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Who Doesn't Like to Read?

 Our Goodreads challenge this week got me thinking: Who doesn't like to read?

The answer is SO MANY MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLERS. 

I will be entering my 9th year working in secondary education at the beginning of the 25-26 school year, something truly crazy to think about. My background has always been focused on ELA education and every year I am tasked with that battle of reading engagement. I have heard IT ALL. 

"I haven't read a book since I was like 5 Miss."

"I just don't like reading."

"There are no interesting books out there."

Once, upon assigning the short story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, I received this email from a student:

"Please miss, don't be like all of the other teachers that assign us boring and pointless stories that don't mean anything blah blah blah who wants to read about the lottery?"

I was genuinely baffled. How was this kid not intrigued by a story where the main character is stoned to death for the mere sake of tradition? I assigned it because I thought it was so messed up and the kids would be shocked. My reply was:

"I am confused as to how you found a story about tradition leading to the stoning of a semi-innocent woman to be boring. Can I inquire about some stories you have found interesting?"

I received an "Oh."

The student simply hadn't read past the first few paragraphs and had no idea what happened in the story- they were making assumptions based on the title. 

Often when I ask middle schoolers what kind of stories they enjoy, I get blank stares or the common "I watch YouTube and TikTok, I don't really watch movies and shows."

Truly, they do not know what stories they like and some of their attention spans are not equipped to handle a short 3-page story, much less a full novel. I have often felt like I am literally pulling teeth trying to get students to engage with reading, which begs the question: how on earth do we engage these kiddos with reading? 

I am hoping gamification and Web2.0 Learning are the answer. For next year, I am planning to implement the program Beanstack at my site. This program has challenges, badges, and can accompany on-campus incentives to get students motivated. I am also planning on "genrefying" my Media Center so it is easier to find specific genres- right now everything is Fiction by author's last name and Nonfiction by Dewey Decimal. This can be a bit overwhelming for the kiddos. 

Hopefully next year we get some more kiddos reading! 



Comments

  1. HBJune 13, 2025 at 8:24 AM

    Agh! This is so upsetting to read about. Many of these students aren't faring much better when they get to college. I work in an English department, so my students generally like to read, but I've heard some horror stories from instructors who teach the freshman English gen ed courses...

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  2. nickinickelzJune 13, 2025 at 9:51 PM

    I felt this post! I only taught reading for one year. The struggle to get middle schoolers excited about reading is so real. I also had a similar experience when I tried to start an in-person book club with friends. Everyone loved the idea at first, but between totally different reading preferences, it fizzled out after the first book. I love your plans for next year with the use of gamification through Beanstack. That mix of challenge and reward could really help hook students who aren't naturally drawn to books.

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