This is part 3 of my series Becoming a FITT Reader. Be sure to read Volume 1: Frequency here and Volume 2: Intensity here.
This is going to seem like a no brainer, and in theory it is. But theory and practice are two different things. In order for students to become FITT readers, they need to read for periods of time that make sense.
The Power of the Binge and Giving Students Momentum
There was a time in our lives where the idea of binging on media was viewed as wasteful. Now, it's seen as a badge of honor. The advent of streaming services gave us the power to binge watch television shows in a way my 90s childhood self could never imagine. If you were lucky, a marathon session of your favorite show was on (Real World Miami anyone?), but even that was met with commercials and no ability to pause.
With that noted, it's funny how different we treat television and books.
We all know the teacher (and goodness knows, my past self is guilty of this) of taking 6-8 weeks in a novel that didn't need it. Take for instance The Road. How long should it realistically take to read (and analyze) this? Four weeks on the long end, and even that starts to raise questions.
When it comes to whole class novels, you (as the teacher) need to build momentum. Students need a sense of excitement, and the elongation of time makes it feel like we're teaching a text to death, or, even worse, making the text boring.
The Avengers Analogy or How We Need to Start Teaching Appropriate Time Structures
I tell my students in September. "Friends, we're going to watch The Avengers: Endgame in class." The excitement is palpable. Marvel is the ultimate equalizer. But then I add, "And we're going to do this over the next 45 days. So every day we're going to watch if for four minutes."
The excitement fades. The looks become shifty. And then I ask, "Why is this a bad idea?" The students are quick to answer, "We'll never get anywhere." "You won't be able to follow the story." "You might cut off the action as it starts to get good."
But this is how so many students read. That 10 minutes of reading time at the beginning of class might be the only time they read. If we're in a whole class novel and today is Monday and students know they need to read 60 pages by Friday. they're quick to say, "That's only 15 pages a night." And so many of them will only read 15 pages a night.
The result? Momentum flounders and comprehension lowers.
This is why talking about HOW we read is essential. The binge watching analogy suddenly makes much more sense. Students need to look at those 60 pages and take that reading in either one of two sessions. We want students to get into The Reading Zone, but if their reading habits don't encourage it—and we don't encourage it—what can we realistically expect?
Reading Conferences and Reading Goals
When it comes to talking to students during reading conferences, the most frequent excuse revolves around time. "I had swim practice, so I didn't have time." "My family went to see my grandmother, so we didn't have time." "I had a busy weekend, it was (insert mostly insignificant thing), so I didn't have time." This is your time to pry.
"Did you drive?" "Oh you flew? Talk to me about the flight." "Oh, did you go on a bus to the game?" "What time was it?" And while this is a great time to build a nice rapport with your students "How did you perform?" "Was it nice to see him/her/them?" It's also time to point out how much time there actually was to get in a bit of reading time.
At the end of the day, 30 minutes of reading time can be quite a lot. And an hour is a staggering amount of time. But students need to schedule their time for reading. If students are reading an age appropriate book (at 3/4ths a page a minute) that could range into the 45 page territory with an hour of reading.
Pushing Time Goals
During reading conferences, we talk about frequency (how often are you going to sit and make a concerted effort to read), but we also talk about time. If you're going to sit down four times to dedicate to reading, how long are you reading for? I push students usually in increments of five. If you're going to read for 25 minutes, let's aim for 30. The worse case scenario? They don't do it.
The best case scenario? Their book is so good they can't stop. We constantly want to stretch time.
What I find most often on the journey to FITT reading is students don't push their time goals, and we don't check-in enough. My goal for the rest of the year is to encourage more time spent reading. I encourage every teacher to keep pushing through reading conferences and really ask questions around time.
I sometimes start asking questions about speed of reading:
"Did any of the parts of the text start to read faster?"
"Did you feel like you were zoning out during certain parts?"
"What parts were you skimming?"
The longer students read, the faster they become at reading.
If students can hit the 20 minute mark of continuous reading, the speed will pick up. They tap into The Reading Zone. So the question becomes, how long can reading goal go past 20 minutes.
We also know time can be a detriment. Reading is fun, but it can be mentally taxing. Even after an hour of reading myself, I often find my attention wanes. Finding appropriate push goal for students sans distraction is the goal.
Removing Distractions
The goal with reading is continuous time sans distraction. That means without the constant ding ding of text messaging. Encouraging students to go into Airplane mode or utilizing an app like Forest can create better reading habits.
My Question:
Is 10 minutes of reading time in my class enough? Any time I stretch that reading time to 15 minutes or on the rare occasion of 20 minutes, students are excited. And this isn't a we're getting out of doing something excitement. It's genuine excitement. I too want to encourage time, but in the classroom, it's a fading commodity. So I'm thinking about how to implement more abilities for time or more choice built around time. You can either a) work on this or b) read for another 10 minutes. I'm not sure what this all looks like, but I am thinking about it.
TL;DR:
Sustained time creates better readers. We need to students to create realistic and meaningful goals. We also can't accept students' lack of time at face value. Stretching students and creating meaningful reading habits will undoubtedly create FITT readers.
Daniel Valentin teaches English 9, Humanities, and Senior Seminar at Horace Greeley High School. He is currently reading Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt and is listening to The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen. He wants his students to feel empowered through books. Follow him on Twitter @DanielJValentin
Comments
Post a Comment