Can we make them read?

I received an e-mail from Julie, a reader of this blog, and she agreed to let me post her letter and my response:

Tim,

I agree with your "we've beaten reading" down philosophy and have taken the fun out of it. I'm just starting out in the world of teaching English and have a special ed background as well. One of the things I'm having my students do is pick out a book to read and then, they have to do a book report on it. The reason I'm asking them to do the report is because I don't have enough time to read 1,000 books to see which ones kids in 9th and 10th grade actually like. I'm doing live research by having them read these books and rate them so that I will know what books I should recommend based on student picks.

 

How can we assess reading if we don't use a "book report" form? I had to do them when I was young and although I hated them, too, they at least forced me to read those books. Sure, a lot of them I didn't even finish, but I always attempted to read the books. I discovered a lot of good books that way and equally bad ones. I've iterated and reiterated to my students and will do so again Tuesday, when we go to the library, that if they don't pick out books that they're genuinely interested in reading, their success rate will also be diminished.

 

I'd like to hear your opinion on this topic and how to assess reading without a "book report."

Thanks!
Julie

I wanted to post her e-mail because I think it very clearly articulated a valid and major concern of ELA teachers.  My response:

Julie,

Thanks for your e-mail.

You can assess if the students have been reading by occasionally having them read in class silently for 15 minutes.  Keep a log of what they are reading and what page they are one every time they read in class.  It takes a minute or so to go around the room and write down page numbers on a chart.  You will be able to tell who has the same book over and over again and makes progress on the page numbers.  In addition, talk to the kids about their books on a regular basis.  If the kid can't be specific about the book or his/her opinion, he's not reading.  This should not be punitive and if the kid isn't reading just subtly let him know you notice and move on.  Having "the talk" with him about it will only make it worse.  It becomes a way to rebel against you and then you are dealing with strong, strong forces.

As I tell teachers, there's no way to MAKE a kid read a book. There are only ways to make the act of reading something that they want to do.  Have patience, it doesn't happen right away.

Let me give an example ... I had a student who approached me at the beginning of the year, put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Tim, I need to tell you this: I don't read." I said, "But ..." He said, "No, Tim, you don't understand.  I ... don't ... read."  Knowing that I could not make him read no matter how many reports I assigned, I let it go.  Every once in a while I might put a book on his desk and say, "I know you don't read and won't be interested in this, but I wanted to try."  I did it with books that I saw his friends reading or books that had really great covers.  Eventually, after a LOT of doing this, he picked up the book. A week later, he left the book in the classroom when he left to go to lunch and someone in the next class picked it up.  He had lost the book.  He came to me the next day very upset that the book was missing (and, of course, blamed me!).

It happens slowly - but it can't be forced.  Sometimes the trick is finding the right book.  Don't look at it as trying to MAKE them read.  Try to MAKE reading something desirable.  You can't go home with them and force their little hands to pick up the book and their little eyes to read the words.  You simply can't.  You can only create conditions in which they will want to pick up the book and read.

Hope that helps.  Keep me informed!

Tim

She replied, asking how to handle being asked by an administrator for proof of assessment.  My response:

Your chart on reading progress would provide accountability.  If you have those conversations individually and take notes in a notebook, this provides accountability.  If you don't feel that this will be satisfactory to the administration, have the kids write for 10 minutes every time they read in class and hand it in.  Ten minutes is not a lot of time and won't feel like a book report.  The assignment could be to have them write you a letter saying whether or not they would recommend the book at this point and why.  This would probably wind up being more writing than a book report, anyway, but it is very low stakes and because you are the audience will seem more informal and personal.  The words 'book report' have certain meanings and feelings.  If you do keep it an end of book assignment, call it something else!!  :)

I know this will be an unpopular idea, but book reports need to go!  For students who struggle with reading, it is just another reason not to read when we should be giving them more reasons to read.  I can tell you from experience, that the methods of assessment I suggest (the progress chart and individual conferences) provide you will much more information to assess a student than any book report (which many students just copy from the back of the book, each other, or the Internet!)

