how to teach reading

So reader K has asked me how I get kids to like reading books. Cue insightful and inspirational post which I will slave over and endlessly edit and then reread months later and wonder what I was thinking. Regardless, here is a description of what I do*. No guarantees that it will have the same effect on your students.

1. READ COOL BOOKS. No kid is going to get excited about reading a two hundred pager unless it contains murder or invisibility. Pick ones that are awesome. If they have magic, mysteries, gangs, secret crushes, survival, or witches, they will probably be popular. Here are some books that my sixth grade students have loved: The Westing Game (murder! mystery!), The Supernaturalist (gangs and parasites), The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (pirates, or men who are like pirates), Sea of Trolls (bizarre creatures), A Wrinkle in Time (time travel), The Witches (witches, obviously), The Book Thief (holocaust setting, narrated by Death), The Cay (survival on an island), Hatchet (survival in a forest), The Giver (alternate reality), Gathering Blue (another alternate reality), The Lightening Thief (Harry Potter-esque only with Greek gods), Despereaux (a fairy tale mouse desperately in love with a human princess), The Watsons Go to Birmingham (delinquent older brother), Bud Not Buddy (looking for his real parents, peeing his pants scene), Tangerine (soccer and blindness), and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. There are, of course, many more newer and equally awesome books, but this is a starter list of guaranteed coolness. (I would give hesitant readers the easier and juicy of the books. Let them have a positive experience before challenging them.)
   


2. The same criteria applies to short stories. Kids like gross and/or twisted stories. Roald Dahl's "Lamb to the Slaughter" was a huge hit this year. "All Summer in a Day" and "A Rose for Emily" are perennial favorites. Junior Great Books have brilliant, controversial stories. (One reason kids love Greek myths is because of the sleeping around. Students are secretly overjoyed that they get to talk about adultery in school.)
   


3. TALK ABOUT THE BOOKS. This is probably the most important thing to do when teaching reading. We use a Literature Circle model in order to give the kids structure. This way they are talking about their book in the safety of a small peer group. Often, I make them share out in front of the whole class. Don't just recall facts; you should argue opinions, favorite characters, themes, funny bits, comparisons to real life, etc. Regardless of your methods, it is important that students talk about books every day. When they have regular opportunities to share about their reading, they realize that their experience reading books is just as important as those other things you do every day, like, say, review math facts. Also, other students will hear stuff about books and they will want to read! Because everyone is talking about it! (Allow them to dislike books, too.)
   


4. PLAY DEVILS ADVOCATE. To get them to open up or defend their opinions, I make provocative claims, like, "I think Mary had been planning to kill her husband for a few days." Or, "Maybe the Tucks should pour the water into Winnie's mouth when she is sleeping." Then the kids are forced to argue such ludicrous ideas.
   


5. PROJECTS. We let our students do some sort of project about their book when they are done reading. Sometimes they get to choose, sometimes we get to choose. Students usually get a week to work on their projects, and then we dedicate a week to presentations. The presentations are important because kids get practice in public speaking. They also create another space to talk about books. I give the presenters ample Q&A time from the rest of the class. The students often grill each other harder than I do, especially if they read that particular book and want to "test" the other kids. Here are some of our projects: Create a puppet show, act out a commercial for the book, write a newspaper article about the story, dramatic reading, dramatization, yearbook of characters, comic book retelling, to-do lists from the point of view of the characters, write a letter to the author, series of illustrations, create a "map" of the book, talk show with the characters, research project (if historical fiction), write a book review, powerpoint review, create a study guide for the book . . .
   


6. We start with everyone reading the same book, then begin with reading circles of two - five kids reading the same assigned book. This is the training period. When they are ready, we let each group pick their own book. At some point, we let kids pick their own, independent book. They are super excited by then to finally "get" the book they've been hearing about for weeks but haven't been assigned. Even when they are reading their own book, though, I make sure to give them opportunities to share with the class.
   


7. I skip stories or books which bore me. I'd rather save my efforts for literature that I love. (I do let kids read stuff I don't like, I just don't do whole class discussions around it.)
   

*Thanks to all the good teachers and students and parents and peers who have taught me how to become a better teacher over these years.