Engaging Adolescent Readers

by Margaret L. Blevins, Reading Specialist, West Union High School

What I know about adolescent literacy learners comes from experience--personal experience as a former adolescent learner myself, as a mother of two recent adolescent learners, and as a teacher of adolescent learners for over 35 years. I believe today's adolescent learners are not very different from the adolescent learners of my day or of my children's day: They still require motivation, time, and ownership. The world in which today's learners live, however, is much faster, offers many more diversions, and certainly requires more high-stake assessments than my world did.

Adolescent learners, for the most part, are looking forward to being drivers and to being 18. They are beginning to make decisions for themselves, and we parents and teachers hope we have taught them enough basics to help them make wise decisions. By this time, learners like to choose or at least have some say in what and when they read and write. They do read and write, by the way, whenever they wish or feel the need to do so. They have long known the value and power of being able to read and write, but they often see these skills in the same category as riding a bike: They all want to learn, and most do learn to some degree of proficiency; but as they get older, those skills seem to go out of vogue. They are all veterans of various literacy campaigns. Some of them hold outstanding commendations and few scars from these campaigns, while others hold no commendations and are so scarred that they have given up. These learners concluded long ago through their diverse learning experiences that they are "incompetent" or just plain "losers." How sad! And what's sadder is that once this mind-set is in place, educators and parents have great difficulty changing it.

Although adolescent learners recognize the power and importance of reading, they often spend little time reading. Unless the home, the school, and the community respect and support reading, it will not flourish. Oh, these learners may be able to read, but they will not use that skill anymore than they need. I remember being an avid adolescent reader, but then I was not influenced by distractions like 90 channels of television 24-7, cell phones, Internet, email, my own car, and an after-school job away from home. I wonder how much I would have read had I had the advantages, or disadvantages, of such conveniences. All of us who enjoy reading know that our reading is often limited by the time we have to read and by the conditions and circumstances of that time.

It seems essential to me, then, that adolescent learners need time at school where the diversions are greatly reduced, time when reading and writing are sanctioned and acceptable socially, the "in" thing to do. As well, they need extensive, diverse reading selections that are appropriate for them to choose from. And they need browsing time--time to sample the merchandise so to speak. They can accept limited choices as long as they have some choice. So when adolescents are taking time choosing a book or magazine, often they are not wasting time. And if they come to me the next day or so and want to change, I let them do so. This is not unreasonable. We grown-ups often do the same thing.

Above all, I think teachers and parents should be very hesitant about assigning one book per child without allowing the child some say in the matter. I remember an eighth grade teacher who once assigned each student in my class a different book to read. I was assigned The Borrowers by Mary Norton, and I could not get into that book no matter how hard I tried. And I was an avid reader! At that time, miniature characters did not interest me. I was into real characters my age with my kind of problems and interests. So I read just enough to fake a mediocre report. Years later, I read Norton's books, as well as works by Lewis Carroll and Kenneth Grahame, and enjoyed them, but I read them because I chose to do so and I was ready for miniature characters. My children and my students have been the same way. They approach self-selected books with far more tolerance than teacher-selected ones.

In addition, students need to talk about and share what they read. Sharing helps to clarify and make sense of what is read, and it sparks interest. When I was a junior in high school, I had an American history teacher who told the class we could read historical fiction for extra points. I was one of two or three students who took advantage of this offer even though I already had the highest average in the class. I learned to love historical fiction and still do today. Sadly, that teacher never asked me to share anything about the historical events or persons on which those books were based. Oh, how I would have enjoyed that! And my sharing might have sparked others' interest in reading historical fiction.

On the other hand, my school librarian was also into historical fiction. She kept a private shelf in the library office. As a library club member, I was cleaning the office one day when I discovered that shelf, and one day the librarian caught me browsing through one of the books. You know--read the jacket cover inside and out, skim the first chapter, and then skim or read the last three or four pages. Knowing that I had read most of the fiction choices on our high school shelves, she said, "If you want, I'll let you read that book, but you must promise not to let anything in there sway you in any way." Of course I wanted to read the book! What was there in that book that might "sway me"? And she would sometimes talk to me about the books' plots, characters, and themes. I learned to think about what I read and to make connections from what I read. I began to make notes, to copy special things, and to make connections with my own experiences. Sometimes, I would, just as we hear adolescents do today, talk to my friends about "a good book." The adults in the lives of adolescent learners play a major role in literacy.

Just as adolescent learners can and do read, they can and do write rather clearly when they wish or feel the need to do so. I often find notes that prove this fact. And talk about voice! Yes, adolescents use voice and have strong opinions that are important to them and that we must respect. To encourage writing we must, as with reading, provide interesting motivation and create ownership so learners will use those voices and opinions effectively.

Our adolescent literacy learners are younger versions of us--their parents and their teachers. They want the same things we want: freedom, ownership, respect, and motivation. And if we provide them with praise, respect, and appropriate skills development, their literacy skills will grow and help them succeed to their personal degree of fulfillment.

Margaret L. Blevins is a reading specialist who has taught for more than 35 years. Before joining the English Department of West Union High School in Adams County, Blevins taught in the middle schools of the Wynford Local School District and the Marion City School District. She has also taught classes for Southern State Community College, Maysville Community College, and Ohio University (Chillicothe). Blevins earned National Board Certification in 1999.

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