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Trying to define "reluctant readers"
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From: Ginny Moore Kruse <gmkruse_at_wisc.edu>
Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2011 16:40:47 -0600
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On 1/27/2011 6:52 PM, Sherry Rampey wrote: "...you wanted to know what the commonalities were among RR's, truth be told, they vary across the nation. They can range from innercity kids, who may like urban fiction; or suburban kids who like the manga; or it could be the rural kids who like to keep things realistic..."
Between grades one and twelve, my daughter Ann was a "special education" student. (That was the language used when Ann was young.) Ann learned to read in first grade. She became not only an "avid reader," but a "life-long reader," as well. Most recently Ann read Ted Kennedy's autobiography, and currently she's reading the new biography about Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. While Ann was a girl, I noticed that the books suggested by teachers and other librarians to special ed students were definitely "reluctant reader" books, even series. These novels were, and they were action packed, featuring - for example - young teens who were juvenile delinquents or drug users. There was an assumption that some or all of the kids - understood to be "challenged readers" or otherwise "reluctant" to read for pleasure - will want to read about kids in trouble or troubled kids.
One of my former school library positions was in Newton, Massachusetts. It was a fabulous job with a bevy of high-powered volunteers in an absolutely terrific public school with a student population including black students bussed there daily from Boston. There was abundant funding for me to develop specialized book and media collections, one of which was a "Black Studies Collection." A certain day in that wonderful school library is etched in my memory. That afternoon one of the Black students from Boston asked me to recommend a book she could check out to read over the weekend. I eagerly showed her two or three of the newest books in the Black Studies shelves. She looked me in the eye and quietly said, "Mrs. Kruse, I really prefer to read fantasies. Don't you have any fantasies to recommend to me?"
Sherry, I can't be certain that rural kids "like to keep things realistic," or that only suburban kids take to the manga, or or that urban students prefer urban fiction. Because of my two experiences (above), because I once went to a one-room rural school, and because as an adult I've lived in small towns, urban & suburban neighborhoods and the city of Madison, I'm a "reluctant librarian" when it comes to trying to define, nail down or even label who any of our young readers actually are.
Cordially, Ginny
Ginny Moore Kruse gmkruse_at_wisc.edu Emeritus Director, Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC), School of Education, University of Wisconsin - Madison On 1/27/2011 6:52 PM, Sherry Rampey wrote: "...you wanted to know what the commonalities were among RR's, truth be told, they vary across the nation. They can range from innercity kids, who may like urban fiction; or suburban kids who like the manga; or it could be the rural kids who like to keep things realistic..."
Between grades one and twelve, my daughter Ann was a "special education" student. (That was the language used when Ann was young.) Ann learned to read in first grade. She became not only an "avid reader," but a "life-long reader," as well. Most recently Ann read Ted Kennedy's autobiography, and currently she's reading the new biography about Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. While Ann was a girl, I noticed that the books suggested by teachers and other librarians to special ed students were definitely "reluctant reader" books, even series. These novels were, and they were action packed, featuring - for example - young teens who were juvenile delinquents or drug users. There was an assumption that kids who were "challenged readers" or otherwise "reluctant" to read for pleasure will want to read about kids in trouble or troubled kids.
One of my former school library positions was in Newton, Massachusetts. It was a dream job with a bevy of high-powered volunteers in an absolutely terrific public school and a student population including black students bussed to school daily from Boston. There was abundant funding for me to develop specialized book and media collections, one of which was a "Black Studies Collection." I remember a day when one of the students from Boston asked me to recommend a book she could check out to read over the weekend. I eagerly showed her two or three of the newest books in the Black Studies shelves. She looked me in the eye and quietly said, "Mrs. Kruse, I really prefer to read fantasies. Do you have any fantasies to recommend to me?"
Sherry, I can't be certain that rural kids "like to keep things realistic," that only suburban kids take to the manga, or that urban students prefer urban fiction. Because of the experiences I’ve described, because I once went to a one-room school myself, and because as an adult I've lived in small towns, urban & suburban neighborhoods and the city of Madison, I'm a reluctant librarian when it comes to trying to define, nail down or even label who any of our young readers actually are.
