March
14
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Aim Higher: It Isn’t About Passing a Test by Amy Rasmussen
I asked students to do a quick “whip” around the room and tell everyone what they were reading. I got the term from Penny Kittle, and it’s the best way I’ve found to get a fast Status of the Class.
I pointed to the back left table, and one student after another called out their book titles: Thirteen Reasons Why, Fat Angie, Divergent, Fall Out. All great YA titles. Some I had book talked; others I had not.
I pointed to the next table: The Glass Castle, Freakonomics, Othello, The Art of War. A little disbelieving, I asked, “You chose those books for independent reading?” and four heads nodded.
We kept going. Students called out The Life of Pi, Telegraph Avenue, Slaughterhouse Five, The Three Musketeers, Crime and Punishment, Plato’s Republic, in addition to some YA titles.
“Really?” I said. “Why?”
“I kept hearing about it, and I thought I’d give it a try.”
“It was on your ‘challenge’ shelf, so I thought I’d take a challenge.”
“You talked about this one, and it sounded interesting.”
“The cover is cool.”
“You know,” I said, “Many people do not believe that students will choose to read these types of books on their own. I just need a moment here.”
I am sure they thought I’d lost it. (I do so often.)
See, I didn’t always understand the power of independent reading. When I began teaching AP English, I taught the same books that my colleague did: The Scarlet Letter, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Awakening, The Grapes of Wrath. There was no room in the schedule for independent reading. We had to teach complex literature and prepare students for the AP exam. Had to.
I didn’t know any better.
Then in 2009, I heard Donalyn Miller speak about allowing students time to read and the importance of reading conferences and letting students choose the books they want to read. I liked what she said, but I didn’t get how to make it work in an advanced class. So I asked her, and Donalyn’s response sparked something that sat smoldering inside me until I heard Penny Kittle share almost the exact same message about building life-long readers a few months later.
Donalyn said, “It’s not about the test, is it?”
At the time I thought: “Rude. You don’t know about Advanced Placement English. You teach middle school. Everyone who knows anything about AP will tell you it IS about the test.”
(Don’t worry. Donalyn knows where I am going with this.)
I am grateful for mentors. After hearing Penny share her approach to reading and how by allowing students to choose the books that interest them we can create life-long readers, I finally got what Donalyn meant, and the flame lit.
It isn’t about passing a test. It never should be. We should aim much higher than any ‘ole exam. Our aim should be to foster a love of reading, which in turn will move students to greater fluency, which in turn can lead into deeper critical thinking, which may be just the thing our society needs to calm the chaos — more critical thinkers. At least I’d like to think so.
And, hey, we all know that it’s the best readers who are also the best writers, so if the outcome of that exam is still an issue — students who are readers (with a little writing instruction from us) will most likely get qualifying scores anyway. Win/Win.
The first day of school I began talking about books to my AP Language and Composition students. “We are a community of readers,” I said. “Our goal is to read 200 pages a week. That is your standard homework assignment.”
Every day I pass the clipboard where students record their page numbers and at the end of the week add up their pages read. Is this a perfect system? No. Do some students fudge on numbers? Yes.
As often as I can (which is never often enough), I talk to students about the books they are reading. They tell me what they like and what they don’t. We have better relationships, more sharing, than I ever had with students before I started “giving up” ten minutes of my 50 minute class periods every day for independent reading. Many of my colleagues still don’t get it. “How can you give up that much time every week? There’s so much to do.”
Yes. Yes, there is, but I know that I can get more movement in student writing when I can get students reading. I know I can get more mileage in vocabulary and grammar instruction when I can get students reading. I can do more, even when I have less time for a lesson cycle.
Because here’s the thing: It’s not really “giving up.” It’s more a “choosing to.”
I choose to spend time building a classroom library that rivals the main one downstairs. I choose to read books myself so I can share them with students. I choose to talk about books, tweet about books, and link as much instruction to books as possible. I choose to read short texts as a class and teach students how to critically read on their own. And the proof of my efforts? My students are moving up their own ladders, choosing complex and rich literature, some of which I haven’t even talked about.
They have found these books on their own.
Isn’t that what real readers do? They listen to others. They browse the shelves. They choose titles based on what they want to read.
I no longer worry about AP exam scores because my experiences with students cannot be based upon a test. I’m not sure anything of real value can.
I’ll trade a conversation about Dostoevsky or Vonnegut every single time.
Amy Rasmussen has her own vertical alignment this year, teaching PreAP English I, PreAP English II, and AP English Lang at Turner High School in Carrollton, TX. She recently started consulting–sharing her success with readers/writers workshop at the secondary level and teaching others the benefits of it. She is the mother of seven children, three of which are serving missions in far away lands, and the grandmother of two tiny little readers, who will always know what Mamy is giving them for Christmas. She writes at www.ThreeTeachersTalk.com, and you can follow her on Twitter @amyrass.
