I remember doing "English Reading" in high school, which was the name for wide reading at school. Despite having an enjoyment for reading, I dreaded the time because I was not allowed to read the literature that I wanted to read like a newspaper or non fiction book.
This put me off reading for several years until I was at university and all of a sudden decided to read during my downtime.
More than fifteen years later, I'm left to reflect on wide reading. I love the name Drop Everything And Read as the name for a wide reading program. Students know what it is. It is about stopping what we are doing and reading an item of our choice.
All primary schools generally do it and many secondary schools do so in some capacity. Some use the time allocated for roll call to provide this time for students for instance instead of a designated period once a week or fortnight.
More often than not, it is expected that students bring only a fiction item. My concern has been that it could put some off reading, because they are not allowed to engage in reading a text that may interest them. Think of my experience.
I am of the view that reading non fiction items etc may not just arouse interest in reading, but also help in development of literacy skills. Some non fiction texts that I read can be quite difficult readingwise with the use of language and detail.
I'm glad that last term, I had the chance to be part of a Drop Everything And Read Program that allows students to choose an item to read that interests them. The response was overwhelmingingly positive because it was them controlling the reading, not me. I was only a facilitator and they only saw me when they saw fit. There was a moment with one Year 9 group where they became disinterested in my book recommendations. I can see a positive out of it which would have nothing to do with me - They wanted to control their reading and that can be linked back to my experiences. By the way they love reading too.
What were my observations? I'll have to comment on that later once the home internet connection is restored and I can have the report in front of me.
