Affective Dimensions of Reading

Reading has always been an important part of my life.  My mother, a dedicated second grade teacher, taught me how to read before I even attended kindergarten.  When I was growing up she took me to the local library weekly where she volunteered as a story time reader.  Before going home we would check out as many books as we could, using baskets to take them all back to the car.  Throughout the week, we would read each book and dutifully return them on our next visit.

Because of my mother's persistent efforts, I was often one of the best readers in my class throughout my public education.  Over time, my reading interests have become focused on books that could be considered Classical Literature.  When my high school teachers introduced me to books such as "The Scarlet Letter" and "Great Expectations", they instantly became favorites.  Similar literature has continued to inspire me.  Unfortunately, I have read less and less in the five years since high school.  I no longer can find time to sit down and enjoy the literature I'd like because I am bogged down with school assignments, work, and just trying to stay afloat amid my many obligations. 

I hesitate when I think about times in my life when I disliked reading because there are very few.  I sometimes disliked reading when forced to do it for a class; however, I often return to the same readings years later and find them beautiful and inspiring.  This was the case in my History of the Soviet Union class a couple years ago.  The professor, an ancient man with a stutter, had us read a piece of Russian literature and write an enormous paper on it.  The novel, "Dr. Zhivago", was the bane of my existence for several weeks as I struggled to get through it's lengthy and wordy pages.  This past summer however, I picked it up again and couldn't stop reading it!  I found myself very engaged in the story and meaning of the same novel that had once bored me tremendously only a couple years previous. 

I hope I can foster a love of reading in my class, just as my mother did in my home.  One of the first things I can do as a teacher is express my own love for reading.  Simply making students aware that I read for fun and enjoyment can encourage them to do the same.  More specifically, I can encourage reading for learning purposes in a history class.  Text is very important in history; however, students shouldn't be forced to read lengthy speeches and difficult documents.  Rather, I can provide shortened versions of text to students so they can understand and read more manageable historic accounts.  This will bolster student confidence in reading by giving them texts that are within their reading level.  Including novels in history classes, as my History of the Soviet Union professor did, can also engage students in meaningful historic text of a different kind.