From the time that I would max out my limit of ten Dr. Seuss books at a time in the library, to participating in book clubs today, I have always enjoyed reading. If I am reading a particularly good book, it’s difficult to set it aside and do other things until I have finished it. When I was a kid, I would sneak a flashlight under my blankets so that I could continue reading a good book.
I have always felt like I am a “good reader,” and can comprehend most things that I read well. I feel like I typically understand both the piece as a whole and am able to pick out close details and important phrases. My favorite things to read are novels, but I enjoy short stories, articles, and poems as well. I think I enjoy reading as an escape from everyday life, and I enjoy finding illustrations of my own experiences in others’ stories. I would say that I was encouraged to read by my family, school, and my church group encourages reading and education. I don’t really remember my friends being pro- or anti- reading, but I don’t know that I would have paid much attention to their opinions, having already made my mind up about reading.
I do remember not always enjoying reading in English classes in junior high and high school. I remember feeling a little frustrated at my teachers’ attempts to get at the meaning of a story, the themes, and what the author really meant in writing. I wanted to go back to just being able to read a good story for the story’s sake. It wasn’t until my senior year of English that a particularly good English teacher made such analysis of novels interesting, applicable, and meaningful to me. I think that understanding the elements of fiction is a rather dull experience until there is a personal connection to the material.
For me as a teacher, I envision giving students opportunities to read books of their choosing just for enjoyment as well as closely analyzing literature according to relevant and interesting thematic units. I think it will be important to connect reading to school, home, and community life and student interests to generate students' desire to read. I see myself giving students the opportunity to “read” texts in various ways- by dramatizing texts, creating original works based on texts, including multiple genres and visual and auditory texts as well as traditional written texts. I think given such multiple modes, hopefully all students can find a way to see themselves as readers.
Here are just a few of my all time favorites:
Hi Alissa, thanks for your posting that raised some interesting issues about the teaching of literary texts in English. English teachers are sometimes under fire for taking the joy out of literary texts by "making" students look for themes, imagery, etc. On the other hand, looking for those things help students meet national standards. To solve this problem, I personally believe there should be a mix of reading for enjoyment and reading for analysis.
ReplyDeleteI remember my seventh-grade English and reading teacher, who--at the beginning of every reading class--just read a high-interest novel to us. We were never tested on it, but I was just mesmerized by what she read, and to this day I still remember those stories. I think that you can sometimes just read beautiful, funny, high-interest excerpts from various informational and literary texts just for the joy of reading.
I wonder what your 12th grade teacher did that made the analysis so applicable and interesting to you. If you can identify what she did, then you can do it with your students as well.
Thanks for your posting!