Lisa L. Smith        Blog Post #2:      “The Pleasure Principal”    Nancie Atwell

September

After reading this article, I was convinced that reading for pleasure must be promoted at the earliest age possible.  There are many activities that we do in the name of reading, but actual reading is not always one of those activities.  As a parent of a dyslexic child, I know the frustration that was caused by years of spelling tests, word searches, and worksheets.  My child became a reader under a teacher that taught her how to love to read.  This teacher used the ideas presented in the article.  She helped my child enjoy reading, realize she didn’t have to be a perfect reader, encouraged her to take risks, and helped her learn to choose books she enjoyed.  This one year with a teacher that valued reading for pleasure changed the course of my child’s future. 

The article promotes a practice called reading workshop.  During reading workshop, the teacher may have a short mini lesson, but then the children are engaged in reading.  The article speaks about the students being transported into a reading zone.  I totally understand this concept, because as an avid reader myself, I often find myself in the reading zone, unable to put down a good book even though it is 1:00 in the morning.  We want children to become so engaged in a text that they don’t want to put it down either. 

This article also contains a “Bill of Rights” for readers.  It was very eye-opening to read these rights.  They do seem like simple rights, but I would venture to say that many children do not know its okay to “give up” on a book because they are not interested in it.  They may see this as a failure, but if we instruct them through reading workshop that it is actually a good practice to stop reading a book you do not enjoy and find another book.  The “rights” hit home hard with me because as a parent of a dyslexic child that struggled with school and hated going until the 4^th grade, I know that these rights are important.  I know that allowing a child to read an “easy” book helps them to feel successful and hopefully gain the confidence to try something a little harder.  We must help students through this reading workshop model to become readers that are engaged, confident, and most of all readers that enjoy reading for the pure pleasure of reading.