reluctant high school reader

[carol]

My son reads at average but reads slow and has never really enjoyed reading~I know in high school reading really kicks up and I also know if the story has a long plot he gets lost before the book gets moving~any ideas~I thought reading off of a kindle could be fun and encouraging but just figuring out how to get him to enjoy reading so he reads more and improves his speed is a big hurdle any thoughts? Thanks

[Lori D.]

Being very selective in what Great Books you have DS read is one option. Is he science/tech oriented? Then try Classic works of sci-fi. (Farenheit 451; Nineteen-Eighty-Four; Brave New World...) Is he an outdoors/adventure kind of guy? Then go with epics and outdoor action. (The Odyssey; Beowulf; Huckleberry Finn; Old Man and the Sea...) Does he like animals? (Call of the Wild...)

 

Listening to Classic Literature as books on tape is an option. We have done a lot of our Literature out loud together "popcorn" style ("you read a page, I read a page"), or take parts if we read a play. Either way (books-on-tape or family read-aloud), the benefits include stopping and explaining as needed; learning vocabulary in context; discussing in the midst.

 

To keep everything straight: One idea is to watch a (faithful!!) movie version before reading the work to go into the reading with familiarity. Also, as you read the first part of the work, together make a chart or a list, or write a short summary of each chapter to help keep the characters and plot straight. Perhaps try annotating as you read -- the Literature program Windows to the World (see sample pages here) teaches annotation with short stories, with the goal of using those annotations later on as your specific examples and support in a literary analysis essay on the work.

 

Another use of movies: use them for springboard into compare/contrast discussion with the book. Keeps you more engaged in the reading if you are looking as you read for things to compare with the movie.

 

And watch plays rather than read them -- that's how they were *meant* to be enjoyed.

 

Try starting with short stories and novellas and work your way up longer works.

 

Also, try starting with more modern works, written with sentence structure and vocabulary that will be easy to understand, and then work your way towards older works or foreign works with more complex structures, vocabulary, culture and concepts.

 

And -- just read at HIS pace! The Literature is NOT about quantity, but about *engaging* with the work -- entering the "Great Conversation" with the Great Books. And if he's a slower reader -- no problem! Just continue through the summer.

 

Finally, check out this past thread for possibly more ideas that might help. Enjoy your Literature journey with your DS! :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited July 9, 2011 by Lori D.

[Kendall]

This might be completely irrelevant but it is typed up so I'll post it.

 

I just read 2 books by Cris Tovani that have been very helpful:

 

I Read It, But I Don't Get It

Do I Really Have to Teach Reading

 

I don't have time to summarize them well, but I think you might get some ideas from them. Both books talk about high school students and maybe junior high as well. Many comprehension books have only examples about grade school children. While these books deal with comprehension, they cover beyond what I would have thought was meant by comprehension. My oldest who has fabulous comprehension would have benefitted from learning some of the things in the book. The books have given me ideas for assessment(assessment that informs teaching is her phrase) that make so much more sense for how I school. I also gained ideas for "output" throughout the reading of a book, as well as ideas for struggling readers (struggling in many different ways). I loved her comment about deciding to teach the reader and not the reading. It was just what I had decided and was meaning in my thread about planning by skills rather than content. I also came away with the strong conviction that I need to be modeling more. Some of my kids can be “thrown in” and manage fine, at least one of mine needs much more modeling.

 

I am a good reader and didn’t realize that some kids need to be taught specifically how to do the things I do naturally. Even some kids in a home like mine where reading is highly valued and required.

 

This summer I have been going to the local university library to hide from my children so that I can plan their school for the year. I stumbled across these books while I was there. Both books are fairly short. I haven't put anything into practice yet as we aren't schooling right now, but I wish I had done some of these things with all of my children. We’ll see how things go this school year.

 

One more random thought – Charlotte Mason methods came to mind several times while reading the books.

 

I’m really tired, sorry for the very poor review with no application to your question.

[JennW in SoCal]

One other idea -- audio books. Your ds can just listen or read along while listening, or you both can listen together. It is especially wonderful for older books as a good narrator makes the vocabulary and sentence structure sound natural. We listen to books in the car, while working on jigsaw puzzles or sometimes just sitting around the living room.

 

Audible.com seems to have most everything in downloadable format and you can listen to a sample before purchasing. Actually, make sure to listen to a sample as every once and a while there is a lousy narrator. Our library system has books on tape, on cd and even downloadable books.

[Lori D.]

I Read It, But I Don't Get It

Do I Really Have to Teach Reading

 

... I am a good reader and didn’t realize that some kids need to be taught specifically how to do the things I do naturally.

 

 

An excellent thought and worth pursuing! Another thought: might your student have an eye tracking or vision processing issue that makes reading difficult, slow and not pleasant for him? Might also be worth checking out...

[Beth in Mint Hill]

Just a little encouragement for those of you with reluctant students. When my sons were in homeschool they were very reluctant to study to varying degrees, but I will just use my middle son as an example. He was dyslexic, couldn't read until 3rd grade and didn't seem to be the least bit interested in being a reader.

 

I would try all sorts of things to get him to read more, because I thought that without lots of practice he wouldn't become a good reader! But it was hard. We did read aloud lots, and he loved this as long as he could have legos in his hand. Turned out that he actually did retain loads of what I thought he wasn't listening to. Much to my surprise he would remember the story a lot better than I did.

 

Then when he was in middle school we gave him The Lord of the Rings, and he disappeared into his bedroom and came out a week later having read all 3 books. He read them a few times over the years, and he read the minimum of the things I would assign. Classics like The Iliad. At least he would read parts, but he was so busy!

 

I just thought he wasn't going to be a "reader." But after he graduated he suddenly had a desire to read all the great books he possibly could. He took a whole box of them to Afghanistan when he was in the Army. He fell in love with Jane Austen, Homer, Sir Conan Doyle, Dostoevsky , etc. etc.

 

Now he is in college making straight As. Prefers to read instead of going to movies, etc. So, no, he doesn't read as much or as deeply as a couple of us in the family do, but he still reads well and often and enjoys it--even though I never could get him to read a lot when he was young.

 

I think the best thing that improved his reading ability was great conversation, listening to good literature, and being required to be thoughtful about things and take time to think things through.

 

Fwiw!