I am in the process of reading Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in Adolescent Readers" by Penny Kittle. I decided to post some of my reflections as I read.

Chapter 1-2:  My thinking so far:  Yes! Yes! Yes!

It seems so simple. We have to get our students to read. To want to read, rather. This is the challenge that Penny Kittle eloquently argues in "Book Love". 

* "We are expected to create lifelong readers. I believe it is our most important goal." (p. 16)

* "Volume matters". (p. 17)

* "Voluminous, voracious readers are our only hope." (p. 23)

Although the book addresses Adolescent readers, I found it resonates at the elementary level. I have talked with many Grades 3-5 students about "pretend reading".  They spoke openly about "reading only the first two paragraphs of each chapter",  or reading "the first and last chapter ", "waiting out the clock by flipping a page every few minutes", or "making up a story" if a parent asks questions about their reading at home. Some students acknowledge habitually abandoning books after one or two pages. So disheartening.

I tell teachers reading is a numbers game: more words + more time = stronger reader. The first step in supporting students who "hate" reading is embracing their choices, not worrying about what we believe is appropriate. It is okay then if the book a student is reading is a graphic novel. It is okay if the book is considered "below grade level" because that book is probably meeting where the student is -- at that point.. It is okay to read "Captain Underpants", "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" or books from the same series.  We have to encourage students and get them hooked on reading first. Let's celebrate the act of reading. Once engaged, our readers will grow.

As a child, I read constantly. I majored in English because I could not think of a better way to spend my college years than by reading. Throw me those Victorian novels! Ask me to read big, fat books!  Everyone identified me as a reader. But...

After college, I started taking breaks from books. I felt I needed to focus on participating more in life. I am reminded of this after reading yesterday's post by Franki Sibberson on the Nerdy Book Club blog (here) where she talks about reader's guilt. I struggled with this guilt. Is time spent reading taking away from something else?

People got exasperated when I chose reading over going out. Family members claimed I needed to interact more and find some hobbies. Was I losing out? How do you balance reading with "living a life"? Would I regret all the hours spent turning pages? Did reading mean not connecting or missing connections?

Books always called me back, though, despite my unreliable, angsty ways.  I learned to embrace my passion. Reading is home. It is my lens for navigating this world. No choice ever existed, not really. 

Why read? Why do I read? Because reading saves you. 

Words Found In My Reading That I Know But Want To Use More Frequently.

Culling. Yep. I plan to cull my email this summer. I could cull some files (paper and computer), but let's not go nuts. Goodbye, delete.

fossick. I never liked the words rummage or rummaging. Maybe it is because I spend half my life looking for things I misplace. If I am fossicking, who knows what I will find?

lassitude. It's why vacations are built into the school year for teachers.

luminous. In the words of Yoda a(nd Origami Yoda):" Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter".  A reminder to focus on the intrinsic brightness that exists in teachers, students and schools.

My reading format preference is fluid: book, tablet, audio. I am open to them all. All three bring you into the world of reading. Of course, I have preferences within each. I do not download picture books or graphic novels. I save audio for long trips in the car.

The problem I have is balancing my desire to read a book right away against the need to have an actual copy for the classroom. I am always adding titles to my Reading Library  (bordering on addiction).  It took me, I admit,  months to realize a downloaded book on my tablet is not practical for students to use. I needed to have the  books in hand. (My school does not have iPads, ebooks, etc. for classroom use). 

It makes sense, economically, to purchase at least two classroom copies instead of  putting one on my tablet. But...but that means I have to wait. Maybe a day or two, or even more. It means not clicking the button and having my book appear in seconds. 

It is true that a visit to the bookstore involves a wait time of fifteen minutes. The challenge I encounter at the store is how to walk out with just one title. How can you purchase just one?

My Butterfly Reader. She visited all year. Several times a week, she hovered at my door. The request always the same. Could she pick a book out?

She fluttered around my books, pausing now and then to flip through a bin. My suggestions were usually ignored. She always left with a book, then came back a day or two later having read only a couple of pages. Such a challenge.