Cordially, Ginny
Ginny Moore Kruse gmkruse_at_wisc.edu Emeritus Director, Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC), School of Education, University of Wisconsin - Madison
Received on Fri 28 Jan 2011 04:40:47 PM CST
Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2011 16:40:47 -0600
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On 1/27/2011 6:52 PM, Sherry Rampey wrote: "...you wanted to know what the commonalities were among RR's, truth be told, they vary across the nation. They can range from innercity kids, who may like urban fiction; or suburban kids who like the manga; or it could be the rural kids who like to keep things realistic..."
Between grades one and twelve, my daughter Ann was a "special education" student. (That was the language used when Ann was young.) Ann learned to read in first grade. She became not only an "avid reader," but a "life-long reader," as well. Most recently Ann read Ted Kennedy's autobiography, and currently she's reading the new biography about Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. While Ann was a girl, I noticed that the books suggested by teachers and other librarians to special ed students were definitely "reluctant reader" books, even series. These novels were, and they were action packed, featuring - for example - young teens who were juvenile delinquents or drug users. There was an assumption that some or all of the kids - understood to be "challenged readers" or otherwise "reluctant" to read for pleasure - will want to read about kids in trouble or troubled kids.
One of my former school library positions was in Newton, Massachusetts. It was a fabulous job with a bevy of high-powered volunteers in an absolutely terrific public school with a student population including black students bussed there daily from Boston. There was abundant funding for me to develop specialized book and media collections, one of which was a "Black Studies Collection." A certain day in that wonderful school library is etched in my memory. That afternoon one of the Black students from Boston asked me to recommend a book she could check out to read over the weekend. I eagerly showed her two or three of the newest books in the Black Studies shelves. She looked me in the eye and quietly said, "Mrs. Kruse, I really prefer to read fantasies. Don't you have any fantasies to recommend to me?"
Sherry, I can't be certain that rural kids "like to keep things realistic," or that only suburban kids take to the manga, or or that urban students prefer urban fiction. Because of my two experiences (above), because I once went to a one-room rural school, and because as an adult I've lived in small towns, urban & suburban neighborhoods and the city of Madison, I'm a "reluctant librarian" when it comes to trying to define, nail down or even label who any of our young readers actually are.
Cordially, Ginny
Ginny Moore Kruse gmkruse_at_wisc.edu Emeritus Director, Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC), School of Education, University of Wisconsin - Madison On 1/27/2011 6:52 PM, Sherry Rampey wrote: "...you wanted to know what the commonalities were among RR's, truth be told, they vary across the nation. They can range from innercity kids, who may like urban fiction; or suburban kids who like the manga; or it could be the rural kids who like to keep things realistic..."
Between grades one and twelve, my daughter Ann was a "special education" student. (That was the language used when Ann was young.) Ann learned to read in first grade. She became not only an "avid reader," but a "life-long reader," as well. Most recently Ann read Ted Kennedy's autobiography, and currently she's reading the new biography about Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. While Ann was a girl, I noticed that the books suggested by teachers and other librarians to special ed students were definitely "reluctant reader" books, even series. These novels were, and they were action packed, featuring - for example - young teens who were juvenile delinquents or drug users. There was an assumption that kids who were "challenged readers" or otherwise "reluctant" to read for pleasure will want to read about kids in trouble or troubled kids.
One of my former school library positions was in Newton, Massachusetts. It was a dream job with a bevy of high-powered volunteers in an absolutely terrific public school and a student population including black students bussed to school daily from Boston. There was abundant funding for me to develop specialized book and media collections, one of which was a "Black Studies Collection." I remember a day when one of the students from Boston asked me to recommend a book she could check out to read over the weekend. I eagerly showed her two or three of the newest books in the Black Studies shelves. She looked me in the eye and quietly said, "Mrs. Kruse, I really prefer to read fantasies. Do you have any fantasies to recommend to me?"
Sherry, I can't be certain that rural kids "like to keep things realistic," that only suburban kids take to the manga, or that urban students prefer urban fiction. Because of the experiences I’ve described, because I once went to a one-room school myself, and because as an adult I've lived in small towns, urban & suburban neighborhoods and the city of Madison, I'm a reluctant librarian when it comes to trying to define, nail down or even label who any of our young readers actually are.
Cordially, Ginny
Ginny Moore Kruse gmkruse_at_wisc.edu Emeritus Director, Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC), School of Education, University of Wisconsin - Madison
Received on Fri 28 Jan 2011 04:40:47 PM CST
