When I was in first grade, I brought a book home from school and, to my horror, my mom wrote âToo easyâ on my reading log. I was devastated (didnât she know my teacher was going to see that?), and itâs stuck with me to this day. Reading is too importantâand too magicalâfor us to risk turning kids off of it. We should be doing everything in our power to remove any and all barriers to reading success, and that includes monitoring our own language. I hereby issue a ban on the following phrases that you should never say to kids about books and reading:
âThat book is for girls.â
Repeat after me: âBooks. Donât. Have. A. Gender.â (And neither do colors, toys, or clothes, for that matter.) I donât care if itâs a book about menstruation. Itâs still not just for girls. (And frankly, the world might be a better place if people who donât get periods knew a little more about them.) I also find it interesting (and by interesting, I mean gross) that we donât have this problem with girls reading âboyâ books. Itâs 2021, and gender stereotyping has no place in our classrooms. These types of comments do nothing but limit children and their potential, and Iâm not here for it.
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âThat book is too hard for you.â
Yikes. When did we get so obsessed with leveling reading? I understand that itâs important for students to have books at that sweet spot where they are challenged but feel successful, but these comments border on shaming. (How about we donât make struggling readers feel worse about their reading?) I just canât get on board with limiting studentsâ books choices, especially in independent reading. If itâs too hard and theyâre just looking at pictures, who cares? Itâs not like thereâs nothing going on cognitively. Likewise, is it really hurting a reader to enjoy something thatâs âtoo easyâ? I donât think so.
âAudiobooks donât count.â
Nope. All reading counts. Even if itâs Kate Winslet reading you Matilda. Scratch that. Especially if itâs Kate Winslet reading you Matilda. Audiobooks are so beneficial for students. Listening to audiobooks can improve vocabulary, build background knowledge, increase comprehension⊠why wouldnât we use them? Seems pretty arbitrary to me to declare it cheating just because youâre not decoding. Thereâs still plenty of language processing going on; youâre just removing the anxiety piece thatâs keeping kids from enjoying reading. Iâm all for it. And no, listening to audiobooks doesnât get in the way of learning to read.
âWhen will you ever stop reading graphic novels?â
Can we please stop hating on graphic novels? Granted, Iâm a huge Raina Telgemeier fangirl, but again with the âitâs not real readingâ nonsense? I couldnât care less if all a kid wants to read is illustrated narratives. Theyâre enticing to reluctant readers and support kids with reading challenges. Weâre talking context clues, manageable format and length, accessible content and vocabulary⊠theyâre a gold mine. And no one actually ever has to stop reading them, thanks to graphic novels for adult audiences like The Best We Could Do and March.
âYou have to read THIS book.â
Donât come for me, English teachers. I know that reading assigned texts has its time and place, especially in the upper grades. However, isnât part of the allure of reading finding books that speak to you? I mean, when was the last time you had a student get really excited about a required reading? When we strip the choice away, we take away some of the magic. By all means, expose your students to quality literature (thatâs what read aloud is for!), but when it comes to independent reading, let them call the shots. Even if Warrior Cats makes you cringe.