Creating a School Culture of Reading One Kid at a Time

"I have three girls in my advisory period who WON'T read and I'm NOT going to fight them on this," said a colleague standing in the doorway of my office.

"Don't." I said. "That's not what this is about. Have them fill out reading interest inventories and bring them back to me or the Media Speciliast. We will pull some books the girls might like and connect with them on the next advisory day." Shortly thereafter, the completed interest inventories made it back to my office.

[NOTE ABOUT 'ADVISORY': This year, the junior high where I work has implemented a two-day-a-week advisory period in an effort to provide students with another supportive adult connection. One of the two days, Wednesday, is devoted specifically to silent sustained reading for enjoyment. A significant amount of work from a group of teachers and counselors went into advisory implementation, as well as coaching the staff on how to establish and maintain an effective 'reading zone' in their classes.]

As I walked to the classroom to pick up the students today, I have to admit I was feeling a little nervous. In order to get the girls hooked into some new books, several things had to happen:
1. I had to convince them to come with me (an unfamiliar adult) to find a new book...
2. I had to get them from the classroom to the Media Center (at least we were on the same floor)...
3. AND I had to request they did not interrupt the advisory group who was quietly reading in the library already.

In addition to the three girls, I found myself also walking to the Media Center with two boys (who did not fill out the inventory and for whom I had not pulled books of interest prior to their visit). On the way, I introduced myself and explained that I would help them find books they would be interested in reading for fun-the whole premise behind reading on Wednesdays. I also stressed that if they chose a book today, started it, and did not enjoy it, they MUST abandon it. In that event, I would assist them in finding a new book once again. As we reached the doorway of the Media Center, I asked them to be respectful of the group who was already reading quietly.

Here's what happened.

The Media Specialist, Anna, took the three girls to the dozen or so books we had pulled according to the information on their interest inventories. One girl saw a book among them that she had started a while ago, really liked, but never finished. The other two selected books. They all checked them out and headed back to advisory to read. Meanwhile, one boy asked for a spy series that we do not have, but I connected him with another series in the same genre. He picked one from the series, checked it out and headed back to advisory to read. The last boy asked if we could use the online catalog to find a book. I watched him type the following book title into the search bar: 'the cat and the hat.'

My heart stopped. This junior high student was searching for a Dr. Suess book?? As I chatted with him, I discovered he is an English Language Learner and does not feel confident yet in chapter books. Anna and I teamed up to offer him choices ranging from graphic novels to informational texts filled primarily with eye-catching photos and shorter bits of text. And then, he asked us:

"Can I check out two books?"