Nerdy Book Club 
I love this post. Kids reading books they chose for whatever reason they chose them. Just like real life. Real Life Visits a Classroom. Amazing.
I’m so glad to hear this is happening in high school! I hope that others follow. I read “The Reading Zone” this fall, and since I finished it in October we choose to read everyday. For 30 minutes. I’ve discovered that my students keep lists of who is next in line to read a new book. They know who to go to for reading advice. They know who has a personal copy of Daniel X Alien Hunter because that one isn’t in our library. They have plans for what to read when they finish a book. They come back after school when they forget a book in their desk. I’m not teaching them to do this, they just do it because they are readers.
It was a serious challenge at first to spend that much time reading each day, not to take it away because of school pictures or other disruptions, but now it is a badge of honor, a tradition. We read everyday for 30 minutes. That’s what we do. And we love it!
I’m also fascinated by how students will almost naturally self-select books of increasing sophistication as the year goes on, especially when it comes to nonfiction.
It’s now March, and in my sophomore classes (my only year-long classes) I’m seeing titles like Freakonomics, Man’s Search for Meaning, the recent Steve Jobs bio, and Malcolm Gladwell books. My theory is that as students become more dialed in to books in general, they become aware of more titles in sync with their interests. As the reading habit becomes more ingrained through the school year, students’ confidence grows and they begin choosing titles like these.
AP-fever schools that focus too fervently on the test are shortchanging their students’ reading lives. Thanks for being out front and on the right side of this issue, Amy.
I hope my kids get a teacher like you in high school!
I teach students at the other end of the spectrum-middle school students who are struggling and reluctant readers. I use a similar approach. Developing a love of reading in my students is my number one priority. I do give them instruction in reading but always in the context of books that interest them. I use Donalyn’s ideas and am so happy to hear that it works at high school too.
Oh my gosh. Love this post. so. much. Yes yes and yes to everything you say. I am in a k-3 school and work everyday on helping students with the learn to read in the library while balancing it with the LOVE of reading. Yes, there is testing and AR-ing, working on fluency, sight words (teachers and TA’s) and a big part of my role is to instill that love of reading, talk to the kids about the books they love, help them find that just right book, get them excited about the new books coming into the library (I am rebuilding a very old collection). Anyhow, enough rambling from me. Love of Reading…ROCKS.
I love this post! I see the same thing in my honors English class (9th grade). I have students who naturally gravitate towards classics, others who read NF, and more who choose YA. It’s amazing!
Like you, I don’t see reading time as “giving up” class time. My students and I both gain from that choice!
Smashing job, Amy! We were clearly connected psychically this week. I’ve just created and posted a graph that echoes what you are saying here. Hope you and your readers find it useful. http://about.uniteforliteracy.com/2014/03/avid-fluent-readers-what-less-could-you-ask-for/
Loved your comments. I happy to be a mom that had four daughters and one son that served a mission in Houston, Texas. We love texas. I totally agree with the things you are saying. My kids never got to read in school, and I only have two that are life long readers in the wild. I am wishing you were here in Idaho to speak to a few teachers about this idea. Thanks for such a wonderful post. Hope I have made another new teacher friend. I teach middle school, and I have my kids reading 30 minutes a day. Do you think the read aloud is really important for me to do with 6 graders? I can’t fit that in when I am having them read 30 minutes a day. Ideas please
Ooh, tough question regarding your read aloud. Of course, you know your students best and can determine what their needs are. For my own students, I know that I must read aloud to them often–and I am talking 9, 10,11 grade. I know that I am the best reader in the room, and my students need to hear what punctuation does to a piece. They need to hear what a fluent reader sounds like. They also need to hear the pronunciation of words. My second language learners struggle with that one. I build in the time to read short pieces aloud together. This works for me.
Please feel free to email me if you would like to discuss further. Like you, I am happy to have another teacher friend. Amyrasmussen7@gmail.com
Great article. As a MS librarian I just loved hearing about these kids and the books they are reading. This approach matches what our 8th grade teacher and Nerdy Book member Lea, is doing, and it blows me away what I see them picking up to read. One started with all the Prince Award winners…and soon others were picking them up too. It is so cool to watch. Thank you, and Donalyn too.
Thank you for this post Amy! As a high school English teacher myself, you echo my exact feelings about IR in the classroom. Now if only others would see the benefits that we do!
I taught elementary school for 34 years. I always believed in the power of independent reading (or sustained silent reading as it used to be called). I remember first graders who started the year not reading and how much they improved and it wasn’t their “readers” that did it. I also remember a fifth grader who could barely read on a third grade level and when she discovered “The Plant That Ate Socks” there was no holding her back. I have so many more examples but each one reaffirmed my use of independent even when it wasn’t part of the official curriculum. Bravo to you!
Your students are so lucky!
What a great selection of books being read by your students (I love Othello)!
I love the idea of a ‘whip around’ the classroom to hit everyone on what they’re reading.
