Constantly striving to improve literacy outcomes means continually turning to evidenced based programs and peer-reviewed research. With the habit of reading frequently cited as a goal of education and a foundational global competency, the Library, together with the English faculty, launched the Wide Reading program (WRP) for Years 7 - 8. The program ensures that students can easily engage and access the books that will provide reading experiences to build the wide reading habit.  

Whisken (2018) defines wide reading of literature as sustained reading engagement for pleasure across a variety of fiction and non-fiction text genres and forms, in increasing complexity and subject matter. It builds students’ abilities to stay immersed in text for greater periods of time, and so improving their vocabulary and comprehension. Wide reading also enables understanding of multiple different perspectives and situations and helps expand their ideas, to think in different ways and reflect more deeply.

Each class has a scheduled WRP session once every cycle in the Library, where students are encouraged to read widely by selecting books that appeal to them. Peer recommendations are a major strategy in the WRP, which also encourages reading as a social activity. Students are accountable for their reading and reflecting through their Wide Reading Journals, where they record the books they read and respond to a journal prompt each session.

Wide reading not only enhances subject learning across the entire educational frame but is also an essential lifelong habit for enjoyment and for informative and reflective engagement with the world. In secondary school, students move from “middle-year fiction” to “young adult” (YA) fiction where a new level of complex themes opens to them. YA literature not only helps our teen readers make sense of the world, but also enables development of empathy for others and changes perspectives about students’ own and others’ circumstances.

One challenge is that some students have developed a negative view of their own reading abilities. The way through this is to match students with the books that relate to their points of interest, whether this be genre, theme or subject. Graphic novels are also a fantastic entry point for reacquainting students with their love of story. The beauty of YA literature is that it is not didactic, rather it simply shows readers that they are not alone in their feelings and experiences; this is very powerful from a wellbeing perspective. 

With so many other things central to the lives of teenagers, we all have a role to play in modelling that reading is enjoyable and worthy of our time. The English teachers have an infectious enthusiasm for both reading and for the titles they are recommending. Through modelling their own love of books, they help to make reading socially acceptable. Ultimately, our aim with the Wide Reading program is to create readers. To do this, firstly students must see themselves as readers an as part of a vibrant reading culture. In our glued-to-screen society there are many barriers to overcome, but one that we are overcoming, one book at a time. 

Whisken, A. (2021). Framework for whole school wide reading practice. Synergy, 19(1). Retrieved from https://slav.vic.edu.au/index.php/Synergy/article/view/488

Siana Einfeld – Teacher Librarian