Quote:
Originally Posted by Yolina
I don't see why it would cause them to stop reading altogether? They are free to read other things that they like. Even if they are shown the film or a theatre production, I think that should be as well as reading the play not instead of. And what it teaches them is that you can't always do only the things you like doing, otherwise how are they ever going to cope in the workplace? Even if you like your job, there's always going to be parts of it that you don't enjoy doing... however, you have to.
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You and I know there are things we must do that we don't like, but for teens their world is more black and white, if they don't like this portion, they won't like any of it.
I've seen too many students that the only reading they do is in school and assigned to them. They aren't encouraged at home to read, and some are even discouraged, so there isn't a variety of reading material available to them at home. All their reading experiences are forced on them by teachers and they get the attitude of "I hate reading". They should really be thinking "I hate reading these/this", but it doesn't work that way in their mind.
I applaud teachers who take the initiative and search out new books to study that interest their students. Sometimes that means they study books/stories that are a little below their level, but have a high interest. I'm not saying to only teach those lower level books, but maybe as an intro into a harder book the next time.
I personally have helped teach "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas", which is technically for below high school level students, but works well with students that struggle to read, and really captures most boys interest. We taught this book to 15-19 year olds, and almost all were reading ahead and were asking about more books along the same lines. They also participated in discussions on the book and (mostly) did the assignments. We considered the book a great success.