Helping Students Gain Back the Joy of Reading: Tovani’s “I Read it, but I don’t get it”

     

        A Common misconception with students is that their level of reading reflects the students motivation for learning. Most students would like to understand what they are reading, but are often fatigued by the density of work. By aiding the students through the use of graphic organizers, thinking methods, and most importantly helping them discover the purpose in everything they read, they can then become fully equip for life-long reading with meaning. 

      Tovani studies student interest in reading through the use of class discussion. In the beginning of every writing class she prompts whole class discussion in where students can freely discuss likes and dislikes of reading. She found that much of the problem wasn't the students ability to read or time restrains, it was the students level of comprehension to the text. She found that the comprehension becomes compromised when the student does not find the real purpose for reading. Within this discussion she found that students will spend hours reading sports articles or glamour magazines because they enjoyed what they were reading and found it applicable to their everyday life. This should also true for readings within the classroom.

      If teachers can connect purpose with every assigned reading, students can then gain a deeper understanding for reading. Most students will admit that a lot of the reading in class does not feel connected to their real lives, as Tovani states, " We were all at one point a master of fake reading". With all of the literature out there we as mentors should be able to adapt some kind of real world aspect into a purposeful reading. In most cases reading has lost its purpose and pleasure for students and has morphed into this horrid assigned reading. In order for students to find pleasure in what they read they must also find purpose. Although this all may sound repetitive, it is important to realize that these two things are very well tied together. 

      As a teacher I will help my students always have a purpose for reading. I will clearly communicate this purpose in the classroom before every reading. I will also try to model what purposeful reading should look like, for example if I am reading aloud I will pause between ideas and thoughts and state them to the classroom. Modeling good thinking practices will help my students understand that good reading takes time and thought. There are many great tips and ques for aiding student reading within this book that I could not write enough about, but one good suggestion that I've heard my professor Dr. Agriss say is, " We should always be writing while reading, I never read without a pen in my hand". This is very true. Reading is a thought process and although our brain is very powerful, we simply do not have the ability to make complete productive mental notes that we can look back on for progress.