Reading in Public No. 59: Literary lessons from the English classroom
Teacher Katie Brownfiel shares the four guidelines that transformed her and her students' reading lives
One of the things nobody tells you about being an English teacher is how many people outside the fields of English or education or English education will have opinions on how you should best do your job. The number of thinkpieces, op eds, and essays about the “crises” in English classrooms boggles my mind. Everyone who reads has ideas about what books should or shouldn’t be in classrooms, not to mention clear, yet untested ideas about how to foster or kill a love of reading. I understand why. We all have a vested interested in maintain a vibrant literary citizenship, but many of these outsider ideas severely miss the mark.
The last couple years have brought several high profile articles about the decline in reading and almost all of them point the finger at English teachers, even if it’s by way of policy, phones, and other outside factors. These articles always make me feel defensive—or perhaps more accurately protective—of my former field and the wonderful educators still fighting the fight.
So today, I’m thrilled to share with you a guest essay from Katie Brownfiel, a secondary English teacher maintaining the delicate balance of curricular expectations and creating lifelong readers. In this essay, Katie shares how she fosters a love of reading in her students and what we adult readers might take away from her best practices. After all of the discourse about English education this year, I’m happy to be able to share a piece from an English educator.
If you would like to contribute a guest essay to FictionMatters: Reading in Public, please reach out with a pitch email at fictionmattersbooks@gmail.com.
-Sara
As a passionate reader teaching in a time of distance learning, the distractions of smartphones, and the disheartening headlines about students reading less and less, I feel that I would fail in my duties as an English teacher if I only taught students to analyze symbolism and allusion and simile instead of also learning to love reading for the sake of stories and character. This conviction led to the creation of my independent reading project, an assignment that has come to define my classroom. Each quarter, my students are asked to pick one book of their choice to read and then review in podcast, blog, or video format. The only requirement was that the book be appropriate to their age-level and be something that interested them. As my students slowly explored the wide world of reading, I, too, found that my reading became more fun, enjoyable, and fulfilling as I took the lessons I instilled in my students to heart.
This list is a look into the four guidelines that I recommend to my students that also significantly improved my reading life. If you’ve felt stumped, slumped, intimidated, or generally uninspired in your reading, this is a message for you or the reluctant readers in your life.
Guideline #1: Explore your “why.”
When my students are first choosing what to read, I encourage them to explore their “why.” Why does this book appeal to them? What about it is interesting and engaging? Finding books that are a good match for your interests and mood can help you to move books off of your TBR shelf and to avoid DNF-ing books whose buzz caught your eye1. If I’m in a slump, I might ask myself what is occupying my interest at the moment and find things related to it. At the moment, I’m curious about student success, so I’ve been exploring books like The Anxious Generation and Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. A few weeks before I was interested in modern medicine and read Ten Drugs: How Plants, Powders, and Pills Have Shaped the History of Medicine and Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted. Sometimes an interest in a celebrity drives me to pick up an author-narrated memoir. Consider what’s grabbing your attention outside of books and bring that into your reading life. Are you loving historical dramas? I bet you could find a book that explores that period of history. Are you loving all things winter and Christmas? I bet you can find a cozy, Hallmark-inspired book.
Guideline #2: Don’t limit reading to best-sellers, award-winners, and the traditional Western canon.
The reading that fills my life is varied, and I wanted my students to experience the freedom to choose their pleasure without judgment. Reading is reading, and reading makes you a reader. Period. If you read to impress someone or pick up a book because “you’re supposed to,” the joy of exploration and personal passion evaporates. Many of my students found or renewed their love of reading through young adult fiction, romance, science fiction, and other genre-based fiction that is often looked at as insubstantial, juvenile, or somehow unworthy of praise.
Whenever I’m stuck in a reading rut, I find myself gravitating towards genre-fiction. While literary fiction, memoir, and investigative journalism get my mind working, I don’t only read to learn. I also read to relax, to escape, to unwind. Life is stressful, and I often want something lighter. I devour Emily Henry, Abby Jiminez, Talia Hibbert, and other modern romance novelists who promise me a happily ever after. My favorite book series of all time is the young adult fantasy Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater, and Stiefvater’s work has single-handedly shaped my writing more than any other author. If I hadn't read The Hunger Games, Ranger’s Apprentice, Percy Jackson, Divergent, and other popular young adult dystopian and fantasy books, I would never have become a lifelong reader. I want my students to experience the same joy in discovery. Yes, I found enjoyment in The Grapes of Wrath and Tale of Two Cities, but those were not the books that followed me in my heart and in my moving boxes. Romance and young adult and fantasy and science fiction can all explore complex, relevant, relatable topics while also having predictably soothing patterns and tropes.
