I have been writing this post in my head for over a week now. Then, this morning, I happened upon a conversation on Twitter between Donalyn Miller and Paul Hankins about reading programs vs. the simple act of reading. Shortly after that, I read a blog post by Katherine Sokolowski (found here http://readwriteandreflect.blogspot.com/), which was inspired by the same Twitter conversation. All of these prompted me to sit down and write about a topic that has been weighing heavily on my head - and my heart - over the past week.
Last year, we were told by our district to select a new textbook, as it was the English department's adoption year. We were not given a choice in the matter, even though we had been working for four years to develop an independent reading program. We picked a book that we thought would work well with our developing reading workshop; it was one that we envisioned using as shared reading or read alouds to drive our units in workshop.
Much to my dismay, I was informed last week that we may be told to use only the textbook and to abandon reading workshop in order to get our students to pass the tests they are being given to measure their progress. Since not all English teachers are using reading workshop, and not all teachers are using the new textbook, it has been decided that "using the textbook with fidelity" may give us the most bang for our buck in moving students from tiers two and three to tier one in AIMSweb testing, which would hopefully deliver promising SOL scores. Needless to say, I was heartbroken over this, and I refuse to adopt a one-size-fits-all approach.
What are we teaching our students?? By forcing them to read material that is inaccessible to more than half of them and by following a scripted lesson, we are teaching our students that reading is boring. We are teaching them that reading is not valued; only test scores are what is most important. Incredibly enough, though, test scores are not going to rise because of a reading program or a basal - reading scores are going to rise when students are engaged and reading voraciously books OF THEIR CHOICE.
A couple of years ago, our school spent thousands upon thousands of dollars buying books to stock English teachers' classrooms with books from many different genres at various reading levels. The purpose of this endeavor was to bring "choice" reading into the classrooms - where students could choose which books they would read at their own reading levels instead of having a class novel or giving them a one-size-fits-all textbook that many of the students could not access. I cannot begin to describe how passionate I am about teaching this way. In my classroom, I have thousands of books, a conglomoration of books that I have purchased with my own money as well as the ones that were purchased by the school. It is my own mini-library, and my students know that they can come to me any time they need a new book. Having these books at my students' fingertips is probably one of the most motivating factors for them. They can interact much more personally with these books than they will ever interact with a textbook.
While a textbook company may claim that its program is proven to raise test scores, I wholeheartedly believe that it is books, books, books that will allow our students to succeed. They need TIME to read during class, they need BOOKS available to them, and they need a knowledgable educator who can sit beside them and TALK to them about what they are reading.
There are amazing things happening in classrooms where students are taught using books of their choice and where students are given the opportunity to read these books. These experiences extend way beyond the confines of a textbook with a scripted lesson plan to follow. These are experiences that change readers every day and teach them the value of reading.
The following is a snapshot of experiences students are having that they would not get from a textbook:
- Last week Vanessa closed Every Day by David Levithan with tears streaming down her cheeks. I immediately got my Kindle and turned to Six Earlier Days, already downloaded and ready for her to feed her need for more of the story. She was so thankful
- Tori, who has had trouble sticking to a book all year, is completely engrossed in Pelzer's A Child Called It, which is a book she chose as part of our survival unit. She comes to me every day to talk about what is happening to Dave and how sad it is making her. She is not only reading, but she is emotionally connecting to a book. That's a big deal!
- I showed the trailer for The One and Only Ivan along with a booktalk, and in four different classes, every single student asked to be on the waiting list to read the book. Not only that, but many of them went out and bought their own copies.
- We are reading Wonder as our read aloud, and every day students beg me to read more. They rejoice when August has a triumph, and they cry along with me when we read the heart-wrenching parts. In addition, they are making connections, inferences, and predictions - all while sharing a love of reading!
- Students walk into my classroom discussing books they are reading. They are passing books around, giving each other recommendations, and planning for what they are going to read next. I can't tell you the last time I heard a buzz like that over a textbook story.
I could go on and on. I have seen many successes in my classroom that were not brought upon by a textbook. I have seen children fall in love with books who would previously not touch them. The discussions are richer, the connections are deeper, and their horizons are broadening. Books have the power to change lives. It amazes me that anyone would sacrifice that for a scripted program just for the sake of boosting data.
We need to reexamine what we are teaching children. Are we willing to teach them that everyone needs to read the same material, at the same level, at the same time? Are we willing to teach them that "reading" is taking out a textbook and following a prescribed sequence? Or are we willing to teach them that books have the power to take them to new places while giving them an outlet to discover themselves? Are we willing to teach them that falling in love with reading is what should really matter?
