Using Reading Workshop to Inspire Lifelong ReadersAuthor(s): Julie LauséSource: The English Journal, Vol. 93, No. 5, Secondary Readers Reading Successfully (May,2004), pp. 24-30Published by: National Council of Teachers of EnglishStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4128931Accessed: 02/09/2009 11:48

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available athttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unlessyou have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and youmay use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.

Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained athttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ncte.

Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printedpage of such transmission.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with thescholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform thatpromotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

National Council of Teachers of English is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access toThe English Journal.

http://www.jstor.org

SECONDARY READERS READING SUCCESSFULLY

Julie Laus6

Using Reading Workshop to Inspire Lifelong Readers

Inspired by Nancie Atwell's work, high school teacher Julie Lause designed a curriculum that, in her

words, "has transformed our students and our school." Students' reading speed, comprehension, and motivation increase as a result of this program that combines choice and challenge.

Our high school students, like their peers around

the nation, had stopped enjoying reading after

fourth grade; after

that, reading was

strictly an academic

exercise-BORing.

"C ompletely morphing into a daily reader is some kind of English class

miracle," one ninth-grade student wrote in her final self-evaluation.

"I'm really proud of that." She's not the only one who's

proud; I'm her English teacher, and students haven't al-

ways said this. In my first years as a high school teacher, I tried everything to get students to do their required reading: I gave daily quizzes on the thirty-five pages assigned the night before. I battled complaints of "I hate this book" or "1984 was so BORing!" I used ac- tive learning techniques, paid attention to Gardner's

multiple intelligences, assigned creative projects, fa- cilitated student-led discussions. I did vocabulary drills and grammar lessons and corrected paper after paper

with the same spelling mis- takes. At the end of every year, I thought about what stu- dents had learned, and every year I could say confidently that most of them could dis- cuss the main themes in each of the texts we had read.

But they never became better readers. I never saw any

improvement in the way they discussed a book and its ideas. They knew what was inside the books, but they were not any more interested in reading, literature, or the expression of ideas than they had been at the be-

ginning of the year. I was trying to instill a love of good literature in students who didn't even love reading.

And they were not good readers to start with. Instead of guiding them through the ideas in litera-

ture, I was helping them translate the book. We

rarely discussed the meaning because we were so busy trying to figure out the plot. Our high school stu-

dents, like their peers around the nation, had stopped enjoying reading after fourth grade; after that, read-

ing was strictly an academic exercise-BORing. It was depressing. Nancie Atwell states in her

groundbreaking In the Middle, "For me one of the worst things about teaching literature in the old way was the loneliness. I'll never forget what it was like to stand by myself at the front of the classroom, rephrasing a question about the selection from the

literary anthology again and again for a group of

bored, polite kids, and praying that someone would come up with the right answer" (50).

Like Nancie Atwell, I was lonely at the front of the room. In the Middle helped me create a high school reading and writing workshop curriculum that has transformed our students and our school. Atwell's curriculum was designed for middle graders, but at our school it has had a dramatic effect on tenth-grade students and, more recently, ninth graders. It works. Four years of research in my classroom at one small school have convinced me that it could work any- where, with any number of students, at any grade or

ability level. In this article, I describe only the read-

ing workshop part of our curriculum.

Research and the Reading Teacher

Stephen Krashen concluded from his review of stud- ies related to reading that readers do not learn to read better by doing vocabulary drills, grammar exercises,

24 English Journal Vol. 93, No. 5 May 2004

Julie Laus6

or comprehension activities. Readers develop by read-

ing. "We have confused cause and effect," Krashen writes in The Power of Reading. "We have assumed that we first learn language 'skills' and then apply these skills to reading and writing. But that is not the way the human brain works. Rather, reading for mean-

ing, reading about things that matter to us, is the cause of literate language development" (85).

Nancie Atwell agrees. She designed reading workshop around the principle that reading should be as meaningful for students as it is for adults who

enjoy reading.

