I’ve been pondering the NEA’s most recent “Reading on the Rise” report for over a month and don’t really know what to think of it after all the gloom and doom reports of the last 10 years. This new report is definitely good news, though: adults 18-24 show the largest increase of readers–something one of my good friends swears is a result of Harry Potter and Twilight. I won’t weigh in on that myself since I’ve read neither, but it’s still nice to hear that people are reading books again. Of course, I’m not so sure I agree that reading has been on the decline at all. Maybe reading “literary” works–whatever those are–but people are reading.A recent teaching experience has only confirmed this for me–kids are reading–they just may not be reading stuff that fits into neat little categories defined by the NEA or academics.
Several weeks ago I was tapped to teach a no-credit, free to students, “Reading Workshop” to give basic readers a little boost right before the spring semester. It was called “Reading Jam.” The goal of the 3-day, 9-hour workshop was to teach students a few skills they could apply to their academic reading assignments.
I was surprised that so many students actually showed up. The workshop was scheduled during the last week prior to the start of the Spring semester; I mean, even I wanted to be at the beach enjoying the last few days of “winter” vacation in California; but there they were–10 students or so sitting with me in a dark room for three hours a day to talk about how to read better.
We started the workshop with students sharing a little autobiography of their reading histories. There were lovely stories of students reading the newspaper with their families, or getting their grubby little hands on comic books for the first time. I shared my own story about discovering the Diary of Anne Frank and the books of James Herriot. Manga was a big hit, as were the “Goosebumps” books and good ole’ Judy Blume. Not a single student mentioned reading Harry Potter (although one girl did blush as she talked about the Twilight series). As we went through the week together, students read a Corandic and we talked about “decoding” versus “comprehension.” We also talked about annotating while we read, and for many students this was an unheard of thing–mark up the books?
The best part of the workshop happened on the last day, however. I asked students to bring in something they loved to read that they wanted to share with other students. They brought library books (yes! People are still using the library!) and they brought sections of the newspaper; and they brought books in their home languages; and they brought poetry; and they brought printed pages of blogs, and they brought comic books, and they brought the Bible.
It was wonderful to hear each student talk about what they were sharing and why, and then to hear each student really pitch their personal reading materials to one another. Some students were embarrassed by what they brought–I know it’s only the newspaper but . . .
and yet, they were each so sincere in what they loved reading and why. And, according to them, they were reading all the time. I exited that workshop feeling pretty good–pretty hopeful, in fact–about the future of the planet.
Flash forward three weeks to the Spring semester. (This has a happy ending–that is not sar-blog-casm there). I am sitting in a circle with my freshman composition students and we are each answering the question “What’s your favorite book” as a get-to-know-you exercise; (students were the ones who asked these questions of one another). I expect to hear “I don’t have a favorite book but I’ve got a favorite movie . . .” I learn, instead, that not only do the students have favorites, but they have numerous favorites! They also have really good reasons for why these books are their favorites. Selections ranged from Rich Dad, Poor Dad to How to Win Friends and Influence People to Catcher in the Rye and 1984. Even a play made the cut! Believe it or not, someone still likes reading Death of a Salesman!
And I don’t think they were just trying to impress one another–there was something in the looks they got on their faces as they talked about their book–a certain type of glow that gave me a happy feeling inside. Sometimes other students would go “Oh, yeah!” to let whomever was speaking know that the favorite book being discussed was a good ‘ole favorite of theirs too! And you know what each student said? I wish I had more time to read.
I know what you’re thinking: they can turn off the TV all by themselves. But it’s not just about that–it’s about everyone reading together–creating community. This is something that happens in a wonderful way when you’re teaching a class and everyone is reading the same book and talking about it and loving it; or when you’re at the office and you and a friend discover you’ve been reading the same book. If we want to have more readers, we need to support a community of readers–and I’m not talking about Book-A-Thons either. We don’t need an expensive study to tell us that people want to read more but our current culture isn’t geared towards “quiet time.”
In the past week there’s been some talk about lengthening school days, shortening summer vacations, even paying our students to read books in order to improve the education of our American citizens. They want to cut recess! (One of my favorite times, as a kid, for reading a good book.)
But if we start giving students more class time, won’t they have less reading time? Maybe we could get Americans to take a day off again. I remember being soooo bored! on Sundays as a kid. Everything was closed and days were long, and eventually I’d tuck myself into a corner of my room and dig in to a book.
Teachers recognize this–students want and need quiet time for reading. I’m sure that the writers of the No Child Left Behind Act would probably say I did it all wrong back when I was teaching High School English, but 1 day a week in my English and Creative Writing classes were all about “sustained silent reading.” Students were allowed to bring pillows or blankets, snacks and drinks, and they’d put their feet up, or tuck themselves up on the floor, and they’d read whatever they wanted to read–they’d read for a whole hour. I didn’t get a single complaint from my students. They loved having time and a quiet nook for reading.
Which brings me all the way to the Little House in the Big Woods. My namesake niece is 10, and she lives in Wisconsin. I was walking through the bookstore recently, and saw a new edition of my favorite series from when I was a child; I mean, it even came with a little necklace! I bought a copy and sent it immediately to my niece. A week later, as we chatted on the phone, I asked if she’d gotten the book:
“Auntie Kirsten, do you know that this book is a real book?”
“What do you mean, K?”
“I mean, this was a real little girl. Did you know that?”
“I did. Cool, huh?”
“Yeah! And you know what else, Auntie Kirsten? She lived in Wisconsin, just like I do!”
“She did?”
“Yeah! Except a long time ago, like when there was no TV and there were Indians and stuff.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I’m already on page 7. It’s getting really good. What page are you on?”
And that’s when I said I was just about where she was–and after we hung up, I went back to the store and picked up my own copy. The necklace doesn’t quite fit, but she’s right–it is good.
I can’t wait to talk to her about it again this Sunday.