Transcript WE ARE A FAMILY OF BOOKS:

How to Create a Community of Readers
in Your Classroom
***
Presented by
Daria Plumb
Dundee Alternative High School
FACTS ABOUT TEENS & READING
A 1999 survey conducted by SmartGirl.com and YALSA
of 3,072 pre-teens & teens showed that
81% of girls & 62% of boys said they would read more
if they had the time.
The International Reading Association and the
National Middle School Association say,
“ … the data indicate that the level of student [reading] performance
drops off in the middle- and high school years.”
A student of Don Gallo’s conducted a survey of kids in a medium size
city middle school which found that
“only three out of the fifty-seven eighth graders surveyed checked the
statement, ‘Teachers know what books students like.’”
Maryellen Cosgrove,
Chris Crowe,
Don Gallo,
Ted Hipple,
B.F. Skinner,
Jim Trelease,
Nancie Atwell,
The Commission on Reading (established by the US Senate),
the International Reading Association,
the National Middle School Association,
and many other researchers
stress the importance of teaching ALL students
(even advanced, secondary students)
to read for pleasure.
Increasing opportunities to read for pleasure
helps students to:
develop fluency,
build vocabulary,
raise their reading level,
increase comprehension,
become more motivated to read,
gain knowledge of text structures,
adopt positive attitudes towards reading,
prepare to read and appreciate the classics,
& IMPROVE THEIR PERFORMANCE ON STANDARDIZED
TESTS!!!
OK, but what do we do about those
__________________ readers?
-- From Daniel Pennac’s Better Than Life
Readers have:
• The right to not read.
• The right to skip pages.
• The right to not finish.
• The right to reread.
• The right to read anything.
• The right to escapism.
• The right to read anywhere.
• The right to browse.
• The right to read out loud.
• The right not to defend your tastes.
My students would like add to this list:
•The right to choose a book by its cover.
•The right to read quietly; i.e. to not read out loud.
•The right to feel emotion—to laugh or cry—during
a book.
•The right to talk about and discuss your book.
•The right to share your book with others.
•The right to read all kinds of books.
•The right to change books.
•The right to enjoy reading.
•The right to read a lot of books.
•The right to read anytime.
•The right to question the writer.
What MY Students Say English Teachers Need
to Do to Help Students Become Readers:
 Get to know students and figure out what they like
Give a survey to help them find a genre they like, then
help them find more books from that genre.
 Don’t pick boring books—provide books with lots of
action and suspense.
 Let students choose their own books and have a
selection of books teens actually want to choose from .
 Change up genres and have different authors who use
different writing styles.
 Kids need to listen to a good book to get hooked / Read
short, interesting stories out loud.
 Don’t rush students through books / Let us read at
our own pace.
 Realize that not everyone has the same interests.
 Don’t make students read a book they don’t like
because they won’t understand it.
 Discuss and share stories that are interesting.
 Ask students more questions about how they feel
about the book during a discussion.
 Steer away from required materials.
 Let students read to themselves IN SCHOOL.
 Allow us to change books.
 Don’t bombard us with work from the book.
 Give students books that are at their reading level.
USE YOUNG ADULT
(OR JUVENILE)
LITERATURE!
YA Lit is NOT…
• simple “problem novels” in which a onedimensional main character faces a problem
(death, alcoholism, rape, etc.) and resolves
the problem by the end of the book.
• preachy and didactic and written to scare
teens into behaving the “right way”.
• poorly written, simplistic, formula-driven
literature (i.e., “fluff” or “trash”).
YA Literature IS:
• an extremely diverse and cutting-edge body of
literature that encompasses ALL genres and
formats (including one that isn’t even seen
anywhere else, the novel-in-verse) and includes
the same literary elements found in classic lit.
• written for and read by people in the 12-18 age
range.
• usually fast-paced.
• generally narrated from the 1st person point of
view by a teen protagonist.
• usually on the theme of coming-of-age, but also
utilizes other common literary themes, such as
the hero’s journey and the quest.
• accessible and features characters and themes
teens can relate to and are interested in.
• recognized each year by the American Library
Association with the Newbery Award and the
Printz Award (which awards books based solely
on LITERARY MERIT). Other awards which list
literary merit as criteria: Whitbread Award,
YALSA’s Best Books for Young Adults list, and
ALAN’s Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award.
