Every teacher knows how important it is for students to read on their own... in a book of their choosing... outside the classroom. When it comes to encouraging students to read outside of the school day, I've made a lot of mistakes, y'all. A lot. And it broke my teacher heart to learn through anonymous Google surveys of my students that I was making them hate reading! Today I'm sharing my mistakes with you... Think of it as a step by step guide to what not to do!
Mistake #1: Required Reading Levels
Tell me if this sounds familiar... Every quarter the students take some kind of reading level test: BAS, Reading Counts, AR, etc. The test gives the teacher a level, which s/he uses to determine the student's independent and instructional levels. The teacher then tells the student what level books s/he should be checking out from the library for independent reading.
When I first started teaching, most of the teachers at my school assigned reading levels this way. I was new, so I followed suit. It wasn't until I had gained some experience of my own that I noticed some problems with this common practice...
- Students were asking me if they were "allowed" to read a book because it was slightly above or below their assigned level.
- Students were telling me they really wanted to read book #3 in a series, but they couldn't because it was too low... even though they had already read books 1 & 2, and were really into the storyline.
- In that Google survey I mentioned earlier, a student's answer about what he disliked about reading was, "that lexile points are required for reading and I want to read FREELY."
My answer to the frequent student question, "Can I read ___?" became "Of course you can! Read whatever you want! Just read!"
Mistake #2: Nightly Reading Logs & Responses
You're probably familiar with this one too. Students are required to read x number of minutes per night as part of their homework, and to prove that it's been done, parents are asked to sign a reading log every day. I hate to admit it, but I even used to take a quarterly grade based on how many nights out of the quarter they had read.
The goal, of course, is to build a habit of recreational reading. The research shows the opposite happening. Reading becomes less enjoyable and more of a chore.
Here's what I learned about reading logs and parent signatures...
- Some kids barely even saw their parents at night due to work schedules and such, so the parents didn't really know if they had read or not.
- Some parents would sign the form every day regardless of whether reading had been done.
- I was accidentally encouraging students and parents to collude together to lie to me!
- Reading response answers were often forced, and students weren't really reflecting on what they'd read.
- Students who were reading were only reading exactly up to the required minutes, and not a second over... even if that meant they didn't finish their chapter.
Mistake #3: Test-based Reading Programs & Reading Goals
Accelerated Reader. Reading Counts. Book Adventure. Read-N-Quiz. There are several options out there but they're all basically the same. Student reads book. Student takes multiple choice quiz on book. Student earns points for passing test. Rinse & repeat until the point goal is met.
Here are some things my students said about reading goals in those Google survey responses...
- "I would definitely still read [if we didn't have a reading goal]. I don't like the pressure being put on me to make my reading goal."
- "I read a lot of books that don't have Reading Counts tests and then I don't get points for my goal."
- "What I like is getting a reward for making a reading goal, what I dislike is having to read books with Reading Counts tests so I can get points."
- "I don't read books unless they have a test because it's a waste of time if it's not helping me meet my goal."
- "Reading is fun but reading goals are NOT."
What should you do instead?
Obviously reading at home is important. Obviously we need to actually DO something to encourage it. But how do we do that without killing their love of books?
well said.
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