Reading like you’ve joined Weight Watchers
So I am loving the NY Times’ current series on “The Future of Reading.” As a writer and a librarian, I find it comforting to know that others spend as much (and, in truth, a lot more) time as I do thinking about reading. I especially loved this piece by the novelist Susan Straight on the problems of the Accelerated Reader program, which tries to assign point values to books so that children can be free to choose what they want to read as long as they get to the right number of points (thanks to Lisa Von Drasek for the link).
It’s just like Weight Watchers. Eat what you want, just know that a cupcake isn’t going to get you to your goal as well as broccoli will. And, as I am sure countless people have succeeded in losing weight with weight watchers, I am sure Accelerated Reader has helped get many children to enjoy reading.
But unlike counting calories, reading and developing a love of reading are not so easily quantified. Every book speaks to every child somewhat differently, whispering all kinds of unknowable things in that silence that occurs when our minds get lost on a page. Sometimes those whispers seize a child and he or she can’t put the book down. Other times the whispers might as well be in Sanskrit. In fact, the strength of the connection can change from day to day. To assign a point value to this interaction seems not only risky to me (I love Harry Potter, but come on…34 points vs The Remains of the Day with 13?? The NIV-Bible Book of Exodus is only worth 5…and it’s classified under Religion-Christianity! ummm…it’s kind of a big book for the Jews too), it seems unnecessary.
I understand the desire for data to judge student progress and teacher performance and the overall efficacy of a school and a curriculum, but, assigning points to the books will have a chilling effect on free choice in reading. The points appear as a value judgment on a book’s worth and it cannot be denied that students will steer toward books with more points. Suddenly, the wonderful conversations about why a child likes a particular book vanish. It’s clear why. Some books are worth more than others.
So what’s the solution?
I don’t have all the answers, but it seems a start would be to engage with each every student about what they are reading and why they are readingĂ‚Â it. To ask questions about reading in the home, to be seen reading by our children and to emphasize that there is something wonderful about finding that book that you know is whispering right to you, to putting down that books that aren’t. The moment is far too sacred to reduce to the choice between a points, even if it makes a grown up’s job easier. There is no system that can replace a conversation about books.
