My drives to work may be long, but they’re highlighted by audiobooks and, most recently, the podcast Sold a Story. Between the recent Atlantic pieces The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books and then How One Woman Became the Scapegoat for America’s Reading Crisis it’s clear that schools have been failing our children with wide-reaching repercussions. And what’s shocking is that they have the best intentions!
As the parent and teacher of voracious readers, I am so saddened by the disservice that students (many of whom are now adults and parents themselves) have had at the hand of ineffective literacy training and profit-driven reading programs over the last twenty-plus years.
My youngest, who has only been reading for three years as of this writing, reflected that they would be so sad and their world would be so empty (her words) if they didn’t know how to read. Her backpack is currently weighed down by several books (right now it’s two volumes of the Keeper of the Lost Cities series). When I told them that nearly half of Americans didn’t read a single book last year, they were shocked, almost angry, to say the least.
Boredom is not a word we use in our home or classroom because there’s always a good book to read.
As of this writing there are twenty-nine book spines behind my desk, each one representing a finished book by a student since the beginning of the school year in September. I’m grateful that my students love to read, just like me, and therefore love to seek new knowledge and feed their curiosities. If there is one gift I would hope to give my students it’s the love of reading, the curiosity to keep asking questions, and the tools to seek out and assess the sources they need to find answers.
I will continue to celebrate their curiosity in every way possible. And here's how we do it at Kalexedy:
1) Make space and time for reading.
30 minutes is built into our daily schedule for everyone (that includes me, too), a mostly-guaranteed quiet half hour of dedicated reading time. I say mostly, since students are apt to express surprise, horror or delight about what they're reading. We have a no-spoilers rule around here, since we recommend books to each other more often than not.
2) Give graphic novels a try.
Graphic novels get a bad reputation in some circles, but in truth they have a significantly higher level of vocabulary than other books meant for the same age range. This quote from a recent KQED article highlights this best:
"While comic books and graphic novels may contain fewer words per page than the average chapter book, the authors are required to choose their words more carefully. '[They] reach for a higher-level vocabulary word that says in one word what the average person might take six or seven words to say,' said Jones. A study by the University of Oregon found that comic books average 53.5 rare words per thousand, while children’s books average 30.9, and adult books average 52.7." (Read the Full Article)
A hesitant reader, or an initially disinterested reader, might be more likely to read a graphic novel before a traditional text. This has the effect of getting more readers into a storyline or genre they like, and therefore foster their love of reading. Many series, like the Keeper of the Lost Cities series, has a graphic novel that introduces a reader to the characters and might lead them to read more of the series (which hasn't been made into graphic novels yet) simply because they love the story and compelling characters. In this way the graphic novel serves as a bridge to more books.
3) Find their genre.
Pay attention to what sorts of stories they like to make up or tell -- there's a high likelihood that you are getting a glimpse into the types of stories a child may like to read. Our youngest daughter was almost exclusively telling us stories from an animal's perspective, so it was no surprise that when she began reading books from an animal's perspective (I credit Elaine Dimopolous' The Perilous Performance at Milkweed Meadow for igniting her love of reading), she dove head-first into reading more stories in that genre.
4) Access to books.
Our library at Kalexedy Learning Center. Our library is well-stocked with many genres, interest areas, non-fiction stories, graphic novels -- and if you can't find something you like, add it to the list and our librarian will seek something out for you!
Library cards. We have multiple library cards so that depending on where we are studying for the day (Boston, Worcester or Framingham) we can take home the book (or books) we want and then return them on our next trip.
Libby. You can download the Libby app on your phone or Kindle and connect it to your library card if it is a participating library. eBooks and audiobooks in your child's pocket are an easy way to ensure they always have quick access to a new book. You may see a photo of a child engrossed in their phone from our classroom, but they're not watching TikTok -- they're reading. It's something I wasn't quite prepared for, but have been so pleasantly surprised to find.
Home Libraries and Little Free Libraries. We love maintaining and growing our personal libraries and donating and borrowing from our neighborhood Little Free Libraries (we are stewards to the one in our front yard serving our neighborhood).
Friends. We love sharing and swapping books with friends and classmates. It's an opportunity to establish a common ground and grow connections with friends.
5) Lead by example. (Read by example.)
Get caught reading. What's the best way to encourage a young reader? Read yourself. Model the behavior of putting your (non-Libby-apped) phone away, sitting in a comfortable place and prioritizing reading. As parents and educators it's easy to find something else to do, but taking a moment to publicly read can make a bigger difference than you realize.
Read out loud. Every night my husband reads to my daughters -- I chime in, too, but this is their special time to slow down and connect after a day of school, busy, and commuting together.
Audiobooks in the car. We like to enjoy a book together while I drive and it's been so much fun. I've written about our group listening of Pride and Prejudice and our ongoing TBR (or should it be TBL - To Be Listened?) list of audiobooks for car rides. Books that turned into movies are a fun one because then we can go crazy planning a themed meal and make an event out of it.
6) Celebrate their milestones.
A little extrinsic motivation goes a long way. Here are some ways to acknowledge your reader:
Have your child write a book review and post it to LibraryThing, StoryGraph, GoodReads, or Amazon.
Have your child write a letter to the author if the book touched them, sometimes they reply, and it's magical!
Keep track of the books they have read and offer a prize -- it can be whatever makes sense for your family. Maybe it's a trip to get ice cream or pick out their favorite meal for dinner that night. Maybe take a trip to buy a new book at an independent or used bookstore.
Do a reading challenge at a local library, organize one for their school or homeschool group or even make one up yourself. Our family had fun doing a 90s themed reading challenge which awarded tickets for each hour read -- they could be cashed in for a trip to the art supply store, the book store, a hike anywhere they chose, a Tamagotchi (yes, those still exist), or a themed movie night. You can be so creative with this and you never know what will motivate your readers if that's what they need right now.
Those are just some of the ways we encourage reading, if anything we talk about the books that we've read and the more a child wants to participate in a conversation the more they will seek out a new book to read or take up a recommendation by their sibling, parent or friend. When it comes down to it, having an older student recommend a book series to a younger student with the magical phrase, "You have to read this next!" is the kind of peer pressure I don't mind seeing in my classroom.
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