Readicide

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Kelly Gallagher’s Readicide hit home for me. I can definitely identify with the students who are currently facing readicide because I was one of those students while I was in high school. To be honest, I had a terrible case of readicide while I was in high school, especially my senior year; don’t get me wrong, I love reading and English has always been my favorite subject, but I would absolutely dread academic reading. Readicide also hit home for me because I can identify with Gallagher; I can see readicide impacting my students. As a student teacher/future teacher it’s tough to watch because I don’t want any of my students to dread or hate having to read in an academic setting, or any setting for that matter; I want to be able to provide my students with positive reading experiences that help them prepare for college and the world beyond high school.

One thing that Gallagher discussed in the book was the reading flow and how we are preventing our students from reaching it. I have never thought of the reading flow as something that can be achieved well in academic reading; I have definitely reached the reading flow in my recreational reading, but I have rarely, if ever, been able to reach the flow in my academic reading. Gallagher notes that “if our students are to have any chance of discovering the reading flow… they will need what all readers need when they read: access to great books and large doses of uninterrupted time to read them” (73). If we want to foster a love of reading in our students and help them find their reading flow, we need to provide them with as many great books as we can and as much time as we can allow them to read them. I want to be able to give my students the chance to read as much as they can because they can learn so much more from a curriculum that focuses on utilizing many novels to teach the standards rather than a curriculum that drills test preparation.

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