My students taught me that they loved to read. They showed me that in-school reading, like in- school writing, could actually do something for them; that the ability to read for pleasure and per- sonal meaning, like writing ability, is not a gift or a talent. It comes with the ability to choose, books to choose among, time to read, and a teacher who is a reader. Finally, I learned that selecting one's own books and reading them in school is not a luxury. It is the wellspring of student literacy and literary appreciation. (34)

Selecting and reading books in school should not be a luxury, but it certainly feels like it to stu- dents accustomed to traditional English classes. One student reports, "When we started this class, I was

very disappointed and worried to find out that we would have to read for forty-five minutes a night. Then, when I found out that we were able to pick out which books we would like to read, I relaxed."

When I implemented the reading workshop in our tenth-grade English curriculum, I knew I was

teaching what I believed in. Rather than focusing solely on the content of the text, I was instilling skills that would carry through the students' lives, and they loved it. I also learned more than I ever

thought I would about teaching reading and how

struggling readers turn into successful readers. With this approach, the students progressed so far by the end of the year that I could easily see how signifi- cant the class had been for them.

What Reading Workshop Looks Like Our reading workshop curriculum enables students to become lifelong readers by combining the study of classic literature with free-choice reading that builds their reading skills. The faculty want students

to study the classics and to engage in whole-class dis- cussions of a collection of books, so we have modi- fied the free-choice reading program that Atwell

developed. Required texts unify the class and allow us to discuss and write about great literature.

On the first day of school, I assign the home- work for the rest of the year: Read for forty-five min- utes each night. Of course, students will write at home as well, but reading for forty- five minutes a night, five nights a week, is the backbone of the

English curriculum. A student writes, "I have progressed a long way as a reader this year, and I did so because of the forty-five minute a night reading system. My reading speed and my reading comprehension have improved greatly. I have progressed as a reader to the point where I read for fun, not for any teachers."

There is some teacher direction, though: We all begin with the same book, and students read unin- terrupted for forty-five minutes during the first in- class reading workshop so that I can find out how many pages each student can read in that amount of time. I multiply that number times six (five nights of reading and one reading workshop a week) to de- termine the number of pages each child should read each week. This breaks from tradi- tional English classes where all students are asked to read

thirty-five pages a night (which takes some students an hour and some students two hours). Students also have some flexi-

bility with their schedule: Homework is checked

every Monday when we read together as a class so, if

they are unable to complete their reading one night, they can make up time on the weekend.

If a student has not completed the reading within ten pages of his or her requirement that week, the student's reading grade drops 10 percent (there are ten weeks in the quarter). I have found that the informal assessment of looking over a reader's shoul- der to record the page number is the best way to learn how many pages he or she has read. It is ex-

tremely difficult for students to pretend to read in the

wrong place in the book if, for instance, they wanted to indicate that they had read more than they actually

Rather than focusing solely on the content of the text, I was instilling skills that would carry through the students' lives, and they loved it.

I have found that the informal assessment of

looking over a reader's shoulder to record the

page number is the best

way to learn how many pages he or she has read.

English Journal 25

Using Reading Workshop to Inspire Lifelong Readers

I used to think the seven required texts I

taught each year were challenging enough, but when I started teaching

workshop reading, I discovered that students

are capable of reading much more.

had. At some point, they will have to catch up with their own lie in their weekly reading. But watch-

ing students as they read not

only reveals whether they have done their homework, it also

gives me a chance to be pres- ent during the reading pro- cess. This provides access to so much information about the readers: Do they read for one

page and then daydream? Are

they sitting comfortably, or are they struggling with every

word? Success in the class does not depend on being a good reader to start with; it is about getting to be a better reader. Every student is challenged by this principle.

The teacher must be a resource, a supportive cheerleader, who puts

books into students' hands and keeps the

dialogue going.

