Before the How, Why?
Frequency is all about how often reading occurs. For our students, we need to build an environment where reading happens not only in the classroom, but then is encouraged at home. Why? The data is clear:
Disrupting Thinking, Beers and Probst, 137
A clear direct correlation exists between reading and student performance and language abilities. The short answer: our students need to read—often.
Don't Ask Your Students to Do What You're Not Willing to Do Yourself
For this to work, you need to love books. Too often, I talk to teachers who don't know what is current or what is going on in the world of reading. When you hear the names Elizabeth Acevedo, Tiffany Jackson, Jason Reynolds and Neal Shusterman, they should mean something.
Books need to feel like a big deal. The 1st of the month is my favorite day of the month. Why? Amazon lists their two adult picks of the month (one from an established author and another from a debut). They also list nearly a dozen other books to watch out for. Additionally, they'll list their YA selects. All from this month. Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times and a host of other publications do the same.
These books should mean something. Image Screenshot from Amazon.com
No one goes to the movie so they can watch the last Fast and the Furious movie, they go for this year's iteration. Making books feel present and noteworthy can help build classroom buzz. When TikTok blew up over Silvera's They Both Die at the End earlier this month, it was the perfect time to also book talk Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli's What If It's Us. It's also time to talk about Albertalli's new book Kate in Waiting (which releases today (April 20th)).
Know what's new. Talk about books. With your colleagues. With your librarian. With your students. Image Screenshot from Amazon.com
My students know all about my reading life. I book talk recommendations. I also book talk books they might not be quite ready for. My 9th graders know Klara and the Sun is something they could strive to read but might struggle with, they know the content of How Beautiful We Were might be too intense for them. They also know that Yolk is perfect for their reading level but has some intense language, that Game Changer is perfect for sports fans, and that I can't stop raving about Love is a Revolution.
The frequency in which we engage our students about books needs to increase. We need to book talk and even casually mention books not just at the beginning of class but throughout our lessons.
If you're not churning through books with some regularity, why should they? Even with just 30 minutes a day, you could easily churn through a YA book a week. With a little more dedication, you can do much more.
Encouraging Audio Books
Some students are on the go, and with an hour commute, I understand this. Those two hours are not lost time. I dedicate around 90 minutes of my 2 hour commute to an audio book. Again, our goal here is frequency. The more we pick up and listen, the better of students will be.
Now you might say, "but listening to a book is not the same!"
But taking a look at studies, we find something else. Time magazine asked whether Audiobooks are as good as reading: "For a 2016 study, Rogowsky put her assumptions to the test. One group in her study listened to sections of Unbroken, a nonfiction book about World War II by Laura Hillenbrand, while a second group read the same parts on an e-reader. She included a third group that both read and listened at the same time. Afterward, everyone took a quiz designed to measure how well they had absorbed the material. 'We found no significant differences in comprehension between reading, listening, or reading and listening simultaneously,'" Rogowsky says.
Listening is a great way to increase frequency. Image Screenshot from Audible.com
I want my students to pick up books as frequently as possible. If they can pick up their book (physically or digitally) at least a couple times a day, we can yield better readers.
Starting Your Class
You hopefully understand the value of frequency. After the book talk, starting class with 10 minutes of reading time encourages this idea of reading frequency. Undoubtedly, for some, this may be the only reading they do this year, but your goal is to encourage them to read more and break them out of that mold.
That 10 minutes needs to be sacred.
I've heard of some teachers who worry that the reading time will look like lost time. But my question to you is: what are you doing during those 10 minutes?
No doubt, you're reading too. Displaying what engaging reading looks like is important. But my next question is... and what else?
Throughout the week, I touch based with each student. This is to see what progress they've made in their text. It's also time to ask clarifying questions, get book recommendations, book talk and find out what their reading next.
Tracking reading is important. Is the student plodding through a novel at a snail's pace? Are they continually picking up a new book? When was the last time they finished a book? Are they moving backwards in pages (this is a thing that happens when you have fake reading happening)? What types of novels are they reading? Tracking their data can be very telling.
My reading tracker isn't fancy. But I know where students are. I know what they've read and where they're going.
This is also a time to encourage. What did your reading look like last night? What about this past weekend?
It can also be a time to get to know your students. How much homework did you have last night? How did the AP US test go?
Utilizing that 10 minutes of reading time as more than just 10 minutes for yourself will yield powerful results.
A Classroom Library that is a Mirror and a Window
Your classroom needs to reflect your students. I teach freshmen, juniors and seniors. It's a wide spectrum. Seniors want to read about what upcoming college life. But you'll also need a spectrum of books to get that message across. Strong readers might enjoy Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki while visual learners might enjoy Pumpkinheads.
You'll also want books about that same topic that cover a spectrum of diversity. Books of that same type might include Every Body Looking, The Black Flamingo, or The Black Kids.
I don't have a classroom, so my book cart is everything to me.
Books from Black authors, Asian authors, Latinx Authors, LGBTQ+ authors are all a must. Allow lots of choice in your classroom library. Allow your library to look like your students, but also show them something else.
Building Your Classroom Library
Of course, building your classroom library is tricky. While it's difficult now, in times pre-COVID, I frequented many library book sales. For $20, you can often acquire 20 or more titles. The Dollar Store also sometimes has gold (recently, my local Dollar Store showcased copies of Cloud Atlas).
Any books I purchase are books with the intention of them becoming part of my classroom library.
Become a Scholastic member (free) and check out the $1 deal daily.
Scour Twitter for contests. I recently acquired 30 copies of Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me from We Need Diverse Books. My husband acquire a class set of New Kid from participating in a Scholastic Book Talk. I've won countless titles from various generous authors and publishing companies. Enter often (and dare I say, frequently!)
Contests can yield some great results!
Become friends with your librarian. Be the winner during their weeding process. Talk to them. Encourage students to go to them. The work is mutually beneficial. Your librarian will love you, and you will love your librarian.
Frequency, Frequency, Frequency
Encourage reading! Often our best students are our best readers. Encourage reading on all levels from all students. Encourage parents to read to their children (they're never too old (I tell this to my junior and senior parents and they laugh, but I'm serious here)). Any opportunity to engage with parents is a time to book talk to them and encourage them to read with their students. Read everywhere. Read with everyone. Read now. Read often. Read frequently.
Daniel Valentin teaches English 9 and Senior Seminar at Horace Greeley High School. He is currently reading The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah and is listening to The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict. He wants his students to feel empowered through books. Follow him on Twitter @DanielJValentin
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