Three Beliefs About Students and Reading

1.    The more students read, the better off they will be.

(Research shows beyond all doubt that reading is best learned through reading—and that reading is the key to education and to developing the language skills so essential in today’s world, where verbal rather than manual skills are the means to success.

    While reading is the key, students in poor homes don’t have much to read.  A recent study at the University of Michigan found that the single strongest predictor for a child’s future reading ability is the number of books in the home. In middle-income neighborhoods, there are 13 books for every child; in low-income neighborhoods, there is just 1 book for every 300 children!

    At-risk students suffering from major print deprivation in their lives need a major print transfusion to start becoming healthy and literate. They require far more than a few scattered readings that may not speak to their lives and may be accompanied by worksheets or other uninspired assignments. They need to experience entire books with stories that carry readers along, making the act of reading a pleasure and not a chore, and at the same time teaching countless things about the nature of language. It is by processing a great many words in acts of sustained reading that one develops one’s ability to use words well—whether as a reader, writer, listener, speaker, or thinker. I could cite a ton of research which all supports one overwhelming fact: Extensive reading for pleasure is the surest way for students to develop their language skills.)

2.    To get students to read, give them books they will want to read.

(I have heard more stories than I can remember of school systems that have purchased books they think their students should read rather than books their students will read. Those books sit largely unused on dusty shelves. I remember being asked to read A Tale of Two Cities in high school; I didn’t want to read it, and bought a classic comic book instead to do a required book report. That was many years ago, but even today otherwise well-meaning educators ask students to read books that are not about their lives and their worlds. If readiness is all, most students are not ready for the likes of A Tale of Two Cities. And few students are going to discover the pleasure of reading if they are forced to read material that doesn’t appeal to them.)

3.  Every student has the right to experience the pride and dignity of owning his/her own books.

(Self-evident. There are countless stories of teachers who so strongly believe this that they use their own money to buy books for students. Within realistic limits, TP gives away free paperbacks to organizations that then distribute those books to underserved students.)