Giving Students the Time and Tools to Read for Pleasure – Collaborize Classroom

This is a guest post/use case by Catlin Tucker who is an English teacher at Windsor High School and has worked in Sonoma County for nine years. She currently teaches 9th and 10th grade English and has previously taught 11th grade Advanced Placement English. She also teaches online college research writing courses through Axia College.

Catlin earned her B.A. in English Literature from the University of California, Los Angeles and her Single Subject English Credential and Education Masters from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her Masters in Education focused on creating and maintaining a safe space in the classroom to lower the affective filter and create a more supportive and effective learning environment.

She will be presenting workshops at the Good Teaching Conferences (via The California Teachers Association) in San Jose and Anahiem California in 2011.

Every parent knows that it’s almost impossible to make students read for “pleasure.”  Today’s students spend much of their free time “plugged in” (i.e. using cell phones/text messaging, playing video games, watching television, communicating on social networking websites, etc.) and are not inspired to read books as entertainment. They also do not discuss books/literature with their peer groups  and do not have access to (or seek out) book recommendations that interest them. This represents a sea change from previous generations, for whom reading was enjoyable, a way of escaping, filling idle time, a way to combat boredom, or to enter faraway worlds. As a result, the total number of students reading at or above grade level is low. To make matters worse, English classes often focus on classic literature that does not hold relevance for contemporary students.

In my own class, I used a tool called  Collaborize to develop a culture of reading, discussing literature, and sharing favorite titles and authors. Using this tool helped me begin an ongoing dialogue that values reading for pleasure and inspires students to explore new titles that might interest them. The students posted their favorite book titles,with a short description of the book and the type of reader who might enjoy that particular book. Then I encouraged students to bring their books in, and read them for a Silent Sustained Reading session each day. During Silent Sustained Reading, students could read anything they wanted to read, often recommended by their friends.

My results were noteworthy. The program inspired students to choose new titles for reading, engage in discussions about literature and spend more time reading outside of class. In school,  students are more engaged during SSR (Silent Sustained Reading) because they have access to book recommendations that really interest them.  As a result of our online discussion, more conversations are taking place between students before, during and after class. As the semester continues, students know they have a place to get recommendations and more students are coming prepared with their SSR books. An average of 2-3 more students per class have SSR books each day.  I think using Collaborize has created a culture in my class where discussing free reading titles is the norm.

As the students and I become more familiar with Collaborize, I’d like to use it  to facilitate an online book club, which provides a forum for informal discussions and analysis of a book (chosen by the students) that takes place outside of the classroom.  I also plan to use Collaborize to compliment a student directed Literature Circles Unit. During a unit like this, students are placed in small groups and allowed to choose a book to read and focus on. Discussion of plot, characters, themes, vocabulary, related projects, etc. could take place online, which ensures all members have an equal voice and saving time in the classroom.