as readers. We observe regular education and special education students who express various attitudes
and abilities toward reading. Based on our observations we have noticed that while there are some
students who struggle with the mechanics of reading, there are many others who seem to have adopted a
lack of curiosity and interest. They can read, yet they are not curious nor do they express an interest in
reading. Some of our students express that they do read, just not what is assigned in class. Despite these
observations, many factors restrain the amount of attention we can give to these students. We teach from
40 to 160 students each day. Time and administrative obligations besiege us, as they do most teachers.
Besides, this is high school, right? We are not there to teach reading, are we? Yet, like many teachers, we
feel an urgency to address the literacy needs of our students, no matter their reading level. Despite all of
our schools having some sort of structured study hall that includes academic expectations and time for
student reading, each of us can attest to the Herculean obstacles that we encounter in attempting to
motivate students to choose to use this structured time reading.
What Teachers Can Do
When schools do not value and provide for the kinds of literacies that adolescent readers value and
seek, teens tend to avoid reading, and the lack of reading practice and growth results in the kinds of
responses referenced at the beginning of this article. As teachers, do we give up or keep seeking ways to
“hook” kids into reading? Hands down, we keep trying! Happily, there are ways to address this lack of
motivation that will not only raise test scores but will also make time spent in school more meaningful and
enjoyable for middle and high school students. The following are a few ideas that we have tried and found
to be helpful for generating interest in reading for our high school students.
Importance of Choice
A primary guiding principle for motivating teen readers is to provide plenty of opportunity to
choose what to read. “Students read more when they can choose their reading materials” (Routman, 2003,
p. 97). Secondary students routinely ask for a voice when decisions are being made about what they wear
to school, what kinds of lunches will be served, and what rules will govern their behavior. It comes as no
surprise, then, that teens also regularly request, when they are asked, a say in determining what they read
in school. Adolescents have made it abundantly clear that when schools disenfranchise them academically,
schools lose the participation and engagement they claim to crave. Too often, when their curiosity and
interest is abandoned or neglected, “students disengage from active participation in the academic life of
the classroom because there is little satisfaction to be gained from it” (Vacca & Vacca, 2008, p. 188).
Providing choice in reading assignments, more often than not, can be a catalyst for addressing reading
apathy and resistance and also demonstrates respect for students and for the literacies that are important
to them. In order for adolescents to grow as readers, they have to connect with texts that are meaningful
to them (Elish-Piper & Tatum, 2006).
Literature Circles
A literature circle, or book club, is an approach to learning literature that provides students with the
opportunities to make choices, to learn in the society of their
peers, and “to take ownership of their learning” (Brabham & Villaume, 2000, p. 278). Literature circles is a
student-centered classroom activity where small groups of students read the same book, respond to the
literature in various ways, and engage in discussions about their understanding of the book. Within the
context of a literature circle students go beyond memorizing answers to teachers’ questions in order to test
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