By Lu Ann Brobst Staheli

You can lead a horse to water . . . but you can’t make him drink. Unfortunately, this statement is applicable all too often to children within the public school system. The first week of school, I asked students in my reading class to share the titles of ten books they had either read by themselves, or that someone had read to them, which they would recommend to others. Several of these eighth and ninth grade students admitted they had never read an entire book on their own. They have been expected to read throughout their school career. How does it happen that they get to junior high school without having read?

Often they have become experts at pretending to read. Here are some tell-tale signs of students who might be pretending:

• They seek ways to avoid reading, such as asking to go to the restroom or saying they have a headache.
• They offer excuses, like “I forgot my glasses” or “Mybook is at home.”
• They don’t turn in assignments which require reading, especially reading logs or book reports.
• They refuse to read aloud, stumbling over simple words when they finally do.
• You’ll hear phrases like, “I just don’t like to read.”
   
Why do these kids pretend to read? In my twenty-nine years of teaching, I’ve found the vast majority of the pretenders are struggling readers, working far below their grade level in independent reading skills. They have learned to pretend to avoid embarrassment in front of friends, teachers, and their own family.

Parents can offer the opportunity to read, providing a variety of materials and available time, but if a child doesn’t know the basics of decoding and comprehension, he will never choose to read. Reading is a vital skill in the adult world. If your child is showing signs of being a pretender rather than a reader, now is the time to correct whatever problems he is experiencing with reading. Talk with teachers or district literacy specialists. Learn the methods that will best help him improve. Get him enrolled in additional courses if necessary.

No matter how hard we attempt to engage reluctant readers, there will still be some who continue to resist. We cannot throw our hands up in surrender, abandoning all hope for ever hooking them. Our culture revolves around the shared literacy brought to us through books. Television shows, movies, and even the news makes reference to famous characters, plots, and themes from literature, so here are a few simple strategies to help non-readers develop an awareness of the literature that surrounds us each day.

Take them to see well-produced movies based on novels. Read the books with them, then talk about the differences and similarities between the film and the original text. Discuss why the screenwriter and director make the choices they do when adapting and filming a work. Example: Why were changes necessary to bring the Harry Potter novels to the big screen?

Attend the theater, especially works by Shakespeare. Hardly a week goes by that I don’t hear some reference to one of Shakespeare’s plays, even a simple quote on a television program. The Bard is quoted more often than perhaps most of us are aware. Because plays are meant to be seen rather than read, live performances are an excellent way to bring this part of our culture to us all.

Talk about books. Use literary themes and character choices as a starting point for discussing situations that arise in the lives of our children. Learn to share enough of a book to interest a potential reader without taking away their reason to read.

Keep books visible. Let the children see that you read and value books. Keep a book on your desk or another easy-to-grab location. Actually read the book, and never let it simply gather dust. Make time each day to read, even if you only get through a page.

Read interesting passages aloud to your family. Discuss them at the dinner table or in the car. Use short quotes. Listen to audio books. Let children hear the written word.

The key is to expose non-readers to as much of the literary world as we can. Studies have shown that when children’s lives have been enriched through literature, they are more successful as adults.

If you have a reluctant reader in your home, adopt the mantra, “Whatever it takes” and maybe someday your non-reader will change his mind and discover reading. If we want our children to succeed in life, we must find ways to lead them to the water. Once they take the first sip successfully, they continue to drink.

Lu Ann Brobst Staheli is Utah’s 2008 Best of State Educator K-12, and former Nebo Reading Council Reading Teacher of the Year, Utah English Language Arts Teacher of the Year, and Utah Reading Council Celebrate Literacy Award recipient. Her publications include “Recipe for the Reluctant Reader” and two newspaper columns on literacy issues.