Engaging Reluctant Readers

Hello, Adventurers!  Jana, from Thinking Out Loud, here with you today to give you a few ideas on engaging reluctant students.  My post is inspired by Lauren's "Are You a Book Whisperer" book review over Donalyn Miller's fabulous book.  I read her book this summer as part of an online book study and still can't get it out of my head.  As I read the book, I kept nodding my head and saying "I am so glad that I am not the only one who thinks this way."

Before we delve into helping reluctant readers, let's define it so we are all on the same page.  Scholastic had a great definition:  "reluctant readers are those who, for a variety of reasons, do not like to read, do not like to expose themselves as readers, and have a hard time finding books they want to read."  I love this definition because reluctant readers aren't just those students who do not like to read.  This group also includes students who don't want others to know that they are readers and those who haven't found the right book yet to introduce them into the wonderful world of reading.  Donalyn Miller put a positive spin on reluctant in her book The Book Whisperer by calling them "DORMANT" readers because "they have a reader inside themselves somewhere" and "need the right conditions to let that reader loose" (p.28).

So many times we focus on the struggling reader:  the one who has trouble decoding, who has poor fluency, who struggles with comprehension.  With that as our only focus, the reluctant/dormant reader can fall through cracks.  These readers can read but don't.  As teachers, what can we do for the reluctant/dormant ones?  We need to wake them up and show them the wonderful worlds that await in books.

Student Choice
Donalyn Miller begins chapter 4 with a wonderful quote from Richard McKenna:  "Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him."  Student choice can be difficult for teachers because it is a time when we have to let go.  When Henry continually picks Captain Underpants books to read, I wanted to scream, "Pick something new!"  Instead I should be celebrating the fact that Henry is continuing to read, no matter what it is.  Giving students choice in what they read creates buy-in.

Be a Reader
Time to be honest.  How many of you read on a daily basis?  When I was teaching reading, I could have raised my hand.  Today, I cannot and that makes me sad.  However, I am working on bringing reading back into my life through on One Little Word, passion.  Books are a passion for me and I let everything else get in the way and push that passion to the side.  Teachers need to be role models for their students and that includes being a reader.  I could not stand in front of my seventh and eighth grade students every day and tell them that reading is important if I was not reading on a daily basis.  Why?  Because actions speak louder than words.  If they know that I am reading, if they see me read, if they see the stack of books I am reading and the stack that will be reading, then they will believe me when I tell them that reading is important and should be done every day.

Giving Honest Recommendations during Book Talks
Let students know that it is okay if they don't like a book.  Let students know that you don't like every book you have read.  Let students know if there are genres you do not read.  I was honest with my students when I gave book talks.  I would tell them if I liked or disliked the book and why.  Why would I book talk a book I disliked?  I knew that some of my students would like it.  It is also a good thing to let students know that you abandon books.  Even good readers don't finish every book that is started.  A book that I recently abandoned was the first City of Bones by Cassandra Clare.  One of my friends and my husband told me it was a good book, but I could not finish it.  I got bored and didn't care what happened to the characters.

Some Recommendations
Any of these books are fantastic read alouds to draw students in and have them complete the series on their own.  They are also great books to give book talks on to draw students interests.

Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
I was just going to put the first book, but I love the series so much that I have to include them all.  The first one is short compared to the rest and gives an introduction into a world different but the same as our own.  Students can relate to Harry, through his horrendous family life, going to a new school, making friends for the first time, and learning to find his way.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (series:  Percy Jackson and the Olympians)
Riordan draws you into the books before you even start chapter one.  Reading through the table of contents will draw in any reluctant reader.  Chapter titles include:  "I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-algebra Teacher" and "I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom."  The main character is a middle school boy who struggles in school, has ADHD, which makes it easy for kids to identify with him.  The story is filled with adventure and is fast paced so it keeps the reader's attention.

Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman (first in the series)
The series is written in journal format from the viewpoint of one of the main characters Ryan, who is investigating the strange things that are happening in his town, Skeleton Creek.  What really draws in the reluctant reader?  The video component.  The other main character Sarah takes videos and emails them to Ryan, so you get the story from the journal and through the videos.  The videos are accessed online with the use of a password you get while reading.  The videos are creepy also.  Middle school students love that!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney (first in a series)
Jeff Kinney writes his books through a journal format also, but it is different that Carman's.  Kinney's are written through a younger middle school student's eyes.  From Kinney's website:  "It's a new school year, and Greg Heffley finds himself thrust into middle school, where undersized weaklings share the hallways with kids who are taller, meaner, and already shaving. The hazards of growing up before you're ready are uniquely revealed through words and drawings as Greg records them in his diary."

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Helping Students Stay on Topic

Hello new friends!  I am very excited to be joining a wonderful group of teacher bloggers as we embark on this new Literacy Land adventure.  I began my journey in education as a middle school social studies teacher.  I went to a professional development about incorporating reading strategies across content areas and I started thinking that maybe I wanted to teach reading instead.  That opportunity arose in my district and I became the seventh and eighth grade reading teacher.  Did I have any idea how to teach reading?  NO!  So I went back to school and got my master's degree in reading.  After teaching reading for a few years, I was given the opportunity to become a literacy coach for grades 4-7.  While I was coaching, I achieved National Board Certification in Reading/Language Arts.  Currently, I am a Master Teacher (instructional coach/facilitator...there are so many names that mean the same thing) for grades preschool through third grade.

As part of my job as a master teacher, I have to analyze our test data to determine an area that needs to be focused on school-wide.  Once I have narrowed down the focus, I research strategies that would help our students succeed in that area.  One of the great things about my job is that I don't just tell my teachers, "Go try out this strategy because this book/article/website said it would work."  I have to field test, or try it out, first with a group of students in our school.  Once I work the kinks out of the strategy, I present it to my teachers in manageable chunks.  Looking at the data, we were struggling with creating a piece of writing that stayed on topic and was organized.  What to do?

I researched and found the four square writing method and began to try it with the first grade students my first grade teacher graciously loaned to me.  We worked on using the graphic organizer for a couple of weeks before we picked one of the graphic organizers and wrote our first piece of text.

Step One:  Model, Model, Model
It doesn't matter what grade I teach, I am always impressed by the power of modeling.  I modeled how to turn the information in the graphic organizer into sentences to write the paragraph.

Step Two:  Guided Practice
In the next lesson, the students and I worked together to start our paragraph.  We used a graphic organizer that we had previously completed together.  We only focused on the topic box and the first detail box.  The next lesson took the remaining boxes and turned them into sentences.  I wanted to take a piece at a time, so I had the opportunity to assess them before we wrote the whole paragraph.

Step Three:  Group Practice
Before taking the plunge and having the students write their own paragraphs, I wanted to give them more practice by working together in groups.  Each group was given a different completed graphic organizer (each one had been completed during guided practice earlier in the unit).  They were also given a half-sheet of chart paper and a marker.  The groups had to write the beginning of the paragraph that would match their graphic organizer.  After they completed the beginning of the paragraph, I assess by reading and writing down next steps.  I used the next steps to plan my small group writing time.

Are these the best sentences ever?  No.  Could they use some style?  Yes.  Am I happy with the product?  Yes!  Our goal has been to make sure that the details they use in their writing match the topic.  The next steps are to finish this draft, revise, edit, and write a final published copy.  The published pieces are going to be displayed in the hallway.  All we are working on is content and I am pleased with our beginnings.

The students were excited about working together to create a piece of text.  One group finished quickly and asked for another graphic organizer.  They wanted to keep writing!  I left school with a smile on my face thinking about how excited they were to write.

What's next?
Now that students have experienced success creating a piece of text with a group, it is time to move them into independently going through this process.

I would love to hear how you help your students organize their writing and stay on topic.  Let me know in the comments.

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