Comments

[Nancy]

I agree. There are many ways to write about books and the book report needn't be the standard format, especially at the high school level. By 9th and 10th grade, we should be trying to wean them off book reports and move them towards more critical analysis. My favorite assignment for assessing reading is the literary letter, which I took from the Ramp Up curriculum. The literary letter can be written to the author, to a character in the book, to a friend, to a teacher, etc. There are eight specific things that the letter must include, and these eight things come together to present a reflection on the text. I would have to look up exactly what those eight things are but if anyone is interested, just e-mail me.

Another great resource is Bridging English by Milner and Milner. I believe it was standard issue in the NYU Dept. of Teaching and Learning, and it has become my bible. In particular, there is a chapter on responding to literature and reader-response.

[Tim Fredrick]

Honestly, I would still call a literary letter a book report. To me, a "book report" is any after book assignment done merely to tell if the kid read the book or not. Like a test, but not. "Book reports" come out of our distrust of our students rather than any educational need.

(An essay related to the book is more about thinking about the book and teaching kids to think critically and put those thoughts into writing. I'm okay with that. But that would require multiple lessons and drafts of the essay, peer review, teacher conferences and so forth and so on. That's a lot more work than a book report and is much more than just telling if the kid read the book.)

But, so many times we just don't trust our students. Where does this come from? I think that's one of the reasons book reports are so dreaded ... kids aren't stupid ... they know that we don't trust them and that's a lot about what book reports are about. What is it they say about rising to low expectations? No kid who knows the teacher doesn't trust them is going to fully invest themselves in their learning.

[Nancy]

Well, I guess it depends on how you see it. I mean, I give my kids the benefit of the doubt and trust that they read the book. I used the literary letters to asses whether they got the book, whether they were able to interact with the text at all, to assess their skill at questioning the text, offering an opinion on the text, etc. In an ideal literary letter, students are initiating a conversation with the author or character about the book.
It's just another vehicle for assessment, among many choices of assessment tools. Literary letters are quick and give me a pretty good rough picture of where they're at in terms of "being a reader." The fact remains, students should be able to write about their reading, in some way. Some sort of reflection or response.

Another good assignment is doing book reviews, which teaches critical analysis.

By the way, to me, a book report is: Here's the name of the book. Here's the author. Here's a summary. I liked it because/I hated it because. I recommend/don't recommend it.
That, to me, is not useful at all. All it does is tell me that they read the book, and maybe not even that because they could just copy the summary from the back of the book or something.

[Don]

I wanted to share this with as many people as i can. Check it out.
http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2007/09/05/06millermentor1.h18.html
She seems to share many of your philosophies.

D-

[BK Teaching Fellow]

I agree.. From the perspective of a student (of which I am not far from in age), I remember fearing book reports, and in turn, i refuted reading. And you're right- it is sooooo easy to find information to satisfy book reports from the book without actually reading it. i'm with you- book reports gots to go!

[RENE]

We use Stargazer's Guided Reading Kit for K-3. Very effective. It's on a CD so your school can get a license of use. You just basically photocopy a class set, read through the stories and send home a copy for the child to read to their parent or caregiver. It's very effective whether or not you use the attached lessons.

One boy went from grade one to end of grade three for a reading level in three months of two hours a week reading. The link to home can't be disputed.

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[Mark Pennington]

All excellent posts. For several years now, I have devolved the task of reading accountability to that of the parents. I teacher seventh grade ELA. On back-to-school nights I make a deal with parents: I won't assign grammar or essay homework, if they will supervise reading-discussion homework. No parent at the middle school or high school level wants to supervise the latter.

I have parents grade a three-minute discussion of the daily homework reading and assign a grade for the quality of discussion. I get a high degree of buy-in from parents and students. I flesh out this homework program much more on my blog at http://penningtonpublishing.com/blog/reading/how-to-get-students-to-read-at-home/ Oh, I agree about ditching book reports. Can we also add on dioramas and sugar-cube castles to the hit-list?

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People are language users: they read, write, speak, and listen; and they do all of these things in natural languages such as English, Russian, and Arabic. Many philosophers and linguists have been interested in knowing what accounts for this facility that language users have with their language.

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