So what does it take to get a 5th grader to read independently?

On Friday mornings I have sixteen 5th graders that visit the library. In spite of the fact that we are now in the second half of the year and most of these kids are too big for the room and are beginning to get the “I know everything 5th grade attitude,” I love them all. However, they continue to surprise me (and frighten me) with some of their comments. Let me give you an example of a discussion that took place yesterday.

On February 11 we will have a pizza party and vote for our favorite books from the list of SC Children’s Book Award Nominees. Students must read at least five books to vote for their favorite book. If they read more than five there are different levels of incentives. To receive a $10.00 gift certificate to the Scholastic Book Fair they must read all 20 nominees.

I asked the group how many of them had read at least five so I could get a count of participants and know how much pizza to get. I saw a show of hands of about 6 students and then I received some of the typical responses that I expected:
“The books are too long.”
“I don’t have time to read.”
“I didn’t want to do it this year.”
“I don’t like reading.”
“We have to read in class all the time.”

But the responses that surprised me were--
“Can someone read the books to me?”
“Is it OK if I read the books to Kathleen?”
“Could I read one page and she reads one page?”

These are not students with any kind of reading disability. In fact, the one who asked if she could read to Kathleen had already read all 20 books. So what does it take to get a child to sit down independently and read five books? They were told about the challenge in August. They had seven months to figure out how to read five books and yet many of them did not participate in the challenge. Of course, it is an optional assignment. All library activities are more or less optional. As we get closer to the date of the pizza party more students wish they had read the books, especially because the pizza is different from the school lunch pizza and they want to be part of the party, but there is no independent motivation for them to read.

So what does it take to change this attitude? Is it OK to let a parent read to a 5th grader? Would any parent want to and have the time for this task? Are we disabling our students by giving them only assigned reading? Does anyone ask students to read on their own and submit a book report? Shouldn’t 5th graders know how to write a book review?

One or two students asked if they could listen to the books on CD or cassette. Yes, absolutely. I believe that audio books work better for some students. Unfortunately, our library does not have any audio books and when I checked the public library catalogue I could only find one available as an ebook. Oh, how I wish I had money for Playaways.

Comments anyone?