It seems most of my ideas for English lessons occur while I’m driving. Not sure why. Perhaps it has something to do with the stillness and quiet I rarely find in my busy, chaotic, and noisy life. Maybe it’s having that stillness while also having the means and momentum to go places. Not too unlike the feeling I experience while reading.
See that, my mind exclaims as the traffic light turns green, that is why I read! For that feeling of exploration and adventure while my body is at rest.
Then my next sobering thought, Why don’t most kids unstand this? Like a splash of freezing water, it snaps me from my dreamy musings back into harsh reality.
The truth of the matter is it’s not entirely their fault. There are a lot of factors and explanations for why most kids shy away from reading. I won’t list them all here, but it suffices to say that, at some point, kids learned to fear and despise reading.
So how do we – the avid readers, the concerned parents, and the striving English teachers – how do we convince them otherwise?
There are tons of resources and advice available, some that even work with the most difficult of reluctant readers. I’ll try to include some of my favorites at a later time. For now, I simple want to share my half-formed lesson activity. One which sprang from my head like Athena from Zeus, unexpected and, potentially, brilliant.
When to use: beginning of the year, or before literature circles.
What will it do: help kids identify purposes for reading, types of reading sources available, where to find specific information and evaluate reliability of sources, loosely connect to understanding author’s purpose ( focus on this aspect at s later date), and make real world connections.
Where will we go: we will return to this lesson to add additional information throughout the year so students will be remind of where we started and where we’re going.
How will we get there: whole class discussions, gathering and graphing information as a team, testimonies, and teacher modeling.
The lesson:
Hook: create a class list of reasons why we read. Inevitably there will be that one student, or a dozen, who whine about being forced to read. If someone does this, or makes a similar distainful comment about reading, I suggest making a “Purge” list as well. By allowing students to list their complainants about reading, we are acknowledging their thoughts and issues with reading. It also gives us a better understanding of their struggles and how to improve them. This should only take a minute or two. Once the purging list is complete, it is important to counteract the negative with positive experiences from reading. Provide an easy model for students before encouraging students to add to the list. Try to resist filling it in for them. If the positives are small next to the negatives that is okay. The chart will be added to throughout the year. It is meant to be a tool and record of student discovery.
*Write the following on whiteboard, or whatever is available, for whole class visual during discussion:
Question: Why do we read?
Purge List– (these are some expected negative answers):
teachers make me read;
it’s boring;
takes too long/movies are quicker, easier, and give same information;
I’m not a good reader.
–Side note: do not accept answers such as “I hate reading!” The goal is to make them examine why they don’t enjoy reading, not vent meaninglessly.
Once the list is complete, (spend no more than 2 mins here) briefly acknowledge their points then prepare them to switch gears.
Positives/Purposes for Reading List:
Teacher example: for an escape from everyday life
— side note: provide guidance as needed but resist giving students suggestions. This needs to be a reflection of their real connections to reading. Also, try to avoid broad answers like “for knowledge” what kind of knowledge? A better answer would be one of the following: To understand how things work (cars, plumbing, the universe). To understand the evolution of humanity and society through various time periods. And so on.
Once you are finished with this list, try not to exceed 5 mins here, have them create their own personalize list in their Writer’s Notbook. They may copy what is on the board if they choose to since the goal is for them to have this list as a reference they can add to at a later date.
As you can see this is a short activity which can serve as a warm up to any lesson.
My finally question to all you readers out there is this: why do you read?
No One Would Write For Less 