Every Reader Deserves to Be Challenged I distribute our required books at the beginning of the year and assign a deadline for completion based on how long it will take the slowest reader to finish. Students in tenth-grade honors read Ordinary People, Jane Eyre, Crime and Punishment, Othello, A Lesson Be-

fore Dying, Things Fall Apart, 1984, and A Tale of Two Cities. Between required books, students continue

reading their own selections for forty-five minutes each night. I have never had a student read fewer than fifteen extra books in my class, and the upper end of the list has reached into the fifties. Re-

quired to read every night, stu- dents develop the habit of

reading, and most become ad- dicted to the practice. I used to think the seven re-

quired texts I taught each year were challenging enough, but when I started teaching workshop read-

ing, I discovered that students are capable of read-

ing much more. For free-choice books, students pick everything

from The Princess Diaries to Moby Dick. I encourage them to read more challenging books, depending on their reading skill and speed. Sometimes, losing yourself in Harry Potter or a third reading of The Giver is appropriate; sometimes, students need some- one to hand them The Secret Life of Bees or Icy Sparks because they do not know these contemporary adult

titles. Other students want to read every novel ever written by Hemingway (which a student actually achieved in my class two years ago) or every female Victorian novelist. Students read the Ender's Game series or the Narnia series. They discover an interest in World War II in history class and choose a book of memoirs to read in English. Developing the abil-

ity to choose what they like is key.

Readers as Choice-Makers

At first, students have difficulty choosing their

books-they don't know the genres available to choose from, and they aren't sure what books they will like. During the workshop, I talk to each one about how they are feeling about their progress, and I often pull books off the shelves in the room for them to try out. Talking about what they don't like in books helps develop their skills of choice and val- idates their reading experiences. "If we want our students to grow to appreciate literature," writes Atwell, "we need to give them a say in decisions about the literature they will read" (36). If teachers

just tell kids they should like 1984 orJane Eyre be- cause they are classics, students who do not like those books (for whatever reason, including that they are

just too hard) feel as if they are not entitled to par- ticipate in the experience of reading.

I used to think that if a student hated Jane Eyre, she or he just did not understand the book and, as the person who was supposed to bring them un-

derstanding, I was frustrated. But when students have permission to dislike a book, they become less vehement about it and begin to say things like, "I didn't like The Catcher in the Rye because I don't like books in the first person. I really like third-person narratives better." A wonderful point, and a won- derful thing to realize about oneself as a reader. As adult readers we allow ourselves to be choosy. Stu- dents, too, need permission to discriminate be- tween what they don't like and what they do. As one student writes, "I'm really happy with the self- definition I achieved this year. I now have a better idea of where I want to go with my reading and writing, which was just what I needed to begin high school." The enthusiasm generated by allowing stu- dents to read books of their choice drives the cur- riculum forward. By mid-October, students have lists of books that they want to read, and many are

26 May 2004

Julie Laus6

now frustrated by the lack of time to read all the books on their night table.

The best part of reading workshop is that stu- dents start naturally doing what adult readers do: They begin to want to read in a community. Atwell writes,

Opportunities for social interaction around litera- ture is another component of a reading workshop. Literary talk with a teacher and peers is crucial to kids' development as readers. . . . For too many stu- dents, sustained silent reading is just a pleasant study hall. When nothing happens before or after the reading, the context doesn't support or extend readers' interests or knowledge. (40)

The teacher must be a resource, a supportive cheerleader, who puts books into students' hands and keeps the dialogue going. One year, twelve students read Rebecca because one student raved about it. Often, two students will decide to read the same book so they can talk about it. I read dozens of books a year on the recommendation of students, and I love

getting to know them through the books they love and their passion for a subject, genre, or story.

I see students fall in love with literature and crave adult-like discussions about the meaning, mes-

sage, and implications of the text. We spend a lot of time teaching author's message, and this corresponds nicely to a writing workshop where students write in seven different genres. They learn to be authors as they learn that au- thors have messages. No longer do I hear "There's no message to this book-the author just wrote a

story." Students know from their own writing that they wouldn't bother to put all the time they do into writing unless they have

something to say, and they trust authors to deliver messages that

they can agree, disagree, or engage with.

