Letter Blocks

[#1]

What happens when kids in school can read any book they want instead of being assigned classics like To Kill a Mockingbird and The Diary of a Young Girl  by Anne Frank? Recently I read an article in the New York Times—part of a series of articles the newspaper is doing on how reading is being taught today—that points out this is a growing trend in schools.

As an example, the article focused on one teacher in a suburb of Atlanta who is letting the kids in her 7th- and 8th-grade English classes pick whatever book they like. Then the kids have to discuss the book with their teacher and with other students, and keep a journal about what they’re reading. As you might expect, some students are choosing not-so-classic books like popular chick-lit titles and the Captain Underpants series, while some others are challenging themselves with books like Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye.

My first reaction when I read about this trend was—I have to admit—dismay. What about all those classics our teachers made us read? Ones that we might never have picked up on our own? Maybe we would have found our way to them ourselves. But then again, maybe not. When my husband was in high school, David Copperfield was on the required English reading list. He loved it and it led him to other books by Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities was also required. He hated it and found it an absolute bore. I, on the other hand, loved it when I had to read it for school. So who’s to say which book will make an impact with which kid? In the end, though, I believe we’re richer for having read these types of books and for having them as shared experiences.

But as I kept reading the article, I could see that there are benefits to this trend. Some kids absolutely hate reading and this is a way to motivate them and help them see that reading can be fun. And maybe kids today, who are used to having more freedom, need a break from books that they find hard to relate to. I remember recently reading another article that talked about how many kids today have trouble relating to Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye. Apparently some kids find him to be too whiney. (Boy, do I feel old!)

But as with most things in life you need a balance; I’m not a fan of extremes. And I’m relieved to learn that many educators seem to share my view. They see the advantages and drawbacks of this approach and don’t see anything wrong with offering kids choices, but within limits. In the end, I’ve decided I’m in favor of schools that are taking a combination approach, requiring some books and allowing students to pick others. But above all, whichever direction a school decides to go in, I believe it’s still the teacher who is key. A good teacher can bring classics alive. A good teacher can pick up clues to what a kid likes from the books he picks and steer him to more challenging ones.

What do you think? I’m curious to hear what your child’s school is doing. Is it taking the traditional required-reading approach? The freedom-to-pick approach? Or a combination? How is it working for your child?

[#2]

There needs to be a balance in education. We can't throw out the old just because someone doesn't like it. I taught for thirteen years and had a vast array of readers. They read some books from my list and some were their selection. It worked well and I got to read some new books.   Putting both classics/required and personal choice options on the table will make a well-rounded reader.

[#3]

I think that having children choose their own books is a wonderful idea.  Kids today hate to read.  You can't possibly ignore that.  Assigning them these books on boring subjects with old-fashioned mechanics just makes the situation worse.  Sure, they may like some of these books, but there is a world of other books just waiting to be explored and analyzed.  Required reading is meant to broaden your mind and make you think.  Who says that you can't learn something new or think critically of your actions after reading Scott Westerfeld's Uglies?  Who can possibly want to never read again after reading Twilight by Stephenie Meyer?  I believe that all books have something to share in our world, and allowing students to choose their own books will definitely teach them more than forcing them to read a book they hate, or worse, SparkNoting a book they hate.

[#4]

I agree with Dstaff...balance is key.  I HATED reading all those classics in middle school and high school.  I often wonder if I had the choice of reading whatever I wanted, would I have realized my love of books sooner in life. 

On the other had, there were a few that I did enjoy.  Agatha Christy stands out for me.  I dont' think that's an author that  a kids will just pick up and read, so I appreciate that she was introduced to me. 

Perhaps the reading list should fall into the hands of the teachers and not the school board (or state).  If the individual teachers had more of a say, they might be able to customize their lesson plans based on both students AND what the tests say they need to know...leaving everyone happy. 

[#5]

(shrug) I'm not sure really. Always had english classes where either 50 percent was our choice or we were at least allowed to pick from a list of choices. In collage we even railroaded a professor so we could skip Slivia Plath, and replace her with Mia Angelo. The classics have their place...but had I been required to read Dickens I would have opted for a trip to the office instead.

[#6]

I think the point of having some control over your reading makes it more true to life. We want students to become real life readers. And real life readers, they read a mixture of the classics and more popular fiction.

There is a point to haveing a mixture of the two. The classics are classics for a reason. I think if teachers allowed students to have a choice in their reading, but stayed in a comprehensive unit or genre, then the students can have a little more control, tey everyone can still be on the same page. But, choice is paramount for motivation.

I remember in high school, I loved to read, but if one book was being read by all, and I had to stick to only certain chapters a night, and make sure I didn't read ahead, I didn't enjoy it- and I was a reader. Mandatory books, along with quizzes that test small, unimportant details isn't what real reading is about.

[#7]

In high school I rarely had a problem with the assigned books given to me. We also never had the opportunity to choose our own books for class projects. Fast forward to a time where kids would rather play video games or text their friends, reading is not high on the priority list. If I had a dollar for every customer who has come to the store and said "My child doesn't like to read."...That said, I think the combination approach is most effective. The teacher allows the students some freedom with their choices, and can use those choices to better select the classics the kids will actually read. I do believe, though, that the teacher needs to approve the students' choices before they begin the projects. I mean, Captain Underpants for a 7th-grader? Were they raiding their 7-year-old brother's library? The optional reading selections do need to reflect the students' standard reading and maturity levels.

[#8]

I read this article too and was intrigued by it as well.  I teach junior high English and so often students will start a book with a groan and lack of interest and fall in love with it by the end.  Of course, sometimes they hate it all the way through.  However, I also think that a balance of these approaches is best.  Make some books required but other times let them pick their own and run with it. 

[#9]

Most kids just don't know there are fun books out there about the things they are interested in. I think teachers should talk to their students and find out their interests and offer a few books that the child woud actually enjoy on their reading level. I was drawn away from reading from elementary to high school because my reading abilities were not on par for my grade. I started reading early, but fell behind in about 3rd grade. I had one teacher realize this in 7th grade and knew I enjoyed WWII books about kids and teenagers. She offered me a lot of options, from easy to hard, and let me decide. There were short books to longer books. Hard ones and easy ones - on all grade levels. Escape Form Warsaw by Ian Serrallier is still one of my favorite books. So I feel that choice is very important for children to find books they love, but I also think teachers need to be involved and make sure their students are reading good books.

[#10]

The best class I ever attended in high school was where the teacher gave us two lists... List A had the required traditional classics, and List B was filled with contemporary ones, or what we called "easy-listening" books that appealed to the non-readers among us.

The deal was, if you read one from List A, and wrote a book report on it, you get to read 2 from list B.

List B was filled with an amazingly  wide range of popular stuff; it wasn't until I was older than I realized that, although we thought it was a  fun list that gave us great latitude, it was actually very heavily edited by the teacher herself.

It reminded me of my mother's trick... because I loved the option to choose, she would give me choices... "You can eat either the brocolli or the green beans. Your choice."

[#11]

Great article! I'd love to see a reading school program in which classics and new book additions could be possible. I find the reading of classics very important, because we sooner or later need them as reading references, so I think that is a teacher's role to guide enjoyable titles. But I'm also fond of a personal addition from students to school reading lists.