Annie Cherry's September Blog Post 2: The Pleasure Principle, Nancy Atwell (Instructor, Jan/ Feb. 2007)

The critical question that I immediately was drawn to in this article was "Why does so much of what goes on in the name of teaching reading prevent kids from experiencing the satisfaction of books?"  

Isn't the goal of teaching children to read that we create lifelong critical readers?  If we take every ounce of joy out of reading, we have no hope of creating true readers.  In order to inspire a love of reading, we have to allow children freedom in choosing their own texts.  We need to learn to let go of what traditional reading instruction has always looked like in our classrooms.  If a child can read a book and talk to you about what they have read, then they comprehend it!  It's simple!  I agree with Atwell that the idea of feeling like we need to offer rewards for reading is unnecessary.  Reading itself is. and should be, the reward if we allow them to choose a book that they enjoy. 

Our constant need to test students on reading is not a way to encourage lifelong readers either! The need to assess a student on every aspect of a book is antiquated.  We need to reevaluate the way that we assess how well a student is reading and comprehending.  While I understand that we need assessments, I don't think that a required AR test on each book is necessary,  nor is it necessary to have a child write about each book that they read.  Creating an approach where a teacher can conference with each child on their reading provides an opportunity for authentic, individualized assessments.  We can easily and quickly know if a child is grasping what they are reading or if we need to guide them towards a different "level" of text.

As a mother of a child approaching elementary school age, I certainly hope that we learn that we must adapt quickly or we are not going to develop true lifelong readers. As an educator, I am working on providing more opportunities for reading, just for reading's sake.  I am not requiring AR tests simply because a child has chosen an AR book.  I am not asking the children to write about everything that we read.  I am simply trying to find times to conference with the children about their choice of book to assess if they are comprehending what they are reading and what strategies we need to work on so that they can improve their comprehension.  I feel like I am making progress, but, throughout this course, I am certain that I will continue to see areas that require improvement.