Research from My Classroom

There is a compelling message from four years of data on ninth-

grade and tenth-grade classes where workshop reading was the

curriculum: The workshop works. At the beginning of the year, 65 percent of the students don't see them- selves as readers, and only 10 percent can articulate what makes a book enjoyable for them. At the end of the year, 95 percent of the students see themselves as readers, have a clear sense of their reading taste, and have a list of books that they want to read. The fol- lowing year, 76 percent of them are still reading for pleasure, most in a curriculum that does not incorpo- rate free-choice reading. On the other hand, only 40 percent of the students who did not have the work- shop reading curriculum are reading for pleasure.

The most exciting data are in students' im- provement in reading speed and comprehension. In the beginning of 2002, 14 percent of the students in ninth-grade English were reading fewer than fif- teen pages per session and struggling through every second of reading workshop. By the end of the year, only 2 percent of the class members were still in this category. Most students (44 percent) moved into the category of between thirty and thirty-five pages each session and went from struggling through every page to being interested in and excited about reading. While only 8 percent of the students were reading more than thirty-five pages per session at the beginning of the year, 28 percent were in this category at the end of the year. And while not one student read at the expert level-above fifty pages

1

Photograph by Steven R. Nickerson/Rocky Mountain News, January 12, 2004

English Journal 27

Using Reading Workshop to Inspire Lifelong Readers

per session-at the start of school, 10 percent were

reading at this level by May. As a participant in the process with students,

I know what struggles they face and how to help them through their struggles. Their individual sto- ries are the most compelling reason to move to a

reading workshop curriculum.

To bypass the larger comprehension issues, I

often start struggling readers on books they have read before and

loved or books that were favorite movies.

Struggling and reluctant readers often do not

understand that people like reading because it is

interesting; they think other readers are members of a club they cannot join.

Josh: Struggling Reader

Josh read under fifteen pages in a session. He could not sit still for a forty-five-minute period of struggling through his reading, and he lacked fluency. He read so

slowly that by the time he got to the end of a sen- tence he often forgot the begin- ning. Because he was spending so much time deciphering the words and sentences, he had a hard time grasping story, plot, main idea, and theme. Not sur-

prisingly, Josh was hostile about

reading and had figured out how to do well in school without

reading. "In the beginning of the year, I thought the worst part about reading was reading," he reported. He had a favorite book from middle school that he listed on his reading survey, and I suggested that he read this book early in the year. To bypass the larger comprehension issues, I often start struggling readers on books they have read before and loved or books that were favorite movies. I wanted Josh to develop fluency and attention span and to read as many books as pos-

sible, no matter what level. By starting with less-difficult books and moving up to longer books as his attention span grew, Josh read sixteen books that year, more than he had ever read before. The difference was prac- ticing reading by reading. "En-

glish class this year has changed me as a reader because now when I read, I read more and I get into the book more. I also read faster. It's like I have more reading 'stamina."'

Tara: Reluctant Reader

Reluctant readers are former struggling readers. Tara's reading speed was lower than average, under

twenty pages in forty-five minutes. She tried hard, despite learning issues, to like reading but never found books that she enjoyed enough to struggle through them. "This year started out pretty shaky in the reading department," Tara wrote. "It wasn't

something that I was interested in, but reading be- came more natural and wasn't so hard, especially when I started finding books that really interested me and kept me wanting to read." Tara could read short books that kept her attention and explore many genres to discover the books she liked. "I started to realize that the reason why I never read was because I could never find a book that I was interested in. It

finally clicked to me that there were people who wanted to read because they were interested in their book." Struggling and reluctant readers often do not understand that people like reading because it is in-

teresting; they think other readers are members of a club they cannot join. Tara abandoned at least ten books over the course of the year because, after read-

ing twenty pages, she wasn't engaged in the book. I

encourage students to abandon books they dislike

(except, of course, for the required books). This

power over their reading choices is often transfor- mative. Though Tara says she still doesn't think of herself as a reader ("I'll read when I'm told, or I have a book I'm really interested in."), she has had mean-

ingful experiences with books, she has felt the joy of

finishing a book, and she acknowledges the possibil- ity that a book could be interesting. Oh, and she read

twenty-two books (not counting the ones she aban- doned) in her search for the perfect book. She found it in John Grisham's The Pelican Brief.