Guideline #3: Format is irrelevant.
Many of my students are surprised that they can pick graphic novels or manga as their independent reading project books as many people view these works as “easy” reading or “cheating” in a way. But graphic novels are not simplified stories with pictures. They are a multimedia, immersive storytelling genre that have the same plot, character development, and literary merit as a more traditional story. I know this from personal experience. My younger brother has Asperger’s syndrome2 and is dyslexic. When my mom homeschooled him, they explored classics such as Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn through their graphic novel counterparts to make the stories more engaging for him3. Similarly, my reluctant reader of a brother reads heaps of mangas and tells me with passion about the complex stories and explorations of grief, loss, and friendship that are made even richer with the beautiful illustrations. In my “Writer’s About Writing” course in college, we read the graphic memoir Fun Home and could discuss at length the writer’s choices just as we did with the traditional memoir One Writer’s Beginnings. Our Fun Home conversation had an added richness because we also had to take into account the illustrations.
Many of my students gravitated towards March as a summer reading option and felt that it was easier to approach because of the images and slim size. In the process of reading, they learned about a Civil Rights hero they hadn’t learned about in their history classes. If nonfiction seems daunting—and I know that those door-stopping biographies often can—consider immersing yourself in a graphic novel like Maus or They Called Us Enemy. If classic literature seems daunting, and I know that tackling the intricacies of it unassisted often is, then consider exploring it through a graphic novel. If you enjoy anime or video games, the manga that inspired it or complement it could be your next rabbit hole.
In the same vein, audiobooks are such a helpful tool to approach intimidating books and to fit more reading into your busy life. I read Their Eyes Were Watching God as an audiobook before I read it as a physical copy, and it helped me to pick up more of the beautiful, lyrical language and the humor that can be difficult to decipher in the dialect after a first read. My students just finished reading To Kill a Mockingbird, and the audiobook has been a helpful tool for some of them as they explore the unfamiliar dialect. Skilled narration helps to bring the drama of dialogue and character-driven novels to life.
I’ve taken this lesson into my own reading life. As much as I want to curl up with a book when I get home from work, there are errands to run, dinner to cook, laundry to fold, and dishes to wash. Putting my headphones in and listening to a book makes the quiet of the house disappear, and the chores I wasn’t looking forward to become a personal moment to slip away into a story. I even have favorite narrators and get so excited when I see they worked on a recording. Do yourself a favor and listen to Julia Whelan’s Thank You For Listening; you can thank me later. Full-cast recordings are the greatest treat of all. Stories with multiple points of view and storylines like There, There or an oral history like Daisy Jones and the Six feel like they’re best consumed with the multitude of voices.
Guideline #4: Reading is more fun when it’s part of a community.
I have my students create blog posts, videos, or podcasts to review and summarize their independent reading books to introduce them to ways they can share their ideas with the wider reading community. I love looking to places like Instagram for book recommendations, and blogs and newsletters like FictionMatters have moved books onto and up my TBR list. Showing students that social media is buzzing with book recommendations and conversations is important to sustaining their interest and passion. While writing analysis essays is an important part of our curriculum, it’s also important to remember that books can be discussed on TikTok comments, in book clubs, and on popular podcasts. It’s so much more fun to read a book when you know others are dying to discuss the twist ending, the sappy happily ever after, or the suspenseful cliff hanger. Being part of a reading community inspires me and exposes me to stories and authors I would not have heard about otherwise.
Ultimately, while there is a lot of anxiety (and even more headlines!) surrounding the crisis of reading, I think we need to remember that students are people too. They want to be entertained. They want to feel something. They want to feel understood. And, yes, they want to learn. Reading can do all of those things for us; it’s just a matter of finding the right book.
Katie Brownfiel has taught at the middle and high school levels at both public and private institutions. She currently teaches secondary English at a college preparatory school in Guam. You can follow her reading journey on her blog, Katie Reads.
Sara’s note: I recently shared my own thoughts about how knowing my reading “why’s” helps me choose better books.
Sara’s note: While the APA has moved away from this terminology, this is the term Katie’s brother most adequately feels describes his experience.
Sara’s note: There are so many classics available in graphic novel format. I think this is a great option for young readers as well as for adults who might want to revisit the classics in their own way!
Just downloaded Thank You For Listening! So excited to listen :)
I love this SO much. Thank you for it!!