assigned to freely read what I want. Now I understand after reading your blog that students are limited to read by the lack of influence they have. School need to change the way they offer books to students and what books are available to them. I think there are many ways to motivate students to read. You mentioned great ways to motivate students to read in your blog such as giving student time to read while the teacher grades assignments, allowing students to read books that interests them, and etc. I would hold a book club in my classroom. I would ask each students to choose a book of their liking. The book can be fiction, action, superheroes, and etc. As a class, we would read the book together or I would assign them to read it and discuss during book club time. I would have a book shelf of books that are culturally responsive to my students and interesting books. I thought the TEDTALK was insightful to why students choose not to read. I learned that students should not be forced to read BORING books. Students don't learn much from these books. Books need to be enjoyable and interesting for young readers. I learned, according to the Department of Education, more than 85% of Black male 4th graders are not proficient at reading. They asked the struggling readers what types of book they like to read and they said a book that makes them laugh. If we listen to our students and find out what they enjoy, teachers will find it easy to build their reading skills. It always comes back to teachers have to be culturally responsive when they educate their students.
Mayson,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! To answer one of your questions. I feel that there are some students that like to read and some that don't. As I grew up I was always reading. I was always starting a new book. I love and still love Dystopian novels. As soon as I was told I had to read something for class and it did not interest was when I lost interest in reading for myself. Now, I feel that I just read for school and not myself anymore. I feel as teachers to get students more excited about reading we need to make the topics about books and interests of our students. Let them have the choose of what things they will read. When given time to read let them choose what they are going to read. My old high school would read the first book of a dystopian book series and then we would get to go see the movie in theaters. It was an incentive, and even though I would have read the book otherwise, It helped those who needed that incentive to get them to read.
Amber,
DeleteI can really relate to your experience of having a passion for reading, but as I went further into my education, somehow that love for reading and that spark in me dimmed because canonical texts were shoved at me and my choice of reading in the classroom was taken away almost completely. In high school, it was as if they stopped valuing passionate readers, and were more focused on high stakes testing. Incorporating time into your classroom for students to really enjoy and develop a passion for reading is critical in cultivating reading fluency. I also think that allowing readers choice can give students the chance to explore issues such as race or classism, or may be challenge themselves with a book that people traditionally tell them are "above their reading level".
You mentioned the movie being an incentive, but it can also be looked at as a non-traditional form of text for the students to analyze and compare to the concrete text that they read in class. Incorporating alternative texts such as videos or movies, lyrics to songs, poetry, plays, and more can allow for multiple ways of reading the world to be brought into the classroom, and allows for students to interact with literature in multiple binaries!
Kristen,
DeleteYes, I couldn't agree more with your explanation. I feel that I defiantly had more freedom in elementary school and middle school. We would have the accelerated reader tests and whoever got the most points won an award at the end of the year. Me being the competitive person that I am, would take the test just to get points to win. I wasn't learning anything from these tests. We talked about this with Taylor last week and I was defiantly one of those children.
Very good explanation of a non-traditional form of text. Movies never get a book right. For example, I read Bird Box not too long ago and compared to the movie it is so different. Some kids might look at movies as if they are completely like the book, but they never are. But on the other hand it does like you said make them more excited to read the book. When I found out that we were reading The Maze Runner for English and that we would watch the movie after we finished, I got so excited. We read the book for class, but since I was so excited I speed through the book. It makes students excited for the movie and they want to find out what happens before they go into the movie.