Challenging Independent Reading

If you can, define the similarities and differences between these two reading challenges:

1)? ? ? I was able to read every word, but I don’t know what happened in the book

2)? ? ? The book was so hard. It took me so much time to read. The book had so many words and long sentences. I couldn’t figure out what was happening half the time.

These are two of the most frequent responses I hear from readers struggling with text (vs. struggling readers.

Let’s take a second to consider the first one. Can you imagine what it must be like to read for thirty-plus minutes at a time, only to have no idea what’s happening?? They’re either the most compliant reading ever done (i.e. fake reading) or the most treacherous period of the day. I’ve asked students before what this experience is like. Some say it’s boring. Others add, “I don’t know, I just have to do it.” A few admit the frustration but would just assume not letting anyone know because it means they have “problems” (which could mean RtI or a return to services.) In any event, these kiddos deserve our support before reading becomes more intense and acutely painful than it already is.

Now let’s explore the second response a bit more deeply.

Students entering my classroom believe that every book they read should be enjoyable (or interesting, sometimes “a lot of action at the start.” They believe no book should be hard. They believe every book should be read for pleasure. Finally, they believe nothing should interrupt their reading. Consequently, it’s easy to suffice why maturing readers cite the second lamentation.

Any book that requires a book is a book they are not interested in.?

Here’s the problem, in my opinion. Not all reading is like that. Within the realm of independent reading, there lies a few constructs. A few of them are,? independently reading for a task/assignment, reading “just right” books, pleasure reading, and/or exploring concepts, ideas, and topics out of curiosity. Case in point, people who volunteer at historical societies and read anything and everything to – learn more.

My point is, aside from sheer pleasure reading, that is reading a good book on the beach to escape the world (which frankly most of my students would be running and burying themselves in the beach rather than reading while the parents lose track of time in a book), much reading is done to engage learning – which is also a form of pleasure reading (for some of us).

By the conclusion of their first decade of life, students’ perceptions about what reading is and what it could be become distorted.? With those distortions come internalizations about who they are as readers and what reading should be like to the point, that they become limited. For instance, if a student only has to read what they’re interested in (i.e. hockey), they only have to read easy books (books about NHL teams where the vocabulary and background knowledge already exists – where reading pictures can compensate for text).

Yes, this is what reading is. Sometimes.

No, this is not what all reading is like.

It just so happens that someone, one way or another has to break this news to them.? And it’s no fun. Quicker than I would rather admit, I become the teacher students don’t like; I’m the reason they “hate” reading, etc.

You know what?? I’ve reached the point where I’d rather maturing readers hate me than hate themselves because reading is hard and/or they don’t understand why they were “good” readers one day and not the next. But this is one of the reasons I wrote I Hate Reading. The reality is that students, sooner than later, have to learn and recognize that reading requires some “elbow grease” so to speak, much like beating the levels of their games (the more preferred activity. Ever notice kids don’t use conditionals, like how reading should be when playing video games?

Nonetheless, I do love when students say a book is hard, that the book was overwhelming, and that is quite possible they understood nothing that they read as a result of deploying strategies to create meaning. That doesn’t mean this is how I want all students to experience reading all the time. Rather, it means we’ve reached a ceiling as to what the students can do independently providing insight into what the maturing reader needs for instruction! I will also add that I love when a student comes to me with a book they have struggled with and explains how they persevered and detail the strategies they used to create meaning while reading.

For example, I once had a student who read the easiest books she could find. She wanted to purport the image of being a reader but didn’t want to acknowledge what assessments informed me. In time, through an array of events, she took on more challenging books.? They took her forever to read, to the tune of a chapter book in a month. one month for a chapter book, which concerned me because I was worried about what else she was missing out on.

It came to pass that she was working through her text diligently with every strategy she learned. Yes, the reading was painfully slow, but what she was doing to create self-efficacy, was far more important than what she comprehended in the text.? We know this. Take the first time any of us read Jane Austin (independently for an assignment.) For me it was brutal. The first time was NOT about comprehension. It was about learning to read and maybe taking away some important points to retell. This student was in the same boat. No, she didn’t read 40 books that year, but with each progressive book deeper understandings ensued. Comprehension was richer, and most importantly, she saw herself as a reader who believed she could read because she had the skills to take on difficult text – by choice.

A reason like this is why we have to dispel reading every word and understanding everything. Countless students tell me they feel the need to remember everything they read.? This stands to reason. Ig you have to know every word, you have to know all the meanings. If you don’t understand everything, then you weren’t reading.? The internalized shame that builds up in students becomes insufferable, so readers “adopt” to the boundaries that were made for them (i.e. only read what you’re interested in) to be seen as successful readers, when the reality is… they know the truth. All too well (Struggling reader version).

Yes, reading is hard (for many students).? There are times when independent reading should be hard. Not because of concepts like “book shaming” but because eventually, the reader has to embrace the challenges of reading on their own and consolidate all the skills and strategies they have learned over the years into a reading process.? That reading process is what helps students overcome challenges in independent reading so experiences can become easier, this more pleasurable.

But to think that every independent reading can be specifically catered so that no cognitive energy be expended is somewhat ludicrous.? After all, doesn’t neuroscience research tell us that our brains love challenges? Are we not more actively engaged when we have to construct meaning or need to find solutions? Integrating skills into a reading process is finding a solution to challenging independent reading! If we truly wish to eradicate shame in our classroom, we will help students overcome what makes reading challenging and acknowledge their efforts as they develop their reading processes. However, we must be willing to take that journey beside them and build enough trust they will let us.? As we all know, it’s very hard to admit when we have challenges with the very tasks maturing readers are supposed to have “mastered.”