ERIC EJ945727: Ten Reasons Nonreaders Don't Read (and How You Can Change Their Minds)

2011·0.6 MB·English

by  ERIC

TEN
BY LOUANNE
JOHNSON
This article is excerpt-
ed with permission
from her new book,
Teaching Outside
the Box, 2nd edition
(Jossey-Bass, 2011).
R EAS
ONS NON

R E A DE R S DON T
’
Why, then, is reading such a problem for so many ele- basketball, since many of the boys were NBA hopefuls.

mentary and secondary students? What turns so many “You can’t sink a free throw if you never get on the
READ (AND HOW YOU little book lovers into adamant book haters? Instead court,” I told them.
of speculating, I went straight to the source—real-life Because we had developed a solid rapport based on
reluctant readers in my classes spanning the past two mutual respect and trust, those students agreed to give

decades. reading one more try. Together, we created a new set of
CAN CHANGE THEIR MINDS) One day, at the start of my English class, I asked, expectations and rules about reading.
MAGES “How many of you like reading?” A few students raised With each new high school class, I kept the discus-
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REASON 2 They Can’t Read as Fast
as Their Peers (and Get Left Behind)
REASONS 1-3
DO THIS: Allow students to read at their own pace,
even if it means that those slower readers don’t
cover as much ground as their quicker classmates.
While they are reading at their own individual pace,
they will learn to read.
One first grader I worked with, Kayla, was in such
a hurry to read everything quickly that she wasn’t
processing anything. When I asked her to slow down
and read one sentence, then tell me what it said, she
was fine. But when I let her read without interrup-
tion, she began racing along, stumbling over words,
and was unable to answer basic questions about
what she had read. “Why are you reading so fast?”
I asked her. She sighed. “Because I have to go fast.
That’s how we do it at school.”
“I don’t care how fast everybody reads in school,”
I said. “I want you to slow down and read at your
own pace. And one of these days, I promise, you’ll
read as fast as everybody else. Maybe even faster.”
Kayla wasn’t completely convinced, but she agreed
to slow down. And her mother agreed to allow Kayla
to skip some of her chores on their family’s ranch
so she could spend more time after school reading.
In less than two months, Kayla went from failing
grades back to straight As.
REASON 1 Reading Gives Them a
Headache or Makes Their Eyes Hurt
DO THIS: Recent research suggests that nearly half of REASON 3 They Fear They’ll Have to
people who are labeled as learning disabled actually Read Out Loud and Others Will Laugh
suffer from scotopic (light) sensitivity. People with
DO THIS: Consider making reading aloud purely voluntary
light sensitivity find reading difficult and sometimes
in your classroom. Give students the option of reading to
painful when the material is printed on glossy paper.
you one-on-one so you can assess their skills and progress.
Fluorescent lighting or other lights that cause glare
In addition to easing some of the stress, letting students
on the page make reading even more difficult. High-
opt out of public reading may improve the attendance,
contrast print, such as black letters on white paper,
punctuality, and morale in your classroom. Don’t allow
is the most difficult for light-sensitive people to read.
other kids to laugh at the ones who do read, and beware
Unfortunately, such high-contrast print is the most
the sneaky snickers. If you ask students to read aloud in
common format for texts and other school materials.
your classroom, you owe it to your readers to make sure
If you have students who are generally cooperative M
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to read, the daydreamer will tune back in without feeling RE
ers, visit covd.org.) embarrassment or hostility toward you. DAR
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REASONS 4-6
REASON 4 They Expect to Be REASON 5 They
Believe They Have
Tested on What They Read—
to Finish Every
and to Fail the Test
DO THIS: I know, I know, testing is important, Reading Selection,
especially today. So give the standardized tests No Matter How REASON 6 They Fear
when you have to. But if you have the choice Their Opinions Will
Long or Difficult
between testing students about their reading
DO THIS: Have you ever put Be Wrong
or giving them an opportunity to honestly
down a book halfway through DO THIS: So many teary
respond to their reading, go for the honest
because it just wasn’t com- students have told me about
response. There will be plenty of time for test-
pelling enough to you? Yes? the same experience: A
ing once your students improve their reading
That’s why I suggest letting teacher asked them to write
skills and their self-confidence as readers.
reluctant readers stop and their opinion about a book
Try reading a few short things as a class.
move on to the next when or story. The student worked
After each one, open the floor to comments.
they don’t like a book. Not hard on his or her essays and
Ask, “So, what do you think about that?”
forever. Just until they become expected high marks for effort
Accept every comment as valuable. If nobody
good enough readers that and content. Their teachers
comments, say, “Well, let’s let that one per-
reading isn’t a dreaded chore. assigned either a D or an F
colate for a while.” And move on to the next
Forcing kids who don’t read that was to the student inex-
activity. Let your students see that reading isn’t
well to finish material that plicable. Those teachers sent
a chore, a competition, or a test. It’s a lifelong
is far above their ability level a clear message: Your opinion
skill that we use to gain information, find a
or that has no relevance to is worthless.
new perspective, and tickle our brains or our
them can ruin reading for If you ask for an opinion,
funny bones. As one of my former students
them. Good readers will tackle accept what you get and
wisely pointed out, “You don’t have to discuss
anything because they know grade the writing on compo-
the crap out of everything you read. Some
that they will be rewarded by sition and content. Reward
things you just read. That’s it.”
gaining a new perspective, their honest effort and
I’m not suggesting abandoning tests or
acquiring new knowledge, or encourage them to develop
assessments, just changing the format. For
entering a completely new their ideas logically and
example, when reading as a whole group, we
world. Poor readers don’t completely. If you allow your
can stop and ask students to jot down their
experience those rewards, so students to maintain their
response to a single question about the read-
it’s difficult to convince them dignity, they will continue
ing assignment—Which of the characters is
that reading can be enjoyable. to try and to progress. With
the most honest? Why in the world did he do
This may go against your maturity and practice, their
what he did? What would you have done in
teacherly grain, but I urge reading and writing skills
