Overview
"I hate to read," said the young teen just before he let out a sigh then, with folded arms, he flopped his head on the desk, never to move again until the bell relieved his torture. I am convinced that young people hate to read for two very simple reasons. First, young people do not see, believe, internalize, or embrace the value inherent in reading and therefore do not see, believe, internalize, or embrace the need. Second, they are not good readers.
Well, that seems easy enough. There are plenty of methods to improve a student's ability to read. I maintain that all of those methods, regardless of how great the teacher is, are useless unless reason number one is addressed first. What makes this unit unique for the student who is not intrinsically motivated to learn is that at its heart is the mission to illustrate the inherent value and need of reading and not reading comprehension alone.
So, why aren't students motivated to learn? It cannot be because they are not exposed to successful citizens of the planet. It cannot be that they are unaware of the material riches money can buy. It cannot be because they do not know 'the American way,' starting from nothing and pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps. Horatio Alger is firmly implanted in our social DNA. Well-meaning educators have consistently plastered the classrooms with posters of great thinkers, poets and presidents. By the sixth grade students can recite Martin Luther King's "I have a dream." However, they remain uninspired. The prospect of earning a failing grade or being retained in a grade does not motivate them; it is, in fact, their expectation. And it most certainly is not because they are stupid.
That all sounds rather hopeless to me. Now we are getting somewhere. How do we deal with the hopelessness of a 14 year old? Can you think about the times in your life when you have felt hopeless? A time when even whatever spiritual belief you may have held made no difference? What was the one thing that you did not have on that occasion? Might it have been the power to change the outcome? That is the cancer. My students feel hopeless and it is because they are powerless.
I hope to lead students on a path of self discovery; a path that will help them internalize the fact that embracing reading will empower. It is my intent to illustrate to them that voluntarily and arrogantly rejecting the treasures of reading means that they have forever forfeited any control they may have over their lives to those in power. It means a life of perpetual subservience.
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