Kids are still reading, according to this data gathered by Rennaissance learning. They’ve asked a bunch of kids in grades 1-12 what they’ve read, and what their favorite books were. Then they rank the books mentioned 1-20 in each grade. I remember reading most of these books myself, back in the day when I was a little tyke. However, all the lists look eerily similar, meaning that all the kids in all the grades are pretty much reading the same books. I was a weird kid and a read Gone with the Wind in 5th grade. But I read Charlotte’s Web and Little House on the Prarie when I was in 1st grade. This book doesn’t appear on the list until 3rd grade. And the books kids read from grades 4-7 are all eerily similar: The Giver, Number the Stars, the Harry Potter Series, and Hatchet are all on the top twenty consistently. In 8th grade, kids read the Outsiders a lot.
Why are the standards of reading being lowered slowly? Why are these kids, supposedly maturing and learning, all reading at the same level? In the statisitcs for 9-12 grades, all the books are novellas, including Animal Farm, Of Mice and Men, and Lord of the Flies. Another thing I noticed was that the books were all painfully and obviously assigned by teachers- would kids that age, being told what To Kill a Mockingbird is about, choose it over a book by Stephen King? Why aren’t girls in 8th grade reading more Judy Blume? Why aren’t the boys reading Tolkien?
I hate to be cliche and blame today’s culture for the woeful state of today’s elementary reading levels. But reading is what I did as a child for fun. (OMG why isn’t the Babysitter’s Club or the Boxcar Children on these lists?) And now kids have so many more choices where they can get their fun. Interestingly enough, the Harry Potter books are all over this list, but they don’t take top honors; I also doubt they are assigned in schools.
How boring is English class in High School these days? I don’t even know what kind of books would motivate kids to get into reading that late in the game. Maybe some Hemmingway because of the short sentences?
2 responses so far ↓
1 Peter // May 5, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Back when I was a little dyke I only read Virgil. Nine times. I was close reading Tolstoy while you were feeling up training bras.
2 monikaostrowski // May 5, 2008 at 8:23 pm
you’re still a little dyke.
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