Kelly Gallagher’s “Readicide”

         Kelly Gallagher brought up several excellent points in her “Readicide.” In the beginning of her book she talks about how the school system is killing reading. Although several schools offer time for students to read a book for their own enjoyment, it would appear as if this is not enough. The students are still being pressured into picking up a random book before the class starts just so they have something to read. When I was in elementary school there was a push for all the students to read something that they were interested in. The librarians would move from each student to make sure that we each had a book that we were excited to read. However this practice abruptly ended in middle and high school. If we were reading a book for a class it was because we had to know it forwards and backwards in order to understand each and every literary device. I personally elected to dump the book and hop on spark notes for a quick and easy reference to what the text was about.

          In the classroom that I am observing, the students are currently reading short stories. The teacher has them go home and read a story so they can discuss it in class the next day. Before letting the students take off to “read” it at home, the teacher takes class time to explain what the story is about. I believe this is important because this is an opportunity to get the students excited – or rather interested in what they are going to read. This is one way to get students to read, however I believe that it would be better if the students had more of an input on the literature that they were reading.