Moving Back Towards Classrooms That Center Reading and Writing for Engagement

Beth Carlson
Nationally Board Certified Teacher/English Department Chair at RSU21, Kennebunk High School
[email protected] 
MCELA Executive Board Member

I’ve been teaching long enough to experience the adage in education that we always cycle back to past practices. When I started teaching English in 1987, Nancie Atwell’s Write From the Middle was the English teacher’s bible. I was the looping 7th and 8th grade teacher-facilitator of dynamic reading and writing workshops. There was energy and excitement in my classroom. Years later, I moved from York to Kennebunk where my new job was teaching freshmen with a more traditional, teacher-directed, and novel-based curriculum. These classes looked more like the ones I attended in high school. When the Common Core State Standards were adopted, our department struggled to shift from teaching novels to teaching standards. In hindsight, this shift seemed like a bigger lift than it should have, and now we all understand the importance of prioritizing skill-based assessments over novel content. Currently, we are undergoing another curriculum overhaul, and under the tutelage of Penny Kittle, who authored Book Love and co-authored 180 Days, we are moving back towards classrooms that center reading and writing for engagement.  

My department has observed a steep decline in students who read at home. Their vocabularies are not what they used to be. Even students who have historically been readers claim they don’t have the time. Since the pandemic, their engagement with our classroom content has varied from disengaged to rote. This is why placing student engagement at the center of our curriculum has been a priority. We are starting with free choice reading with our first 9th grade unit titled “Patterns of Storytelling.” We are making space for students to read for 15 to 20 minutes of our 80 minute block. We’re getting them to write based on mentor texts; teachers and students are doing daily book talks. All writing is quick writing to eliminate it being done by AI. Students will choose pieces to bring through the writing process.  
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This means we’ve had to let some things go. For some, it’s been a favorite unit. For some, it’s being the sage on the stage. For others, it’s a grip on the familiar and the comfortable. I am back to facilitating student learning. The onus for learning has been put back on the students with opportunities to choose their reading and flexibility in what writing pieces they process to polished copies. We piloted some of these practices last year. This year, we’re 100% in.  

I am really hopeful. Yesterday, I noticed two students in my advisory reading. Another teacher said she has readers in her study hall. These are small anecdotal trends, but exciting ones nonetheless. I’ll let you know how it goes!
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