READ ALOUD!
The International Reading Association and the National
Middle School Association say, that teachers should
“provide opportunities for students to read
material they choose and to be read to each
school day.”
Wendy Schwartz says,
“Reading aloud by teachers, guest readers, and
students is a valuable classroom activity to
which substantial amounts of time should be
allotted…It is especially beneficial for boys who
may not be reading at other times and need to
be introduced to the pleasure that reading
provides.”
ALLOW
STUDENT CHOICE!
The International Reading Association and National Middle
School Association say,
“Students must have many opportunities to
choose reading materials that are interesting
and engaging.”
NCTE Guidelines On Reading, Learning to Read, and
Effective Reading: An Overview of What We Know and
How We Know It says,
“Teachers provide effective reading instruction
when they provide daily opportunities for
students to read books of their own choice in
school.”
DRIFT X series
by Todd Strasser
HOW ANGEL PETERSON GOT
HIS NAME by Gary Paulsen
GIVE STUDENTS
TIME TO READ
IN SCHOOL
BALL DON’T LIE
By Matt de la Pena
MONSTER NATION
by Dan Rosenberg
“Wiesendanger and Birlem (1984) noted that
nine of the eleven research studies they analyzed
presented evidence that students develop more
positive attitudes towards reading in schools with
SSR.” (Chow & Chou)
Thomas Bean says,
“Once books are chosen, students need an opportunity
to study them. Quiet time for extended reading and
time for talking about books are both crucial elements
in incorporating young adult novels in the classroom.
… When sustained silent reading works, its impact is
substantial…In addition, the central intent of
sustained silent reading is to develop a lifelong love of
reading for pleasure ”
KNOW ABOUT YA LIT OR GET TO
KNOW PEOPLE WHO KNOW YA LIT
Making the
Match: The
Right Book for
the Right
Reader at the
Right Time,
Grades 6-12
by Teri Lesesne
Naked Reading
by Teri Lesesne
I Won’t Read
and You Can’t
Make Me:
Reaching
Reluctant Teen
Readers
by Marilyn
Reynolds
The Reading
Zone: How to
Help Students
Become Skilled,
Passionate,
Habitual, Critical
Readers
by Nancie Atwell
A FEW OLD (BUT GOOD) ACADEMIC ARTICLES
• Crowe, Chris. “Dear Teachers: Please Help My Kids
Become Readers.” English Journal. September
1999, 139-142.
• Gallo, Donald R. “How Classics Create an Aliterate
Society.” English Journal. January 2001, 33-39.
• Hipple, Ted. “It’s the THAT, Teacher.” English
Journal. March, 1997, 15-17.
WEB RESOURCES
www.notrequiredreading.com
www.professornana.livejournal.com
www.guysread.com
http://www.yalit.com/
http://www.talestoldtall.com/BooksforBoys.html
http://www.richiespicks.com/
http://www.authors4teens.com/index.asp
www.alan-ya.org
www.getemreading.com
How to Create a Community of Readers:
 Give students time in class to read
 Help students choose books that interest them. Then, teach
them HOW to choose their own book.
 Remove the stress/pressure of assessment (i.e. the book
report, quizzes, tests).
 Talk to students about what they do and don’t like in the book
they are reading and VALUE THEIR OPINIONS!
 Allow/encourage students to recommend books to one
another.
 Make sure students know it’s OK to skim the boring parts.
 Don’t fall prey to the “myths” of what a reluctant reader will &
won’t read—each kid is different and will have different wants
& needs.
 Stress the idea that your goal is to help students find a book
that they actually enjoy.
 Subscribe to the Reader’s Bill of Rights
 Read the book, then see the movie.
 Allow students to “get comfortable” when they read.
 Have students personalize bookmarks and their reading
journals.
 Display photos of YA authors & lists of their works in the
classroom.
 Set aside one day per week for student book talks &
discussion.
 Have students create their own book blogs or book trailers.
 Set up a school or classroom page on a website like
www.goodreads.com .
 Introduce your students to the websites and/or Facebook or
MySpace pages of their favorite authors.
 Encourage students to interact with authors online.
For More Information and Ideas,
Please Visit My Website:
www.GETEMREADING.com
And My Blog
http://[email protected]