Blog 3: Reluctant to Avid: A Reader’s Guide

      All readers, including students, read for a variety of reasons. Depending on the circumstances, Sarah Dyer explains that students may read for efferent or aesthetic purposes—for information or pleasure respectively (Dyer 37). Reluctant readers may find it difficult to read a classic for either purpose because, as noted by Jonathan Ostenson and Rachel Wadham, readers need something familiar in a test or they may become alienated from its meaning (Ostenson 6). Reluctant readers need young adult literature and innovative assignments in order to become engaged in the reading process. Katherine Bucher and KaaVonia Hinton note that there is value in knowing why students do not enjoy reading but it is just as valuable to find ways to motivate readers (Bucher 69). By providing recreational reading times and utilizing alternatives to traditional book reports, reluctant readers will become more motivated to engage in texts such as Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women.

            Choice is an exceptional motivational tool and the providing students with opportunities to read texts of their choice for pleasure is important. Ostenson and Wadham explain that motivation matters (Ostenson 10). As Dyer explains in her article, students are busy with extra-curricular and other activities outside of school that prevent leisure reading (Dyer 41). Using class time to allow students to read whatever they choose provides a motivational tool to encourage reluctant readers to start reading. Reading for pleasure in the classroom allows students to build their confidence with a variety of texts. Reluctant readers need an opportunity to discover a love for reading in order to benefit from assigned texts like Little Women. By building their confidence in reading, students will be more inclined to attempt texts outside of their comfort zones.

            In addition to opportunities to read for aesthetic purposes, reluctant readers need engaging assignments that are in forms they are already acquainted with. Ostenson and Wadham note that as students build their prior knowledge and experience with reading, students increase their ability to engage in the texts (Ostenson 11). As motivation is key to encouraging reluctant readers to participate in discussions and evaluations of texts, incorporating nontraditional written assignments into the curriculum is paramount. Dyer explains that “any assignment that arises from the study of a book should be authentic with a real audience” (Dyer 41). Blogs, social media pages, and letters to authors are written assignments that are more familiar to students.

Dyer notes that students who were asked to “create blogs, Facebook walls, or Twitter feeds for a character in their book . . . were immediately comfortable with the rhetorical context of this real-life writing assignment” (Dyer 41). Little Women, for example, is a text in which students can be asked to perform a number of tasks using new media sources. Students may be asked to become a March sister and Tweet to each other while Beth and Father are ill. Students could choose to write a series of blogs from Laurie’s point of view while he is away at college. The entire class can provide entries for a collective version of the “Pickwick Portfolio” and copies can be made available to the student body. Students are familiar with blogs and Twitter and will enjoy creating a joint paper for fun. Each task provides students with an opportunity to explore the world in which the characters in Little Women live and be able to relate character experiences to their own.

Allowing reluctant readers to build confidence in their skills through independent reading and producing alternative written assignments will encourage students to actively participate in assigned readings such as Little Women. Independent reading times allow students to build their confidence in reading and encourages students to read for pleasure. It also demonstrates the importance of reading beyond classrooms and grades. Using written forms that students use on a daily basis provides a comfort level reluctant readers can grow in. Students will be more inclined to discuss topics and texts if they have a real audience they are addressing. Reluctant readers are found across all reading levels. Educators must adapt to the needs of their students to foster a love of reading in all students.

Works Cited

Bucher, Katherine and KaaVonia Hinton. Young Adult Literature: Exploration, Evaluation, and Appreciation. 3rd ed. Boston: Pearson, 2014. Print.

Dyer, Sarah. "Read This, Not That: Why and How I'll Use Young Adult Literature in My Classroom." The Virginia English Journal 64.1 (2014): 33-43.

Ostenson, Jonathan and Rachel Wadham. "Young Adult Literature and the Common Core: A Surprisingly Good Fit." American Secondary Education 41.1 (2012): 4-13.