creating a culture of reading in the classroom

Upon asking students what kind of environment would make them enjoy reading, they replied: "Give me money and then I'll read," "Candy might work," "I hate these chairs," "Having good book choices, like Our America." One student summed up the challenges of creating a culture of reading in the classroom, saying, "Bad books. Bad teachers. Not our fault." He has a point: providing books that cater to students' interests, reading level, and lives is crucial for building a collective sense of positivity around reading; as teachers we must always challenge ourselves to engage students through books that address themes, issues, challenges, and joys of an authentic human (adolescent) experience; and "not our fault" reveals students who lack a sense of ownership, responsibility, and eagerness about their reading. Based on my students' responses, I hope to create a culture of reading in my future classroom by (1) improving access to a greater variety and quantity of good books; (2) improving the instructional quality of discussions and authentic projects in response to reading; and (3) heightening students' sense of involvement, choice, and ownership of their reading.

1. Make a great variety and quantity of good books accessible:

Teachers and schools should utilize programs like New Haven Reads, which distributes used

and new books to children and schools. Teachers should develop a diverse classroom library, picking out specific books for specific students' interests, thoughts, and experiences. In a humorous and quirky, yet heartwarming excerpt from David Brooks' Social Animal, he describes an English teacher's role of pairing books with students: "She decided it was her role in life to look deep into her students' souls, diagnose their core longing, and then match that person with the piece of middlebrow literature that would uniquely change his life...She saw books as a way to escape isolation and feel communion with Those Who Feel. 'This book saved my life,' she would tell her students, one by one, in hushed whispers after class."

2. Implement quality discussions and authentic projects in response to readings:

Perhaps students will adopt a culture of reading if discussions and projects have some

impact or something at stake for their lives. One idea might be to ask students to

brainstorm a list of problems or issues in their school or community. Students could read a

variety of literature--fiction and non-fiction--on these topics and complete a cross-content project to contribute to or solve one of these issues. A task that has a sense of eagerness and authenticity could show students the importance of reading for real problem solving.

3. Heightening students' sense of involvement, choice, and ownership of their reading:

In my conversations with students, I was struck by the comment about hating these chairs

for reading. I asked students if they would enjoy reading more around tables covered with

tablecloths, with baked goods for all. They agreed that this would create a more welcoming

and comfortable reading atmosphere. I'd like to see students creating this environment

themselves by arranging desks and chairs in a particular way, writing grants for comfortable

chairs (as the ELA teacher at my school did this year), signing up to share snacks, and setting

up groups to read and discuss their choice of books. Their involvement in the reading setup

could encourage them to take ownership over the culture of reading in the classroom.

Students being liable for the environment and the pages and books read in their groups

would hopefully heighten their level of responsibility in the process, addressing the "not my fault," disconnected attitude often found in students.