that situation?—and give them credit based on
you to consider it: Tell your will improve and they will be
the thought and effort devoted to the answer,
students that you will expect better able to appreciate lit-
instead of whether the answer is “correct.”
them to read half of any erature that demands a more
When you do test students in a more orthodox
article, story, or novel that sophisticated approach.
manner, don’t use the same format for every
you give to them. At the Once students can intel-
test. Instead of asking them to select the cor-
halfway point, you will take a ligently articulate their opin-
rect answer on a multiple-choice or matching
class vote to see whether the ions, they will be ready to
quiz, try open-ended short essay questions or
majority of students want to learn how to analyze a story
reading journals. Ask them to think of three
finish the given selection. If on its literary merits. (“Boring
good adjectives to describe a specific character
more than half vote against and stupid” is not a literary
and give examples of things those characters
the text, ask your students critique.) Then, you can push
said or did to support the students’ choice of
to write a brief critique of it, students to use specific
adjectives. Ask them to rate the story’s conclu-
and then move on to the next references to the text to
sion and explain why they give it a thumbs-up
activity. One of the reasons make their point, using
or thumbs-down.
this approach is so success- vocabulary and terms that
ful is that it gives students you have taught them, such
the feeling that they have a as plot, dialogue, irony, and
choice in what they read. And tone. It may be helpful to
once they know that they can teach these two different
vote to stop reading a story or critical approaches as the
novel, surprisingly, they will “personal” versus the
often continue reading it! “professional” response.
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REASONS 7-10
Reason 10 They Get Lost and Can’t
Remember What They Have Just Read
Do This: Many struggling students who can technically read
quite well don’t understand what they are reading. They some-
REASON 8 They Believe They Are Too
how missed the important point that when we read we must
Far Behind to Ever Catch Up
create a mental reference. Without that reference, words are
DO THIS: When students read below grade level, they don’t just words. One boy described his experience this way: “It’s like
REASON 7 They Always Get Put Into
understand that increasing their skills to the next level isn”t I’m reading one of those signs in front of the bank where the
the “Slow” Group, Which Makes as hard as they think. A ninth grader whose test score places letters move. As soon as I read the words, they disappear.”
Them Feel Stupid him at a fourth-grade level, for example, thinks he will run You don’t have to be a reading teacher to help students with
DO THIS: I have come to believe that our first experi- out of time before he can catch up with his peers. So first reading comprehension. First, explain that when we read, we
ence with reading influences our perceptions of our explain that a grade level in reading doesn’t correspond to create a mental picture of what we are reading. As we add
intelligence, even as adults. Here’s why. If you ask a calendar year. It is just a measure of how well a student details, the picture becomes clearer or changes to adjust to
adults, “Do you consider yourself above average, reads a specific level of complexity in vocabulary and sen- new or different information. If you lose the picture when you
about average, or below average?” most of them tence structure. are reading, you are starting to lose your comprehension. Back
have a clear picture of where they fall on the intel- Encourage students to learn how to derive the meaning of up until you can see the picture again, and continue reading.
ligence spectrum. But what I find most interesting unfamiliar words from the context and to practice reading To do this as a class with a story or article, you can read a
is that when I ask those same adults how old they every day in order to improve their reading rate. One method paragraph, ask students what they see, and discuss their dif-
were when they formed their opinions of their I have used successfully is to give them a one- to two-page- ferent visions. This will help students who still don’t get it to
own intelligence, nearly all agree that they decided long magazine article. They read for one full minute until I understand what you are talking about. Then read the next
how smart they were during the first few years of say, “Stop.” They circle the last word they read. Then I teach paragraph and stop again to ask students to describe their
school, when they were learning to read. Call them them how to count the words on a page. (Add together the mental pictures. When I do this with a class, they usually
bluebirds and sparrows, stars and stripes, bears number of words in four individual lines, then divide by four become very excited because they finally (some for the first
and bobcats, children always know who are the fast to get the average number of words per line.) Then students time) understand why some people (yes!) love to read.
count how many lines they read, multiply that by the aver-
readers (translation “smart kids”) and who are the
age, and get their one-minute word count. The next month,
slow readers (translation “dumb kids”). They know
we read the same selection and assess their reading rates
exactly where they fall on the reading-speed
again. Students will nearly always improve if they have been
spectrum, and they believe this directly correlates
making an effort in class. They’ll see that practice doesn’t
to intelligence.
make perfect, but it certainly makes improvement.
If teachers can find a way to group students
that doesn’t depend on their reading ability at least
some of the time, I think they can avoid the situa-
tion where students correlate their intelligence to
their reading group. Better yet, teachers can create
classroom environments where students sincerely REASON 9 They Have No Interest in the
want to help each other and don’t tease or torment
Material They Are Required to Read
the slower students. Sometimes students who
process information slowly turn out to have much DO THIS: Struggling readers will blossom if you give them
higher IQs than fast processors. Finding ways for material that is so interesting they can’t resist reading
slow readers to shine in other areas can be an effec- it. That’s the trick: finding something so compelling that
tive way to help students understand that there are students forget they are reading.
multiple forms of intelligence and that reading is You may have to abandon textbooks for a bit, even if
one of many skills, but not necessarily an indicator they do contain interesting stories. Textbooks by definition
of intelligence or the ability to learn. are not interesting. (I sometimes make copies of a story
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