Feb 11 2025 Ashley Anderson
Roses are red, violets are blue.
My students loathe reading. I’m sure yours do too.
To say that I love reading is an understatement: I devour books. Reading is like breathing for me. So many of the stories I have read influenced who I am today. Books were my first love. So when I left my previous career and became a teacher, picking the subject was a no-brainer. What’s the one subject that would literally pay me to read all day? What’s the one subject where I would be surrounded by other book-loving people? English, duh!
Imagine my heartbreak when 1) I realized that I was going to have to teach kiddos other things like writing and grammar (ugh!) and 2) my students unapologetically proclaimed their disdain for reading, unless it was Diary of a Wimpy Kid (which would become the bane of my existence). Needless to say, my idea of what “loving to read” means has evolved. When it comes to my students and how they feel about reading, I accept a less intense emotion: toleration.
Since that first year of teaching, I have been on a quest to find the right YA novels to have in my classroom, books that every student can relate to. Striking a balance between reading “for the love of it” and reading “to hold students accountable for their learning” has proven to be a difficult feat, one that I’ve tried (and failed) more times than I’m willing to admit.
Here is what I know: my students need to build their reading stamina.
Here’s what it looks like in my classroom:
My school year is split into two semesters, and each semester I get a whole new set of students. I like taking the first two weeks of each semester to do book talks, read-alouds, and reading responses. The purpose: To expose my students to as many different novels, genres, and authors as I can. The hope is that at least one will pique their interest.
For the first two weeks of each semester, Monday through Friday, I do a read-aloud, students and I read an excerpt from a novel and complete a reading response, and then I give a couple of book talks. At the beginning of each week, I give students a tracker with all of the titles I will introduce throughout the week. With it, they can track which titles or authors they may be interested in reading.
At the end of this two-week period, students select the title they want to read to increase their stamina and, maybe, just maybe, their tolerance for reading.
Here are the materials students are using in class:
Student Interest Trackers: These trackers are each a half sheet. Each student gets one to fill out throughout the week, and they submit them on Friday. I use the trackers to get an idea of who wants to read what, as well as gauge the popularity of the choices.
Reading Responses: Every student gets a copy. Not only do these reading responses allow students to engage with the text, but they also reveal strengths and weaknesses in student writing, including punctuation, sentence structure, and spelling.
Field Guide to the North American Teenager
Student Bookmark: Once students select their title to read in class, I use bookmarks to help them keep track of where they are and to hold them accountable for moving forward in their book. The questions they have to answer are also a way to circle back to a skill or strategy that we are learning in class, allowing them to practice and allowing me to see how students are doing.
My class periods are only about 40 minutes long, so students read as a warmup for a maximum of 10 minutes every other day. It doesn’t seem like a lot of time; however, I would argue that it is just enough. I have seen students who can barely focus for a minute when we start, grow to reading for over 10 minutes undistracted. This fairly easy, small classroom routine is done with intention, and I would argue that it has some of the greatest payouts.
By the end of each semester, students have finished at least one novel. Many times they have asked to take their novel home over the weekend just so they can get a little further. I have books borrowed and never returned because the student couldn’t bear to part with it. I have seen toleration turn into appreciation. And I have seen a weakness turn into growth. Ultimately, I know that whether or not my students “love” reading when they leave me is not the most important thing, but it’s always my hope.
And isn’t that what love is really about?
In hope, Ashley Anderson
I am always looking for new ways to grow a love for reading in my classroom. I would love to hear what you’re doing and what your students are reading in your classrooms!! You can connect with me on Facebook at facebook.com/movingwriters.
Ashley Anderson is an English teacher at the Dickinson Continuation Center (DCC) in Dickinson, TX. She is in her ninth year of teaching. Before entering education, Ashley was a Captain in the United States Air Force and managed marketing and communications for several private aviation companies. She loves cold coffee, doing sudoku, and cheering on her Gators (students) at all of their extracurricular activities. She lives with her husband, Chad (who is also a high school teacher in Dickinson ISD), and her two daughters Avery (#AveryMonster) and Audrey (#BabyBop). Ashley is humbled every day to be part of a profession with so much passion and commitment. She is so excited about being a part of the MovingWriters team for another year.
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