Kelly Gallagher

This slim but powerful volume minces no words—Gallagher believes that our obsession with standardized testing is killing our students’ ability to read critically. His argument relies on both research-based empirical evidence and his personal experience as a high school language arts teacher.

While Gallagher’s blunt writing style (some might even call him melodramatic) could alienate some more genteel readers, he pours his passion onto the page, and there’s no denying his sincerity. show more But this is no mere polemic; Gallagher offers practical suggestions for improving reading instruction in meaningful and authentic ways. For example, he recommends that fully half of all reading that students do should be recreational—unassigned, unassessed, and chosen by the student him/herself. He acknowledges the value of fostering in students a sheer love of reading. Indeed, he insists that transforming students into independent readers—who actually ENJOY reading—is the only strategy that will help them succeed (a concept that is exquisite in its simplicity). Forget worksheets, standardized reading programs, isolated skill instruction, and decontextualized teaching. As Gallagher would say—be a teacher, not an assigner.

I’m eager to use this text the next time I teach my course in urban literacy. show less

The tl;dr version: Students need to have dedicated time during school (e.g. SSR) to read books of their own choosing in order to build a lifelong habit of reading and a positive identity as readers. Recreational reading is equally important as academic reading. With more difficult academic texts, teachers need to find the "sweet spot" between under- and over-teaching; "chopping" books up into too-small parts doesn't allow for reading "flow" to develop, but some guidance (e.g. framing) is show more necessary. Poorly designed tests with multiple choice questions elicit only shallow learning and don't encourage deep reading or the development of critical thinking and literary analysis skills.

Notes/quotes

Introduction
Readicide (noun): the systemic killing of the love of reading, often exacerbated by the inane, mind-numbing practices found in schools (p. 2)

Chapter 1

We are developing test-takers at the expense of readers. (7)

Multiple-choice test prep drives shallow teaching and learning (8)

Teaching to the test is not the problem. The problem occurs when we spend most of our time teaching to a shallow test. (12)

Skills that would make our students "expert citizens": creativity, common sense, wisdom, ethics, dedication, teamwork, honesty, hard work, knowing how to win and how to lose, a sense of fair play, and lifelong learning. (13)

Chapter 2

3 factors that contribute to readicide: (1) dearth of interesting reading materials in schools, (2) many schools have removed novels and other longer challenging works to provide teachers and students with more test prep time, (3) students are not doing enough reading in school. (29)

Reading consists of two factors: (1) being able to decode words on the page and (2) being able to connect the words you are reading with the prior knowledge you bring to the page. (34)

One of the casualties of this testing era seems to be the death of sustained silent reading (SSR)...eliminating SSR is wrong for three reasons: (1) SSR is actually a valuable investment in test prep, (2) SSR is necessary to allow students an opportunity to build their prior knowledge and background, (3) SSR provides many students with their only opportunity to develop a recreational reading habit. (42-44)

Do your students have access to interesting books? Do they have time to read? [Raise awareness with other faculty and admin of the importance of SSR; be the "discussion director" and bring it up at every meeting.] (51)

Instead of taking the students to the library, it is often much more effective to bring the library to the students [and create a "book flood" in the classroom]. (53)

Chapter 3 (Overteaching)

...we don't have students stop the films they watch every five minutes so they can discuss foreshadowing, developing themes, and the director's tone. Could it be that our students are turning off to great books because teachers are chopping the books up so much that achieving reading flow is impossible? Would you stay in a movie theater if the projectionist stopped the film 22 times? (61)

Setting test scores aside for a moment, isn't it our overall, long-term goal to produce graduates who become lifelong readers? (75)

Numerous studies have found the most powerful motivator that schools can offer to build lifelong readers is to provide students with time in the school day for free and voluntary reading (FVR). (75)

...the real value in reading literature is that it provides our students with imaginative rehearsals for the real world (Kenneth Burke, 1968) (79)

3 ingredients to building a reader: (1) they must have interesting books to read, (2) they must have time to read the books inside of school, (3) they must have a place to read their books. (84)

Chapter 4 (Underteaching)

Nancie Atwell, In the Middle: the teacher is the best reader/writer in the classroom and should be a mentor, a mediator, and a model. (90)

My job [as a teacher] is twofold: (1) to introduce my students to books that are a shade too hard for them and (2) use my expertise to help them navigate these texts in a way that brings value to their reading experience. (94)

To prevent readicide: recognize the importance of framing, remember the value found in second- and third-draft reading, adopt a "big chunk/little chunk" philosophy, find the metacognitive sweet spot (strategies good readers use, e.g. skim, slow down and reread, ask questions, use context clues, etc.). Don't lose sight of the 50/50 approach (half recreational reading, half academic)

Appendix A: 101 books my reluctant readers love to read
Appendix B: Book of the month form
Appendix C: One-pagers
References

Resources
http://edresearch.info/
https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/
Nancie Atwell, The Reading Zone, In the Middle show less

As an aspiring ELA teacher, there are many things I'm excited about and just as many that make me really nervous. I've felt a calling to teach English for some time now, as I want to genuinely help the youth of my community. I feel that there are many gifts I can give students, but none are more powerful than the ability to write effectively. As Gallagher says in the first chapter, we are witnessing a "literacy stampede" (3) like no other time in history. The amount of information show more surrounding us today is unnerving, and if you want to succeed, there's no choice but to jump in and run with it. At no other time has writing been so critical to success, and attaining the right tools is a must. As an ELA teacher, it's my responsibility to supply students with these tools, and my biggest question is where to even start. This is something I've been wrestling with since I made the decision to teach, and Kelly Gallagher has worked to alleviate my fears. I was introduced to his works this year, and I absolutely love them. Teaching Adolescent Writers is yet another in a series of solidly written books, and may prove to be the most beneficial of all. Like his other books that I've read, it's set up with chapters dedicated to certain topics. Within the chapters are information, prompts, examples of student and teacher writings, and most importantly variety of ways to approach each topic. This book is centered around six "pillars" that he feels that successful writing should be built upon: practice, modeling, reading other writers, choice, authentic purposes and audiences, and feedback (13). The book takes each pillar and suggests plans for how to approach them, ultimately creating better all-around writing. I read this book as part of a personal growth project in an ELA methods course and not only did it help me from the vantage point of a teacher, it made me a better writer as well. Gallagher is able to do something that most writers can't-create total clarity with simple ideas and language. This book is just further proof. show less

This book has changed the way I think about teaching literature, which has drastically altered my overall philosophy about teaching English. Some of the ideas are radical, especially if you have a traditional view of what high school English should look like. But, like I tell my students at the end of the year: when I was a junior in high school, I didn't read a single book that was assigned. The books weren't interesting and the accompanying work was a joke. That was 20 years ago, AND I'd show more always been a strong reader. If I hadn't been a strong reader, I probably would have stopped reading for fun that year. show less