A couple of weeks ago, a student brought a book to my desk to check out. Another adult happened to be standing nearby at the time. She looked at the book and said, "When are you going to check out a real book?" The student gave her side eyes and she said, "Not on sports." There is a moment in every interaction where I make a choice: I can be quiet and continue working with the student, ignoring a comment that was, at best, unhelpful and, at worst, damaging and insensitive; the second option is to speak up. Anyone who knows me knows what I chose to do. I said to the adult, "He is allowed to choose any book he would like to read. Don't you like being allowed to choose your own reading materials?" The student smiled, checked out the book, and went about his business. The adult is still not speaking to me.
I had a similar issue many years ago with a teacher. She insisted that all her students read books that were at least 200 pages. She was so focused on the length of books, but never concerned about student interest or any other factor that might impact the ability to become a lifelong reader. This arbitrary number makes no sense. If you wonder about my frustration, go to a library shelf and look at the number of pages in the five best middle grade and/or YA books you have read--most don't have 200 pages. Assuming numbers even matter, why not count a cumulative number of pages read and celebrate that? I struggled as she took book after book out of students' hands each time she brought her classes to the library. I tried many times to help the teacher understand that the length of any book is irrelevant, but she just could not grasp the concept and kept fighting her students. This tactic turned students off to reading because the teacher refused to validate their choices.
How adults interact with kids around reading and choice defines what "real reading" is to them. We have opportunities every day to encourage reading and literacy by expanding the definition. Reading is not only what I would choose or assign, but is all the varied interactions with text that students have: magazines, blogs, social media, gaming, and myriad other awesome things that I can't keep up with. Do I want kids to read books? Of course. I spend a lot of time selecting, displaying, promoting, hand-selling, and doing cartwheels over great books. However, I also recognize that telling kids that their interactions with text "don't count" as reading simply because it is not what I have chosen or it is not a certain length (or whatever other hang-up) is counterproductive and ignorant. There is, in fact, lots of great research that backs up giving students free choice in their reading in order to build literacy skills.
When kids struggle to read, interesting reading opportunities are often the first thing taken away from them. They are put into remedial, canned programs that are devoid of choice. Imagine being told you had to eat hot dogs all the time when all you really want is a delicious slice of pizza. To my student, that book on football was his slice of pizza. Had I taken it out of his hands, rather than validating his choice, I would have lost his trust and created a wall between us. Instead, I hope I have opened up an avenue for this student to continue to seek reading materials of choice with the knowledge that I will do my best to defend his reading choices. What strategies do you use to be certain that your students have the opportunity to make their own reading choices in order to build reading enjoyment?
