Reading Independence

                                                     Adolescent Literacy

Children who read the most, independently for pleasure, read the best. Children who read the most, outside of class, are the best writers at school. These facts supersede economic and social barriers. The more students read at home, independently and for fun, the higher they score on literacy tasks and tests. Just as importantly, a child needs to read in order to master content across the curriculum. It's extremely frustrating for a student to try to solve mathematical word problems when she cannot comprehend what the question is asking. The same is true for science and social studies. By eighth grade, I find that most students can recognize and pronounce most of the words presented on the pages of our language arts classroom texts.  The difference is that while struggling adolescent readers can decode the words from the page, they cannot comprehend or understand what they read.  Thus, they aren't really reading because they aren't really comprehending what they're reading. This negatively affects their self-esteem and their perceptions of themselves as students.

Good readers internalize a toolbox of reading strategies and perform them unconsciously a fair portion of the time. As a teacher, I teach good readers to use these strategies consciously to help them when  reading material and tasks get challenging. I teach these same strategies to struggling readers so that they may practice and apply them across content areas as well to boos comprehension as they read for pleasure outside of class. These strategies include annotating by asking questions, predicting, summarizing for main ideas, identifying conflict, highlighting new or challenging vocabulary words, rereading, using metacognition, etc...

According to the International Reading Association

"Adolescents entering the adult world in the 21st century will read and write more than any other time in human history. They will need advanced levels of literacy to perform their jobs, run their households, act as citizens, and conduct their personal lives. They will need literacy to cope with the flood of information they will find everywhere they turn. They will need literacy to feed their imaginations, so they can create the world of the future. In a complex and sometimes even dangerous world, their ability to read can be crucial" (Moore et al., 1999).

Current research disagrees on the reading trends among today's young adults.  In an interview with NPR, researchers claimed that kids today are reading less than in the past because they are now distracted by technology. Others say that this type of research is flawed because students read more nonfiction due to surfing the World Wide Web. As an educator, I can testify that far too many kids tell me they don't have time to read due to the demands of outside activities such as after school sports, theatre, dance, etc...While these activities serve to enrich the lives and talents of our children, they should not come at the expense of reading.

At the expense of television, video games, and Facebooking? Yes. 

At the expense of reading literature and nonfiction for enjoyment? No.

My Student Hates To Read

As a secondary student, independent reading is the number one means for your student to build his vocabulary. That's right,  it trumps teacher-assigned vocabulary lists. Just as importantly, reading is not a "one size fits all" endeavor. Reading selections should be thoughtfully planned, and time should be set aside for reading to take place, and a schedule should be followed.  Setting aside 30 minutes each night to read before bed works well for most teenagers.  Weekends are also prime reading opportunities as are long car rides and airplane trips, such as those that take place over spring break (hint, hint).  If your student says he hates to read, then I would argue that he hasn't found the right book. He has discriminating tastes.  When it comes to reading for pleasure, outside of class, then kids should read about the things that interest them.  If they are passionate about guitar, then they might read about the lives of musicians. If they love to rock climb, then they should read about rock climbing.  If you are struggling with a resistant reader, it's not too late, and there's no better time to start than right now. Students should self-select reading material according to interest and challenge level; however, interest should always outweigh challenge levels. 

On average, students read (for pleasure) 15 minutes in class at the beginning of each period with a structured, follow-up activity; however, this by no means comes close to the three hours per week of reading for pleasure that I recommend for all students. For more information on good reads for teens, check out the following links.
goodreads.com
Young Adult Library Association
Nonfiction

Beat The Heat And The Summer Slide

Dog Days

Summer Slide

Despite our cool mountain climate, Park City students are just as susceptible to summer's "Dog Days" as other kids. And while the official "Dog Days" don't start wagging their tails until July, our kids are barking and straining at their leashes right now.

Eighth grade is little more than a teenage anamnesis in a mere 19 days.

Historically, the "Dog Days" were admonished for boiling seas, souring wine, and turning otherwise model citizens into listless, lazy, and indifferent louts. Today, stocks with little to no potential are often referred to as "dogs." Current research shows that our children are just as susceptible to the influences of Sirius, the dog star, and his summer sultriness as were the ancient Romans.

According to the McREL News Room, student achievement declines over the summer under certain conditions. Two years ago Time Magazine called for an end to summer vacation all together, stating that it was especially detrimental to economically disadvantaged students. Reports vary on exactly how much students regress with respect to reading, writing, and math, but the average loss tends to be reported at right around two months.  Two months may not sound like much, but it adds up, especially for kids who struggle in core content areas. I can testify that it takes approximately nine weeks, or until the end of first quarter, before many students settle back in to something that resembles forward progress. 

Video games, in moderation, have shown to improve problem-solving skills, and they can promote safe risk-taking behaviors, and an Xbox nestled in a cool basement on a shimmering summer afternoon is a welcomed relief for many teens; however, what it boils down to for all students is that intellectual growth should never take a summer vacation.

Dog Symbolism

I've included a few links and suggestions to keep summer slide and the Dog Days at bay. Kids can increase their vocabulary and feed the hungry in one place at Free Rice; they can record the details of their dog days in a journal or read the work of their peers and then submit their own at Teen Ink or SparkNotes, becoming published authors at the same time. And don't forget the Summit County Library and Park City Library. The Kumon Math and Reading Center of Park City provides enrichment opportunities as well.

Enjoy your Dog Days, and have a safe summer wherever Sirius takes you. I've enjoyed the class of 2017 tremendously. Your children are incredibly talented human beings; they inspire me to do my best every day. I thank you for sharing them with me this year.