ADOLESCENT READERS “Teenagers want to read—if we let them. Students become committed, passionate readers given the right books, time to read, and regular responses to their reading.” —Penny Kittle, Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in Adolescent Readers
KEY FINDINGS
> > Young people do more reading and writing today—on paper and online—than ever before, although they may not always read the kind of texts that adults value (International Literacy Association, 2012; Wilhelm and Smith, 2016; Moje et al., 2008). > > Teens are reading a wide variety of texts including traditional print text and digital (multimodal) text (International Reading Association, 2014, Moje et al., 2008; Burke, 2013). > > Youth use print texts in the context of other activities in their lives—often with social, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual purposes (Wilhelm and Smith, 2013; Ivey and Johnston, 2013; Moje et al., 2008). > > Adolescent reading and writing practices “foster communication, relationships, and self-expression among peers and family members; support their economic and psychological health; and allow them to construct … identities that offer them power in their everyday lives” (Moje et al., 2008). > > Jeff Wilhelm and Michael Smith’s research (2013) on the nature and variety of the pleasure avid adolescent readers take from their out-of-school reading demonstrates that pleasure is not incidental to reading—it’s essential. The authors explain, “We found that the young people with whom we worked spoke of their reading pleasure with remarkable sophistication—and their pleasure supported the intense and high-level engagement with texts that schools seek to foster.” > > Effective teachers understand the importance of adolescent choice and ownership, as well as the aim to help teens develop a sense of their own reading lives (Atwell and Merkel, 2016; Wilhelm and Smith, 2016; Kittle, 2013; Miller, 2009; Tatum, 2013; Guthrie, 2008; Gallagher, 2009).
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ADOLESCENT READERS
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