My English teacher heart was nearly bursting the other day as my AP seniors came in ready to write a timed essay. Students had worked in books clubs. This day was at the end of the unit after the students had completed their choice books. Two students were weighing the various essay choices as they applied to the book that they read together. They were referencing topics that they talked about in their group. They were using specific details and having a great talk about their book! I was eavesdropping (only a little since they were socially distancing as they talked which meant they were not exactly quiet) while they talked and I was beyond excited. THIS IS WHAT IT IS ABOUT! This is the power of choice reading in high school.
Choice Reading in High School
So for this post, I want to talk about taking time for independent reading. A couple years ago, I read a life changing book: Readacide by Kelly Gallagher. Gallagher theorizes that many of our English teacher practices are what cause students to hate reading. We are actually committing readacide—killing the love of reading.
Break the Readacide Cycle
After I read this book, my real life teacher bestie, Amber Walther of Success through Literacy, and I spearheaded a department-wide effort to dedicate at least 10 minutes of class time each day to independent reading with no strings attached. 10 minutes for students to read WHATEVER they want.
We continued this practice even through most of the hybrid 2020-2021 school year. Each day we open with a warm up followed by 10 minutes of reading. I have no idea what the kids at home did during this time. But the kids in person spent 10 minutes engaged in a good book.
How to Establish Choice Reading in High School
Of course it would be lovely if you had buy-in from your entire department. However, you should not wait. If you think you want to give it a go, start today. If you establish choice reading time, students will realize that it is something that is important to you and eventually they will get on board.
Baby Steps to Choice Reading in High School
In my children’s elementary school, they have two 15-minute blocks of time set aside in every school day for independent reading time, but every fall, they must build back up to that time. I do the same thing. We don’t have enough time in our schedule to dedicate 15 minutes, but we do set aside 10, but we begin at 6 minutes on the timer and I bump it up along the way. I use the timer on my phone. And, I have an alterior motive for doing that: students can’t see how much time I put on the timer. If I know I have a particularly full lesson, I might sacrifice a minute or two of reading. I don’t do it often, but occasionally, I will set the timer for 7 or 8 minutes instead of the full 10.
Set the Tone for Choice Reading in High School
One of the first things we do each year is a Book Survey and a “What Kind of Reader Are You?” Project. We assure students that it is okay to say they are not readers. If there are not readers, we need to know that too. We use it as an opportunity to find out about students’ reading histories and if there was a point in the past where they did enjoy reading.
Our book survey questions include things like
- Describe yourself as a reader in just a few words….
- Favorite book
- First book memory
- Favorite elementary read(s)
- Favorite middle school read(s)
- Time you spend reading each day/week
- Current reading habits
- Favorite recent read
- Favorite book of all time
- Summer reads from this past summer
- Favorite book for school
- Book you hated
- An event that turned you off/on to reading
Once they have completed this brainstorming, we have them pull the information together in either an essay or in the form of Sketch Notes. I show them my example which I put together in the form of a map and then we let them get to it. We have had students do this for the last several year including during our hybrid time. Students who were fully remote completed this assignment using Google Slides. Alternatively, they could complete it on paper and take a picture to submit their hand drawn notes.
You can read about more Back to School Ideas for High School English here.
Helping kids find the Choice Reading in High School
So, when I think about matching people to right book, I think about Anne Bogel of The What Should I Read Next Podcast. Anne knows how to match the perfect book with her guests through a technique that she calls Literary Matchmaking. Each episode she asks her guest for 3 books they love, 1 they hated and what they are reading right now. From that list, she gives them book suggestions.
Literary Matchmaking in the Classroom
I have used this technique with my AP students. I will ask them the same questions: 3 books you loved (go back to elementary or middle school if you need to) and 1 book you hated. From there, my librarian and I will pick students who are willing to participate. They also have to be kids who’s books we know a little something about. Then we make some book suggestions for them. We do this in a public way. It’s jus like the podcast so that all of the kids in the class are getting to hear our suggestions in the same way that they podcast works.
What about Literary Matchmaking for the Non-reader?
I have never tried this in my English 11 classes for fear that I would get too much push back from my reluctant/non-readers. Students who wouldn’t be able to tell me three books they loved. So I came up with a version of Literary Matchmaking for reluctant readers. I call it Book Match. It ask kids those same basic questions. But there are a few more questions to help the suggester get a feel for what the student’s interests.
We used the a survey with our English 11 students recently and non-readers and readers alike had fun filling it out and seeing what our suggestions were. Questions were initially based on Anne Bogel’s three books you loved, one you hated, but we also included questions about the kinds of movies and TV they like in order to get a sense of the genres they might like. Then I shared these with the librarian as well as my co-teachers. We were easily able to help students who were struggling to find something to read.
Even with our limited in-person time with our students, Amber and I are continuing to dedicate class time to reading. And in reality, I know that most of the students are probably not reading when they are not in front of me. But I still feel that it is important to give them the time and freedom to do choice reading in high school.
Looking for other ideas about how to engage your students, check out this post on Back to School Units you can use at any point in the year.
One Response