Survey: "A Long Way Gone"

The survey revealed A Long Way Gone as the most popular book. Avid readers already mentioned Twilight and Harry Potter and few others. However, reluctant readers only mentioned just this one book. These are students who wouldn’t bother going to any library or bookstore. I knew them very well but I underestimated the effect of a ‘right’ book. I thought some of these students were not willing to view themselves as readers and some of them often already explicitly expressed, “I don’t like reading.”

My classroom is filled with books left behind by a former Language Arts teacher. I left Gallaudet University for a high school teaching position and I wasn’t really paying attention to the idea of ‘young adult literature.’ Too many of my classroom books have adult protagonists.

I bought Speak, written by Laurie Halse Anderson because I wanted to start a collection of young adult literature for my classroom. My older sister, also a reluctant reader, stopped by for a visit and saw this book on the kitchen table. I watched and waited for few minutes because she normally will quit reading after a page or two. However, she continued reading and made some positive comments. She asked if she could borrow and read it. I was so thrilled to see such a quality selection that has appealed her.

I am beginning to understand how my students would respond better with adolescent protagonists. I started exploring some similar selections that they would want to respond, There’s one interesting website Penguin dedicated for young adults: http://www.pointofviewbooks.com/.

I reviewed the questioning technique in the textbook and I decided to modify my questioning approach. Since these reluctant readers often struggle with comprehension breakdowns, I often posed questions to check comprehension. I decided to try using reader-response approach and they asked, “Are you asking me for my opinions?” I was a bit worried that they would take advantage writing their opinions without really clarifying what they read. So I decided to ask them to support their responses with some ideas from the book. They got busy thinking about their responses while they worked together to clarify what they read so they can write more meaningfully. Two students came to me and they said they liked with the way I adjusted my questioning approach.