We talked all year: likes/dislikes, stamina, ways to choose a book, how amazing a specific title was. She shied away from fiction and chapter books. Not quite ready. I tried to ensure that there was no pressure on my part. She always came back

I had a few successes. She loved and read all of the Weird But True Outrageous Facts books by National Geographic Kids. I ran to the book store to get the whole series. Anything Titanic-related (that was skinny). Nonfiction books that provided lots of support. A graphic novel here and there. At the end of the year, she started reading from the You Choose: An Interactive Survival Adventure series. 

In the fall, she will be in fifth grade. I have one more year to find books that will capture her attention. 

"'Children!" the third raven exclaimed, exasperated now. "You are con-fused. Totally, utterly con-fused. As long as you are, you will never find out what you seek."
           -- In A Glass Grimmly, Adam Gidwitz

Did you notice the hyphenated con-fused? As I read In a Glass Grimmly, I stopped at this point. I liked that hyphen. I liked how the word enhanced the ravens' message: the need to accept yourself. This is a common theme in children's books.

By inserting that punctuation mark, the con- is forced to act like the prefix "with" and underscores the fused meaning of "together". (This is not the dictionary's origin of the word). I know I am now in geeky territory here. 

You get con-fused when you follow the crowd, try to fit in, or let others define who you are. A total focus on being part of a we or "with", blurs the lines of what you want and believe in. 

The word confused features several definitions. According to Merriam-Webster, it means to be "perplexed, bewildered" or "to lack clarity". The ravens are right, then. Validation and identity must come from within. If they do not, the consequence is remaining "mixed up" and lost.

The ravens hope to help out the main characters and offer their wise advice. But sometimes you are not ready.

"Jill said, "Do you know that they're talking about?"

'No idea," Jack replied.

Glancing up from my reading on the porch, I noticed a face looking at me. A tree face!  I saw two eyes, a triangular, lionesque nose and a downward-curved mouth. I tried several times to capture the full effect but, somehow, what was perceived failed to translate in a photo. The mouth proved invisible to behold.

I thought of the nasty trees from The Wizard of Oz.  And the Ents from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Oh!, then there is the talking tree from A Tale Dark and Grimm. How thrilling!

I resumed reading. I took my steadfast tree sentry as a sign that reading must continue on.

Last week I spoke with an eleven-year old who complained about having to do summer reading. The district where she goes to school required reading one mandatory title and then two choices off a list. She assured me she would definitely read the books -- if not happily.

When I ran into her again, I asked her how the reading was going. She excitedly told me how she read 20 pages one day, 30 the next, and how she had just covered another 50 pages. Since she had read the 50, that meant she did not have to read anything today and tomorrow she would have to read only 15.

I asked her "What about the story? Do you like it?" She shrugged. 

"Are there any interesting characters?" I continued.

"I don't know."

"Well, were there any parts that you really remembered?"

"No, nothing really."

Summer reading.

I like how Katie Doherty Czerwinski focuses on the importance of Book Choice in her book Join the Club! Bringing Book Clubs into Middle School Classrooms.

One of the stumbling blocks I have encountered in the past is when logistics dictated that someone had to read a title that was not their first choice. This happened sometimes because of group size or an insufficient number of copies. There would be a student, here or there, that refused to read anything except that first choice.

These Obdurate Ones opted out of participating or contributed minimally to their group. They missed out on conversations, collaborations and the possible/ potential encounter with an amazing text. Yet they stood their ground. From those experiences long ago, I learned to make sure a classroom teacher had enough copies.

Part of me, deep down, acknowledged that need for choice.  It is strange but Czerwinski's experiences about Book CLub book choice were nearly identical to mine. Although a member of two fabulous Books Clubs, the contrarian in me internally rails against having to read something I did not choose. Choice is important.

I mentioned being brave in my first post (of 2013). I decided to blog again after a long-absence. 

I find blogging scary. You are out there. So, I decided that I would slide into it. I'd write about reading and learning and teaching. It is easier to write about things you are passionate about. Even if the entries were just for me. 

Then, I decided to Twitter. I kept reading about how it opens up a whole new world for educators. Once, again, I opted to just dip my toe in. I knew about Donalyn Miller's (Book Whisperer) #Bookaday Challenge: reading a book every day (or somewhat close to it) during the summer break. I figured I would start out Twitter doing the #bookaday. It has only been less than a week. I find it overwhelming. I keep googling questions on how to do things there. 

These are learning experiences, I tell myself. My teacher voice tells me that this is the important part: the process. This is what I tell my students: it will get easier.