1. Why Do Our Kids Hate to Read?
Do you ever wonder about the kind of leaders today's youth will make? I think about this a lot,
because I teach reading to striving high school students. I recently asked my students what they
knew about Martin Luther King. These are some of the actual responses my 9th - 12th grade
students offered:
"Wasn't he a president or something?"
"He was the guy who freed the slaves."
"Never heard of him."
Scary, isn't it? It makes you wonder how a child can celebrate January 15 (Martin Luther King Jr.
Day) every year and not know who the man was!! This is my first year teaching reading at the high
school level, and I am appalled by the paucity of background information my students possess. I
know they have attended school all these years, and they have been given lessons to build their store
of knowledge and understanding in many content areas, so it makes me question where all that
information went to?
My guess is that because we have geared teaching to passing high-stakes tests each year, a lot of
content has been covered, but deep learning has not occurred. Deep learning comes with reading,
thinking about what is read, talking about the text, sharing ideas, and applying new knowledge in
ways to extend the learning. All of that takes time, and with the annual tests looming from day one of
the school year, teachers are acutely aware of the amount of information that must be covered
before testing day arrives. They know they don't have the luxury of time to spend teaching any one
subject deeply. Students learn strategies for passing the test, but do not make connections to the
content of the text or adopt the new knowledge that we intend for them to acquire. It also
discourages reading for enjoyment.
