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VOLUME XIII, NUMBER 21

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PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD), COLLEGE OF EDUCATION,
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN + WITH SUPPORT FROM THE W. K. KELLOGG FOUNDATION AND THE SID W. RICHARDSON FOUNDATION

 

Encouraging Students to Become More Involved Readers

Twenty-five years ago, as a senior at Notre Dame
High School in Harper Woods, Michigan, I recall
writing a report for an economics class on the book The
Rich and the Poor by Robert Theobald. On the day the
report was due, Fr. Rancourt, our teacher, collected the
reports and then collected the paperback copies of our
books. We stared in bewilderment at the stack of books
on his desk.

After pausing for a moment, Fr. Rancourt asked us
why we thought he collected our books. When he
didn’t get a response, he asked another question: Do
you think I can tell who really read the books by
looking through them? He then gave us a brief lecture
about the importance of marking a book. This lesson
made a lasting impression on me.

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In my English Composition classes at Hutchinson
Community College, I have carried on Fr. Rancourt’s
technique of examining books. However, my approach
differs from his method in several respects. During the
first week of class, I quickly move from student to
student, looking at the pages of their assigned readings.
My students give me the same puzzled look that Fr.
Rancourt received when he collected our books. As I
look at the texts, I make jokes about how clean some of
them look. “Not a mark or smudge,” I quip as I glance
through a student’s text. If I do find some underlining,
highlighting, or writing in the margins, I praise the
student. However, frequently at the beginning of the
semester, many students’ texts reveal few or no marks.

When I finish examining their texts, I again move
around the room, this time showing the students my
text, which is filled with notations, underlines, and
other types of marks. After doing this, I comment on
the importance of marking a book.

My main point is that marking a book gets the reader
more involved with the text. Involvement, I stress, is
one of the main factors in becoming a successful stu-
dent. In “How to Mark a Book,” Mortimer J. Adler
writes about the importance of involvement:

If, when you've finished reading a book, the
pages are filled with your notes, you know

that you read actively.... The physical act of

writing, with your own hand, brings words

and sentences more sharply before your

mind and preserves them better in your

memory.
Adler contends that “reading a book should be...a
conversation between you and the author.... And
marking a book is literally an expression of your
differences, or agreements of opinion, with the author.”
Most of my students agree that underlining improves
retention and assists in reviewing for a test. However,
few students write comments in the margins that
express agreement, perplexity, and so forth. When a
reader writes comments in the text, he becomes an
active participant in what he reads. The act of writing
forces the student to slow down and consider what he
reads. I also mention to the students that how thor-
oughly the text is marked depends upon the complexity
and importance of the reading material.

This semester, after I showed a class the underlining

ind notations I made of Flannery O’Connor’s short
story, “Everything That Rises Must Converge,” one of
my students asked me why I marked the story in pencil,
red ink, tw. —.ades of blue ink, and black ink. I used
this question to get into a short discussion on the
concept that great literature should be read more than
once. Each time a person reads an outstanding work of
literature, he often finds new ideas and modifies old
ideas. When I read O’Connor’s story for the first time, I
used a pencil. On the second reading, I happened to
have a red pen. With each new reading over several
semesters, I added comments, reconsidered previous
remarks, and, in a sense, became a better student of the
story.

My students should see how I read a story or essay.
When I write an article, I show students my numerous
rough drafts to let them see that I have to struggle for a
finished paper. The same principle applies to reading. I
want students to notice that I read thoroughly and
involve myself with my reading. I expect them to do
likewise.

In one of my composition classes, I recently looked at
my students’ texts for the third time. (I don’t check
their books during each class session but rather check

 

  

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THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD)
Community College Leadership Program, Department of Educational Administration
College of Education, The University of Texas at Austin, EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712