The Personal Dimension to Academic Literacy

When high school students in the Academic Literacies program were asked if they ever read for pleasure, the answer was a resounding, “NO.” But that all changed over the course of the yearlong program.

The instructors came to the realization that unless the students could develop their own reasons for reading there would be little chance that anything else they were taught would have an impact. And so, the teachers talked with the students about the connection between literacy and power. Teachers specifically selected materials for students to read which showed people whom they could identify with addressing the importance of reading. In their case, teachers had materials from Malcolm X, Fredrick Douglas, and Emily Dickinson. Students then made charts with the different authors and the reasons these authors gave for the questions, “Why read?”.

Students were reminded that even though they see themselves as non-readers, they are readers in other settings, such as reading the sports page or reading at youth group. etc. The instructors also helped students see that reading is not all or nothing, reminding them that everyone has things they can and cannot read.

Next, students were asked to record their hoped for future dreams. They then created two columns for recording the fast and slow ways to achieve those goals. Fast ideas such as “win the lottery,’ or “get rich on the streets” were listed as were the slow but steady ways to reach goals such as education. Discussions that followed focused on the ideas that the slow but steady ways may seem more difficult, but would more likely get you to the goal.

Once students were of the mindset that reading was important, the goal was to begin to move them away from their nonreader identities. Students then wrote letters and dialogue to those who hate to read explaining themselves a few strategies that can be used. Students then began to think of themselves as new readers in this way. Authors next wanted to move students into the mind set that not only could reading be useful to get you where you want to go, it could also been done for enjoyment. To this end, they introduced SSR – sustained silent reading. Teachers showed students how to select a book they would enjoy. They offered the following hints.

Read the back of the book to see if it is something interesting

Find the subject you like to read

Ask a friend

Look for an author you like

Skim through a book – read a few pages

Find a book that relates to you.

Students were also taught to give a book the ten - page chance. If a book that was chosen didn’t seem to be what they wanted student were asked to read at least ten pages before selecting a different book.

Rules for SSR were established and activities from this experienced followed. Metacognitive logs were implemented for tracking students’ thought while reading. Monthly assignments included a letter, about the book, which was written to the literacy teacher and a book poster, which would include six quotations from the book. Students would also have a monthly class check - in where they would briefly tell their classmates about a book they had finished. This helped maintain accountability and create curiosity about the book to others.

In the beginning students found reading for 20 difficult, even if they had found a book to their interest. To build stamina, sessions of SSR were begun at 10 minutes and progressed to 20. By the third quarter students were asking for more time to read silently!

Students were taught about concentration and created a plan for themselves regarding staying tuned in. A book called Keeping a Head in School, which is written for young people, was useful in this.

Although the personal and social dimension discussed in these chapters were very helpful in student motivation, the authors knew that they alone were not enough to develop students success in reading academic texts. The following chapters discuss the specific strategies introduced to these high school students.