“Kids need reading stamina”

Developing a reading culture at Nicholas Chamberlaine

Technology College

Why read?

Why books?

"Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body." Richard Steele

The ability to read is one of the strongest predictors of future success.

Although reading can be taught in a classroom,

it must be practised.

This slide and next: Are librarians really worth it? Available online at:http://www.ccsd.net/schools/watson/libraryresearch.html

When students voluntarily read, they practise and enforce what is taught in the classroom.

Michael Jordan can teach you to how to throw the perfect foul line shot, but if you don't ever practise the skill, his instruction is worthless.

OECD “Reading for Change” 2002 found that“Being more enthusiastic about reading and a frequent reader was more of an advantage, on its own, than having well-educated parents in good jobs”

“Finding ways to engage students in reading may be one of the most effective ways to leverage social change."

OECD (2002). Reading For Change: Results from PISA 2000, published by the Organisation For Economic Co-operation and Development.

Creativity and imagination

Culturalheritage

Language development

Emotional development

Increased self-esteem

Sustained concentration

Reading for pleasure =

“There is a strong association between the amount of reading for pleasure children reported and their reading achievement.”

Twist, L., Schagen, I. and Hodgson, C. (2007). Readers and Reading: National Report for England 2006. Slough: NFER

…doesn’t always have to be from books

Reading….

MSN

Bebo and Facebook

Websites

Magazines and comics

Newspapers

E-books

TXT messages

…are all forms of reading!

Why books?

“Books rule! You don’t have pictures to tell you how to imagine something, you can do it yourself! Books can do what no machines can, and probably never will. For example, time travel and they can take you to other dimensions! They are somewhere to go when you just want to escape the real world!” Dani, 13

"You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them." Ray Bradbury

The Rights of the Readerby Daniel Pennac1. The right not to read2. The right to skip3. The right not to finish a book4. The right to read it again5. The right to read anything6. The right to mistake a book for real life7. The right to read anywhere8. The right to dip in9. The right to read out loud10.The right to be quiet

Challenges at NCTC

Research skills lesson with Year 9…

The teacher said, “If you don’t behave I won’t let you use the computers. You will

have to use the books instead”.

“A significant number of boys would rather chew off their own right leg than confess to enjoying reading and writing.” Alan Gibbons

Lack of a reading cultureamongst some of our intake

Declining book issues from KS3 to KS5

Reluctance to reading,bordering on hostility

Time pressures: personal, pastoral and curricular

What does this mean?

Impact on all subjectsand exam courses

Problems with concentration and attention span

Lack of engagement with culture

Stalling of reading & literacy development

Lack of imagination and ideas

Year 7 Reading Profile 2005-2006

Class: All Girls % Boys % Totals %

Q1 What do you think about reading?  

Easy 51 40% 54 38% 105 39%

Love it 38 30% 15 10% 53 20%

Hard work 9 7% 11 8% 20 7%

Boring 41 32% 54 38% 95 35%

Interesting 45 35% 38 27% 83 31%

Slow 25 20% 21 15% 46 17%

Better things to do 44 34% 58 41% 102 38%

Important 29 23% 26 18% 55 20%

Other: 25

Year 7 Reading Profile 2005-2006

Q2. What do you choose to read by yourself? 10% said “Nothing”

Q5. Why do you read? 46% gave a negative answer

Q6. Do you have your own books or magazines at home? 7% said “No”

Students 2007-2008

Year 7 in September:

• 4 with a reading age below 6 years

• 14 from 6 years to 6 years 11 months

73 had a reading age of below 11 years

Year 11 in September:

• 9 below 9 years 11 months

50 had a reading age of below 14 years

“My general experience of dyslexic students who have difficulty reading is that the more they read the better they get. … Clearly once a dyslexic always a dyslexic, but practise makes (closer to) perfect. So the more practise of reading for pleasure the better.”

Martin Truckle, NCTC SENCO

We want to

raise achievement at NCTC

“The research evidence suggests that encouraging reading for pleasure could be a way of contributing towards raising educational standards and combating social exclusion.”

Clark, C and Akerman, R (2006). Social inclusion and reading: an exploration. National Literacy Trust

“Boys need to be led towards reflecting on what they have just learnt. Reticence to reflect is a fundamental gap in boys’ learning processes. Whole school support for reading initiatives (fiction) can significantly aid this process.”

Raising Boys' Achievement in LiteracyGary Wilson, Raising boys' achievement co-ordinator

So what could we do?

…about reading andchildren’s literature.

Students need to besurrounded by books…

…with staff who areenthusiastic and knowledgeable …

Extra-curricularactivities

Extra-curricularactivities

Pastoral timePastoral time

Yr 7 ReadingProgramme

Yr 7 ReadingProgramme

AtmosphereAtmosphere

Staffknowledge &

expertise

Staffknowledge &

expertise

High qualityresources

High qualityresources

LRCsupport

forreading

LRCsupport

forreading

Special Reading Initiatives 07/08

• Boys into Books • Booked Up • NCTC Book Week • Shadowing events ?

• National Year of Reading ?

Suggestions for NCTC

• “Intervention” sessions - Year 7 X5 & Y6

• Reading mentors – 6th Form, other years

• Positive attitude to books from staff

• Role models with reading

• Reading initiatives throughout the college as well as the LRC

• National activities e.g. NYR 2008

We need time for reading…

“…time spent reading independently interacts with students’ reading ability and has a positive impact on certain components of reading achievement.”

Samuels, S and Wu, Y (2003). How the amount of time spent on independent reading affects reading achievement: A response to the national reading panel

“Sustained reading to my mind is essential for developing a world they would want to

live in. The reading does not need to be fiction but I do believe that kids need

reading stamina. Just like you have to stick at anything and practice etc surely

you need to do the same with reading.” Ingrid Hopson SLYA 2007