Jennifer: Eager Reader

Eager readers like reading; they just don't want to be challenged by it. Their reading speed (between twenty and forty pages in forty-five minutes) can be inflated because they enjoy reading books that are simpler than their true reading level. They may be good at decoding, but they still have problems grasping the plot, theme, or significance of more- sophisticated books. Jennifer, like many eager readers, had reached her comfort level with books like The Princess Diaries, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and Holes, which she listed as her favorite books on her reading survey in September. As a ninth grader, she preferred books in the middle-school range because they were

28 May 2004

Julie Laus6

more approachable. Jennifer needed a challenge, books that would stretch her intellect but still be

approachable. Classics like Of Mice and Men get eager readers thinking positively about the term classic.

Longer young adult works like The Golden Compass and Tangerine get readers used to more sophisticated themes and length but possess comfortable YA qual- ities like fast-paced plot and characters who are easy to keep track of. I encourage students to take "breaks" with comfortable YA books between more sophisti- cated titles. Jennifer wrote,

As the year progressed, I began reading longer, more challenging books, such as Ordinary People. By the third quarter, my friend and I decided to read Gone with the Wind, which has 1024 pages. It took us the majority of the third quarter to read, but when I fin- ished the book, I really felt accomplished. I honestly didn't think I had the self-discipline, or interest, to read the entire book.

Eager readers will be frustrated by many characters and confusing plot twists, and students find success in

outlining the structure of their book or reading with a friend. Jennifer learned to enjoy classic literature and even surprised herself on a spring break trip with her

family. "Normally during a long car ride, I listen to music or watch a movie. This year, I finished The Bluest

Eye on the second day of my trip and I wanted to read

Beloved, the other book my teacher suggested for me to read." Using the telephone book, she located the nearest bookstore and found the book. "Before this

class, I would have read magazines while tanning, and even if I did finish reading a book, I wouldn't have

begged my mom to drive me twenty-two miles away." Jennifer now sees reading not only as a relaxing activ-

ity but also as a meaningful one. "I learned that I liked books that bring out lots of emotions and make you think about life."

Troy: Avid Reader

Avid readers love reading and move through books naturally. However, these students often are inclined to read in only one genre. They may not understand finer plot points in unfamiliar genres and often struggle with interpretation. They are used to plowing through books for the story alone and resist thinking deeply about literature. Troy was a natural reader who, in Sep- tember, admitted to me that he had not been honest

about his reading each week-he had been reading too much each night and was slipping behind in his other classes because of his passion for reading. Troy loved

fantasy series novels and could read fifty-five pages in a forty- five-minute session, quite fast for a ninth-grade student. "In the beginning of the year," he

wrote, "my reading territories were somewhat limited. My fa- vorite authors were Timothy Zahn (Star Wars), Orson Scott

Card, and J.R.R. Tolkien." Troy wanted to begin the

year with the first book in the Star Wars series (which he had read before), but I didn't allow this as he would have been tempted to finish the series before trying other books. Troy needed help moving from one genre to another, so I suggested he try another genre with distinct conventions. We talked about the structure of books and compared plot structure in mystery and fan-

tasy novels. Mysteries appealed to him because they are often published in a series like his beloved fantasy novels. "One major change from the beginning of this

year is that my favorite book is now The Godfather, which is the first real crime novel I read after Ms. Laus6

encouraged me to try new genres," he wrote. Students with Troy's reading patterns often see literature as a vehicle for a good plot. Troy and I discussed meaning contained within his choices, and he learned that read-

ing could be useful for deeper understanding of a sub-

ject. After studying the Renaissance in history class, he read Machiavelli's The Prince.