This is so refreshing to hear! I teach Freshmen composition, and it is so disheartening to hear students talk about how much they hate reading and, even worse, writing about reading. The reason is always the same: they were forced to read stuff they didn’t like in high school. I wish more teachers would take your approach so that students wouldn’t be so resistant to reading and honing their critical thinking skills.
Love this! I also devote time in class for silent reading and it’s great when students sometimes get so their books that they beg for more time.
Thank you, my Nerdy friends. Your support and sharing makes a difference. I am grateful to be part of such an important tribe of educators. Read on.
Amy,
While it is so critical to develop lifelong readers, it is equally as important to make them real readers as you described. Students who gravitate to books are the deep learners of tomorrow. Thanks for providing the avenue and sharing your journey with your students.
You get it! I love The Book Whisperer, and I believe in the power of independent reading! 🙂
This is a wonderful read! I am a first year English I techer in Keller and have had my students do independent reading about an hour or more a week. I thought it was too much at first, now if doesn’t feel enough. Some of my students have read as many as seven books in my class alone this year. It feels me with great joy to see them transform into lifelong readers right before my eyes.
Amy,
Excellent article! I agree with you 100%.
SSR, DEAR, or Independent Reading. I’ve taught for nearly 40 years (jr. high, middle school, and high school) and it’s a rare class that didn’t start with reading. Today one of my students was in tears. When I asked, she was reading and “it’s so sad, I can’t help but cry. Is that okay? ” yep…and gave her a box of tissues.
This *is* the higher calling. Beautiful work you are doing.
What a wonderful reminder that we should never underestimate what kids who love to read can and will do! And thanks for your comment about read aloud in high school. I’m passing it on to some teachers I work with since I, too, think it’s so very important.
Hi Amy, I teach AP Literature at a struggling high school in Austin, Texas. I love your post so much. Just to clarify, you teach AP test skills using smaller pieces of text in-class, but have them read 200 pages a week on their own for fluency, vocabulary, theme, the open-ended question, etc.? Do you put this on your AP Audit syllabus and they approve it? How do you help students clarify themes, characterization, symbolism, etc. in their individual novels if you haven’t read many of them? Do they have to choose from an AP-approved list, or can they read YA like Divergent all year?
In my on-level sophomore English class, I finally started using this approach, and it’s worked wonders, even with students who “hate” reading. I have them read a novel every six weeks (we’re only two six weeks into this experiment) and they get to choose whatever they want. We were supposed to have them do this with books on their lexile, but trying to make them choose from their lexile was a reading killer. I finally decided I would rather have them read anything than nothing and dropped the lexile requirement. Boom! Kids started reading!
Thank you so much for this. This may change how I teach AP Lit next year.
Hi, Christine. So many questions here. I’ll do my best to answer them. Yes to teaching the skills with short pieces of text and then our choice reading target is 200 pages a week. We start the year with students choosing anything they want to read. I book talk a variety of YA, NF, classics, award winners. I conference with students during their 10 min reading time almost every day in the fall (I’ve slacked off this spring). I did a “challenge” to get some kids who were stuck in the same genre to try different ones, and that helped move some to more complex texts. Others are still stuck there, but that’s okay because they are reading. Right now students are in Book Clubs and they had to choose an award winner–Pulitzer or Book prize winner for a project where they will think like a test writer and create an AP exam. In regard to my Audit Syllabus, it currently says I am a reading/writing workshop classroom. It also lists many of the short texts we read like Emerson, Thoreau, MLK, Jr, etc. Remember, I am AP Lang this year. I bet my school is similar to yours in Austin–same struggles with second language learners and poverty. We have to get our students reading! email me if you want to talk further, I’d love to think through some things for AP Lit–I will have some sections next year. I know this same approach will work. amyrasmussen7@gmail.com
I really like this post because many teachers do not understand the power of independent reading. I used to have a english teacher that made us do a reading log for her daily assignments last year, which I didn’t like because I did not read too much and only played video games. I started to read the book, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, and I loved the book already as I get deeper into it. I would love to have independent reading in the classroom again because it gives students a chance to explore more books, I also read “Life of PI”, as one of your students did as well. I understand many students will not do a reading log even if the teacher creates it and the students have to just fill it in because some students just do not care about school. I do care about school and every part of it, that exactly why I work hard at it. Thank you for making this post. I hope the system you are using currently works out for you.
Thank you for your kind words, Shahrukh. I can feel your passion for learning, and I am so proud of you. I love the book To Kill a Mockingbird. I am pretty sure that is my favorite classic novel. I am glad you like it, too.
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Hi,
I am getting ready to add independent reading to my class in January. I am nervous about losing the 10 minutes of instruction time per day, but after attending Penny Kittle’s workshop, I think it’s worth it. I’m wondering, do your kids read using ebooks, or do you require books only? Any thoughts on that? I teach 8th graders and phones tend to be big distractions. Also, did you have any push back from parents about the additional reading requirement?
Thanks,
Kara