Chapter 2 and Interest Surveys

         I teach Language Arts to two fourth grade classes this year. That means that I have 40+ readers. They run the gamut from struggling readers, to below-grade level readers, enthusiastic readers, and truly resistant readers. Many of my resistant readers are struggling learners whether it be due to a diagnosed disability, lack of English language, or poor decoding skills, but the resistant readers I find to be the most challenging are those "who can read but chose not to." I selected a reader like this in my class named Danny* and I know that to help him and other readers like him I must "know books as well as [the] reader in order to find just the right books for them" (Short et al., 2014, p. 26).
       
      Through observation I have noticed that Danny has some trouble focusing and at times during independent reading can be found gesturing to his friends in order to make them laugh. After about 3 weeks of school he has only finished one book despite the fact that we have at least 20 minutes of independent reading time in class each day and students are asked to read for another 25 minutes each night at home. He has never expressed a dislike for reading, but it seems to him to be more of a chore than something he enjoys. His behaviors during reading made him a prime candidate in my mind to get to know as a reader through the use of an interest survey.

      What shocked me right off the bat is that without hesitation Danny circled "YES" for the first question which asked "Do you like to read?" When I asked him to elaborate he matter of fact-ly told me that he has no problem with reading. What he does not like is when he is asked to respond to his book whether it be in the form of a post-it or discussing his reading with a partner. We then began to work on the questions related to specific books and he kept coming back to the Goosebumps series by R.L Stein. He shared that he liked them because they could be "really intense, scary, and suspenseful." The classroom library has many Goosebumps books and Danny was reading one at the time of the survey.

     What I did not find surprising based on his behavior was Danny's response to one of the last questions on the survey. Danny wrote "I read best when it is quiet and I am alone with no distractions." It was great to see that Danny has the self-awareness to know that he gets easily distracted, but this worries me as an educator because the classroom is almost eerily quiet and if he is still distracted I need to be doing something more for him. Engaging him in the right type of book may be the first of many steps to supporting him as a reader. Here are some of my recommendations for Danny based on his interest survey and response to read aloud texts in the classroom:

Donbavand, T. (2008). Scream Street: Fang of the Vampire. Somerville: Massachusetts. Candlewick Press. 

Klise, K. (2010). Dying to Meet You. New York: New York. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Almond, D. (2001). Skellig. New York: New York. Laurel Leaf.

Birney, B. (2005). The World According to Humphrey. New York: New York. Penguin Young Readers Group.

Horowitz, Anthony. (2006). horowitz Horror: Stories You'll Wish You'd Never Read. New York: New York. Philomel Books.