The Importance of Reading  Reading is homework!  Reading is thinking!

Where are we now?  Fewer than half of high school seniors score high enough to be ready for college, but two-thirds attempt to go.  Eighty percent of college faculty report that entering freshmen cannot read well enough to do college work.  About one-third of seniors and one-fourth of eighth graders are proficient readers.

How much do we read?

Reading is the single most important social factor in American life today. More reading means more knowledge and more success in school, which means that you earn more money over your lifetime and that you will most likely live longer (earning more money means you can afford better and more consistent health care, which extends your lifespan) More reading means more knowledge and more success in school, which means that you earn more money over your lifetime and that you will most likely live longer (earning more money means you can afford better and more consistent health care, which extends your lifespan)

Reading more = scoring higher Middle Grades  Eighth-graders who read 11 or more books each year score 35 points higher than those who read none.  Students who read an hour outside of school each day score 16 points higher. ½ hour = 12 points  Those who read an assigned book outside class and demonstrated understanding only once per semester score 9 points higher.

But teachers aren’t asking students to read… Number of books students are asked to read Middle Grades High School None47%33% 1-228%36% 3-512%18% 6-87%7% 9+7%5%

Why don’t we ask students to read more?  Many teachers believe that students don’t have time to read more or don’t have the desire to read more  Some teachers believe that having students read books besides the books that are already in the curriculum takes time away from students learning what they are ‘supposed’ to learn from the official curriculum content

What can we do?  Every student should read the equivalent of twenty-five books per year across the curriculum (that is, all the reading that a student does for all the classes she/he has should be equivalent to him/her reading twenty-five books). This builds reading skills and knowledge of the content for each class.  Reading is the biggest factor in student success in life (school and the job market).