John, a ninth grader, didn’t read – ever. When I gave students reading time in class, he would grab a book off one of my shelves and leave it open to the first page as he stared at the ceiling and around the room while everyone else was deep in the reading zone.
That is, until I handed him Tyrell by Coe Booth. His literature circle group had selected the book, so he made an effort to read a few pages.
Two days later, John appeared at my classroom door hours before his afternoon class. He shoved the book at me. “You can have this back,” he said.
My heart sank – another failure. “You didn’t like it?” I asked.
“No,” he told me. “That book was tight. It’s the only book I ever finished.”
When students tell me they don’t like to read, I know the truth. It’s really a matter of finding the right books for them.
So what’s the secret to matching middle and high school students with the right books? Teachers need to know their students and create book awareness in a variety of ways.
Interest Surveys
During the first couple days of school, I have always had students take an interest survey on their reading habits and the types of books they enjoy. Right away, I know which kids are enthusiastic, reluctant or nonreaders. The surveys also give me an idea of the types of genres and topics that most interest them. Many authors have developed their own survey ideas. I have adapted my reading interest survey to give me the specific information I want for my classroom of learners.
Making Books Available
School libraries are great, but classroom libraries are also essential. Students are more likely to read and get excited about new books when they’re surrounded with temptation. Covers are especially big draws for students, so putting books on display, much like they do in bookstores, entices students to look closer.
You can start your classroom library with one bookcase and build from there. I’m up to 13 bookcases and nearly 1,300 books all purchased with my own money. Metal picture or plate stands from a craft store make great holders to display books along the tops of bookcases. I change these out regularly, and find the books on display get snapped up the quickest.
Weekly Booktalks
Several years ago I interviewed high schools students about their reading habits as part of my dissertation. Students who loved to read often went months without reading when they couldn’t find a good book to read. One student reread her favorite series three times when she couldn’t identify a new book. Once I knew her well enough to make suggestions, she plowed through more than a dozen new books in a month’s time.
Students love booktalks when you make them exciting, much like a movie trailer. I usually save booktalks for the first 10-15 minutes of class on Fridays, and students look forward to them. If I miss a week, students notice.
Usually I booktalk novels I have read and recommend, but other times I talk about books that are new acquisitions to the classroom library that I have not yet had a chance to read. I buy books fairly frequently, so I cannot read everything fast enough. I rely on book recommendations from School Library Journal, Amazon, and other online book sites. It’s easy to pull together a booktalk , even for books you haven’t read, from online synopses and review information.
I give students Books I Want to Read sheets for their binders. The sheets have a place for the title and author, so students can record books they liked from book talks or other recommendations they hear about. When students are ready to select a new book, they turn to their book list to see what’s currently available in the classroom library or the school library. When popular books are checked out, they can scan down their list until they find something that’s in.
Learning how to Select Books
In addition to my recommendations through booktalks, I want students to learn to select books on their own. That way I know they will continue to seek out books and become readers well beyond the walls of my classroom.
At the start of each year, my classes review the various ways they can examine books and make smart decisions. Then we create a poster to remind them of all of their ideas. For example, we talk about examining book covers, reading book blurbs, reading the opening pages, looking for important awards won, searching out known authors, continuing books in a series, taking recommendations from others, and checking for reading difficulty (5 finger rule).
Book Promotion
Kids are bombarded with advertising for just about everything these days, and it’s often effective. That’s why I make it my goal to market books in as many ways as I can.
I start with a book bulletin board in my classroom and one in the hallway. My classroom board includes pictures of book covers with the blurbs from Amazon or whatever review I find. When I attend conferences, such as the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), or book signings, I take author pictures and include those as well. On the hallway bulletin board my team usually selects a genre to focus on. I’ve also staged a Get Caught Reading board where I take pictures of students found reading around the school, and then featured the book they were reading. Use your imagination – there are no limits!
Since I usually read a YA book each week, I post a “Dr. Cohen is currently reading…” sign by my door with the book cover and description. That way students see that I’m also a reader, and they learn about new books.
Finally, I have visited other schools and seen a wonderful idea I would like to incorporate at my own school with the help of the librarian. One high school had copies of book covers and descriptions, much like I use in my bulletin boards, and laminated them and posted them in bathroom stalls. What a brilliant way to reach a captured audience!
Reading Time in Class/Setting Goals
If we truly value reading, then we need to make time for it in class. I require my students to read for 30 minutes at least six days a week outside of school, but I also try to find time, even if it’s just 10 minutes at the start of class several times a week, to read at school as well. Of course during reading units, there is always more time.
As part of students’ weekly reading, I have them set goals for their current book. While some students see this as a hassle, I have had many students say they want to reach their goal each week, so they make time for reading instead of doing other activities, such as playing video games or watching TV. Goal setting is also an important skill for the future, which can help students in many aspects of their lives. Once the week is over, students determine if they met their goal and then write a one-to-two sentence reflection on how they achieved their goal, of if they failed, they have to reflect on why (book became harder so they had to slow down or reread; they didn’t make the time, etc.). Asking students to be metacognitive helps them make better choices in the future.
Here is the way I have students set their goals: They read for 10 minutes at their normal speed and see how many pages they finished. This number is multiplied by 3 to determine the number of pages they can read in their current book in 30 minutes. Then they multiple that number by 6 since they are supposed to read 6 times a week. The total number reflects the amount of pages they should be able to read in their current book (at their own pace) if they completed all of their required reading.
What are you doing to get students to read more? Please share your ideas!
Hi Stacy- I am wondering…Are there consequences for not meeting reading goals or not reading at all? Do you ever host a competition for the # of books read or set a minimum # of books per year? Thanks.
I don’t give consequences for not meeting reading goals. Sometimes it’s just a busy week for kids, which we all experience as readers, or they report having to slow down their reading because the book became more difficult. If they consistently fail to meet their reading goals, I have a conversation with them. They do lose points, however, on their reading logs. These are just half sheets I give them each week (I tell them to fold them lengthwise and use them as bookmarks). They only have to record book title and time/pages read. I absolutely hate reading logs with a passion, but some less enthusiastic readers have told me that the accountability, combined with the reading goals, pushed them to read more than they otherwise would have during the school year. Math gives regular homework, so the homework for me is nightly reading, which is accountable with the reading log/goal sheets.