How to Make High School Reading Memorable & Magical

I have loved to read ever since I can remember, and effortlessly created entire worlds in my head filled with characters and settings. Through this, I was able to hook myself into reading. I remember thinking in fifth grade, while reading My Side of the Mountain, that the life outdoors as described in the book was so enchanting that I just had to experience it for myself. It wasn’t long before I was traipsing through the woods in back of our house with my dad’s hammer, a blanket, some string, and a few snacks.

I love that fifth grade self – so full of spirit and determination.

Somewhere along the way, however, I lost my enthusiasm for school-assigned texts. I would spend whole weekends reading for pleasure, conducting research, engaging in comparative analysis of texts, but when it came time for high school reading, Romeo and Juliet or The Scarlet Letter, I skimmed through and sometimes (gasp) didn’t even do the reading homework.

Shifting Goals for Teaching Reading

In retrospect, this leads me to an important realization about the readers in my classroom, many of whom respond to survey questions stating that they “didn’t read” the assigned texts completely or “didn’t enjoy” them.

I think that we, as teachers, need to help our high school students discover what is “magical” and “memorable” about school-assigned texts.

We need to fill the gap.

I owe this tip for teaching high school reading to Ron Clark and his book that I’ve been listening to called The End of Molasses Classes: Getting Our Kids Unstuck–101 Extraordinary Solutions for Parents and Teachers.

I think about the perfunctory day or two that I dedicate to “pre-reading.” For example, students in my sophomore class always LOVE a pre-reading activity which asks them to rate societal norms, behaviors, and rituals as “civil” or “savage.” They debate, engage, and want to spend more than one day discussing.

But we have to get on with the content, get to the reading, and students may have learned to “just get by” while reading a whole class novel. Soooo…. when it comes time to start reading Lord of the Flies, they get lost in Golding’s rich descriptions and symbolism. Student engagement tanks. They don’t find the text interesting or relevant, and as teachers make an effort to help students understand the book and all of its rich meanings, and introduce the skill of “close reading,” students end up hating it.

Where’s the magic?

Well…I hate to say it, but maybe the magic is dead.

The magic dies if not continued and fueled throughout the reading of the novel. Also, teachers can kill magic by over-analyzing a text and getting too caught up in assessing students in order to meet standards, get done “in time,” and provide grades.

So, this year, my goal is to create memories and magic for students throughout the reading of The Power of One.

8 Ways to Create Meaningful High School Reading Experiences

Students love it when I ask them to connect music to the characters they are reading. They could compile a playlist of motivational and “powerful” songs that we can use to create energy during transition times.
Students love food. Students could snack on suckers, sandwiches, and strawberry milkshakes like Peekay as we read about his time with Hoppie and introduction to the “equalizers.”
Students could research a modern day or historical person and his/her “power of one.” Then, I will stage an “award” ceremony to which students will arrive in character as their person and give a brief speech.
Students could create their own “power of one” experiment to see the influence that one word, action, thought, change, message, etc. has on them and others.
Students could create an “aphorism” narrative and share how one of their own life experiences illustrates one of Peekay’s life lessons.
Students could create a “life map” of people who have made a difference in their lives.
To introduce the book, students could work in groups to figure out what a collection of items in a bag has to do with the message of the book: head, heart, gloves, moon and stars, letters, angel, picture of a young boy on a rock, chicken, aloe, blood, Bible, handcuffs, etc.
Students could be invited to “go on a walk” like Doc and take meaningful pictures of what they see.

I’m still brainstorming because it is my hypothesis and my hope that Ron Clark was right when he said that the “magic” has to come back to high school reading instruction. Then, and only then, will everything else (assessment, engagement, learning, etc.) fall into place.

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