"Literacy and Pleasure"

 

"Reading as the Inner Theatre" is what independent, committed readers treasure: the isolation of reading uninterrupted because by doing so readers become deeply involved with the book when given the time to read. Good readers discover that "the book is always better than the movie" (Newkirk, 114). Dependent readers on the other hand, prefer not to be isolated when reading instead they set themselves up with i-pods, ear-buds, or TV. Sadly, young adolescence miss-out on the true process of reading a good book without any multi-task interruptions of background noise. 

 

 

 

Why Children Struggle in Reading:

According to Allington (2012), “There exist potent relationship between volume of reading and reading achievement,” (53) and Guthrie (2004,) “dramatic increases in reading volume are critically important in developing thoughtful literacy” (cited in Allington, 53-54). As a teacher, I inherently believe now more so than ever that students need more time to read. In doing so, they will gradually develop the stamina to read more complex text, longer text, or for that matter text that they consider test boring text. The consistent practice of reading in volume--meaning a set time in the classroom provides for greater exposure to text, vocabulary development, and comprehension of text using various strategies to record thoughts, sharing of thoughts on what was read, and choice in selection if the opportunity arises. “More effective teachers simple had students reading” (55) more in their classroom—giving the time to read. In my classroom, I make it a point to incorporate reading and writing in several ways: Literature Circle through rotations, anchor book reading, excerpts of text, reader’s theater, read alouds, sharing creative stories, journal entry sharing, and independent reading of their own library or choice books.