Recent trends in education have moved away from studying complete novels or plays. Instead, the curriculum may offer two scenes from Romeo and Juliet or one chapter from The Scarlet Letter and invite students to analyze key literary elements. This excerpt practice takes literary works out of context and fails to build reading endurance.
Students need to develop confidence in their literacy skills. When we love to read, it is exciting to dive into a book – regardless of its length. So how do we get students excited about reading
First, teach them how to endure difficult texts and emerge victorious! There’s something to be said for powering through a challenging book. When we studied Jane Eyre, one student said, “I’ve never read a book this long, and now I can do it!” This thought shocked me. I can’t remember ever feeling unequal to a book, but I love reading. And love of reading builds gutsy self-confidence.
Second, show them the life-changing insights of an intensive book study. Just as we learn to pace ourselves while reading a long book, discussing the book together will reveal magical discoveries. Students will hear their peers remark on character development, writing style, and surprising plot elements — and feel empowered to dig for their own revelations.
Holding the Book in Hand
For our novel study, I provide electronic and audio versions of the novel on our course website, but I encourage students to use the class paperbacks whenever possible. I want them to grow accustomed to the weight of a book in their hand, to gain spatial understanding of the story elements based on where they appear on the page. During trivia challenges, students flip hurriedly through their copy, saying, “I know I saw the answer on the left side, near the bottom.”
I’m converting them to the portable power of books. At various points in our novel study, students admit that reading the physical copy is far easier than reading the e-book. Students sometimes buy their own copy so they can write in it, or borrow a copy for the weekend. One girl showed me a gilded hardcover of Jane Eyre from an antique bookstore; she was eager to read from her gorgeous copy.
Physical books help students focus. While retrieving their copy, students start looking at all the other books on my shelf. They ask, “Have you really read all these?” and I confirm that I have. They ask, “Can I borrow another book to read?” and I say yes.
Giving Students Agency
Because teachers are spinning too many plates in the air, it’s easy to deploy pre-designed study guides to help students manage the week’s reading. But if we use prefab assignments, we can expect students’ prefab answers.
I built a flexible homework assignment that allows students to shape their literary journey. My weekly novel study task contains nine response categories, each attending to a unique element of the book. Categories include characters and relationships, conflicts, historical details, literary language, and vocabulary. Each week, a student needs to choose “3 of 3”: 3 response categories, 3 examples in each category. Students can select the same response elements throughout the novel study or change their elements every week. By allowing students to choose their reading focus, I validate their preferences, skills, and struggles. A student who is not an avid reader may note vocabulary every week – using the assignment to learn new words. Someone who is very people-focused may spotlight characters, relationships, and conflicts.
Promoting Student Voices
While I offer a simple document where students can take notes, the graded aspect of a student’s response is an audio recording. I ask students to speak naturally – not reading a script – and share their response elements from the week’s reading. I encourage them to think of the assignment as a podcast or social media video: greet the listener, share your insights, and thank the audience for their time and attention. When students produce these audio responses, they learn to speak coherently about the text, which prepares them for the rigor of a Socratic seminar. The audio helps them speak with confidence and accuracy about the novel and encourages them to share their insights in class.
I ask for 5-7 minutes of quality audio (no static, no video game noises in the background), but students often give more. One record-breaking response lasted 18 minutes: the student had so much to say that he bounced into class to explain his assignment. Some students add music and create a unique greeting or signoff.
Forecasting Student Success
I score the responses on accuracy, completion, creativity, quality of audio, and timely submission. The rubric helps students to recognize the importance of fulfilling all aspects of the assignment and prioritizing their insights. It is easy to tell when a student has not done the week’s reading or when a student is reading material from an online source. But most students take the response seriously and do their best. And the quality improves each week.
I want students to recognize that they can read an intimidating book and develop something to say about it. Revelations are not just the province of the smartest kids in class. Any student can discover something new and spark a meaningful discussion. When students feel empowered to make their own literary discoveries, they will read with greater zeal.
On the Blink 