Eager readers will be frustrated by many characters and confusing plot twists, and students find success in outlining the structure of their book or reading with a friend.

Amy: Expert Reader

Expert readers are often neglected in an English class- room because we assume they are challenged by the

quality of the literature alone.

However, expert readers also need appropriate challenges. They need someone to hand them Crime and Punishment or Pride and Prejudice. If we do not give them meaty texts, they will gravitate to what- ever is available. That usually means Stephen King's and V. C. Andrews's novels, which have their merits but provide little challenge.

Amy was a fast reader, had favorite authors and

genres, and felt influenced and affected by books, but

Students with Troy's reading patterns often see literature as a vehicle for a good plot.

English Journal 29

Using Reading Workshop to Inspire Lifelong Readers

Often, expert readers feel

betrayed by English class because direct instruction

in reading annoys them.

she was reading far below her ability. Often, expert readers feel betrayed by English class because direct in- struction in reading annoys them. Amy found a way to challenge herself. "At the beginning of the year, I walked into the classroom each day ready to pass the class. By the end of the year, I walked into the class-

room each day ready to chal-

lenge myself. I started reading more difficult books while try- ing to go at a more rapid pace." Like the rest of us, expert read-

ers need community. I often read books that these students recommend so that we can discuss them to-

gether. Additionally, I move these readers to the clas- sics as soon as I can. Expert readers in my ninth-grade class last year chose Little Women, The Chosen, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Persuasion, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Awakening, Moby Dick, Catch-22, Great Expecta- tions, Madame Bovary, 1984, and contemporary gems like Bee Season, Five-Finger Discount, and Skinny Legs and All. Expert readers must be challenged to think deeply about their reading. Amy found a huge change this

year as she learned to read deeply: "This class has

taught me to observe things in life and extract the ideas and messages from them. I think differently now. I an-

alyze things in a more advanced manner than before.

It is about taking a deeper look, and I find myself ap- plying that policy to my everyday life."

Trade-Offs and Transformations

There are trade-offs in a reading/writing workshop curriculum. We don't go chapter by chapter anymore, but this gives us a chance to talk about the text as a whole when everyone has completed it; our discus- sions about literature have increased depth. We have less time for vocabulary drills, but students report that reading has increased their vocabulary. We may feel a sense of loss as we move from being the center of the classroom to the periphery. But when students'

reading and writing become the center of the class, their lives-and ours as teachers-are transformed.

Note All student quotations are taken from the 2002-03

End of the Year Portfolio Self-Reflection. All names are pseudonyms.

Works Cited Atwell, Nancie. In the Middle: New Understandings about

Writing, Reading, and Learning. 2nd ed. Portsmouth: Boynton/Cook, 1998.

Krashen, Stephen. The Power of Reading: Insights from the Re- search. Englewood: Libraries Unlimited, 1993.

Julie Lause teaches English and is the director of diversity and assistant to the Head of School at Metairie Park Country Day School in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is a recent graduate of the Bread Loaf School of English, where she met Nancie Atwell for the first time and was inspired to bring Atwell's In the Middle curriculum to high school students. email: julie lause@mpcds.com.

Program to Recognize Excellence in Student Literary Magazines

The deadline for submissions to NCTE's Program to Recognize Excellence in Student Literary Magazines (PRESLM) is July 1, 2004. This program recognizes student literary magazines in senior high, junior high, and middle schools. The National Association of Secondary School Principals has placed the program on its advisory list of national contests and activities for 2003-2004. Obtain the instruction/registration brochure from NCTE at http://www.ncte.org/about/awards/student; send an email to preslm@ncte.org; or call 800-369-6283, ext. 3608.

30 May 2004