SUMMARY OF FINDINGS FROM CYCLE 1

Thanks to the support and participation of the two teachers and their Year 9 classes in 2024, I collected an enormous amount of data from the Learning to Love Reading pilot programme last year. Below is embedded the summary of the findings that came out of the observations, surveys, and interviews, extracted from the full report that I made available to the school.

The highlights are as follows:

• The data shows modest but detectable positive effects instead of the usual expected high school drop in Reading for Pleasure engagement;

  • A slight improvement in most Y9 students’ self-reported attitudes towards reading, and

  • A slight increase in the students’ reported number of books read compared to Y8.

• Some students experienced significant personal improvement in their relationship with reading, one going from “hating” to “loving” and others going from "hating" to "not minding" reading.

• The digital and social aspects of the programme were effective despite not being leveraged to their full potential, and

• The limited application of the 'time' aspect in 2024 (mostly limited to the first couple of terms) suggests there is potential for significant further improvement in 2025.

Towards the end of the summary, I have included a list of Key Takeaways that all English teacher, librarians, and whānau can refer to when supporting their own teens with reading.

I also highly recommend the summary of Teacher C’s parallel implementation of the programme’s principles in her 11ENG class, as she reported some extremely encouraging results in re-engaging her Y11s with reading that were not included in the main data set.

INTRODUCTION PHASE

Establishing the reading community and teaching essential skills to support students' participation, agency, and access

Students are introduced to high school English with a unit that explicitly validates all forms of stories (texts) through classroom exercises and conversation.

During their first library period, students are welcomed into the school library with a guided tour of the room and physical facilities, and are encouraged to independently explore the layout and shelving system through a scavenger hunt. They are explicitly scaffolded and encouraged to practise skills and strategies to find and identify books that may interest them through title, author, genre, and cover interpretation.

During a different lesson, students are introduced to the library's website and ebook/audiobook platform with a guided tour projected onto the board in class, and then are given another scavenger hunt activity to locate different types of books and resources on the site/app.

Students participate in activities such as "personality quizzes" and guided conversations which are designed to help them identify and describe different types of texts (stories) that they personally find interesting and enjoyable. These texts include movies, games, types of social media posts, TV shows and YouTube channels. They learn how to name and describe the types of stories they enjoy based on characters, events, and ideas, and are introduced to (or reminded of) the idea of 'genre'.

They are then supported to make comparisons and links between their preferred types of entertainment and books which have the most similarities. For example:

• students who like playing action/fighting games are likely to enjoy action/war books;

• students who like watching funny 'fail' compilations online are likely to enjoy contemporary humour books (e.g. those by Jeff Kinney, David Walliams, Anh Do);

• students who prefer watching (and playing) sports events are likely to enjoy books with characters involved in sports and sports biographies; 

• students who enjoy watching Anime are likely to enjoy Manga and fantasy; 

• and so on.

Using their top 3 responses, students find others in the class with matching/similar genre interests, their "Book Buddies". Having the answers written down is a prop and support for shyer students, making it quicker and easier to find 'matches', and provides an entry point into conversation, helping to establish early 'community' connections.

Students are also challenged to use their existing subconscious expertise in figuring out what movies, TV shows, games, and books are about based on their posters and covers. For example, a slideshow multichoice quiz challenging the students to identify the genre of a series of texts; then explicit breaking-down of the clues they subconsciously used to figure out that a particular movie is a horror film, or that a game is probably science fiction, and that a book is probably about romance and aimed at adults. 

The students gain significant confidence through the validation that they already have a lot of the skills they need to find a story they are interested in, based on the clues they see on the cover.

Teachers participate in these activities as well, discussing their own story preferences, sharing their thoughts (good and bad) on recent reads. This is important for modelling reading habits, social/verbal skills, appropriate listening & questioning strategies, and being vulnerable about their own interests in a safe way.

The teachers are, after all, also members of the learning and reading community.

Educational Design Intentions:

During this phase, students are encouraged to value all types of stories and to understand that as there is such a vast variety of books, there will be something out there for them to enjoy. Not all books are "boring"!

The fun, low-stakes, class-based activities and challenges are designed to encourage students to start getting to know one another, and to learn the vocabulary they need in order to participate in conversations based on books (and other texts). This lays the foundation for the classroom learning and reading community.

It is also essential to explicitly teach the content and skill knowledge that teens need to be able to find and access books that will appeal to them. Not only do we need to teach them how to find books on the shelf (it's not like clicking the top result on Google, after all), but to consciously (and quickly!) consider and judge whether a book is likely to appeal to them. Walking into a library, one of which they may have never or very rarely visited before, and seeing thousands of options, mostly spine-outward, can be very overwhelming and, indeed, paralysing. Similarly, searching the website catalogue present so many results, observations and teacher reports show that some students spend most of the lesson just trying to choose.

MAIN PHASE

Book Chats & Audiobook Clubs: Developing the reading community through in-person and online social activities, and multimedia reading options

Over Term 1, students continue to familiarise themselves with the school, the library, and their English classmates. The teacher builds socialisation opportunities into their lessons through scaffolded conversations, or "Book Chats", with friends, family, and peers.

For example, an early homework task is to have a 5 to 10 minute conversation, using a scaffolded series of suggested "interview" questions, with a friend or family about their story and reading interests.

During library periods, socialisation opportunities are provided through Book Chats. Students are in small groups with a card of question prompts to choose from. They are often given 5-10 minutes at the start of each reading period in the library to converse with their peers about books they have or have not enjoyed, and to share recommendations and opinions.

During this pilot programme, Teacher A developed a short 'exit card' for a lesson prior to the library period. Based on the students' answers, she assigned small groups for the Book Chats, grouping students with similar answers together, whilst avoiding or promoting certain personality combinations.

Teacher B regularly begins every library period giving her own 10 minute Book Talk to the students about whatever she is currently reading, encouraging questions and comments from the students about the book and her thoughts on it.

In Term 2, now the students are more familiar and comfortable with the EdTech platforms and apps used by their particular school, a new 'social media' style book sharing activity is introduced.

In a 'channel' or dedicated sub-page of the class's online site (e.g. Google Classroom or Microsoft Team), the teacher establishes a 'Reading Recommendations' area, where students can post about books they have enjoyed. Others can reply and react to these posts in a similar manner to social media apps, in the safer and moderated environment of the online classroom. 

Posting reading recommendations are sometimes used as a 'Do Now' in class, or at the beginning of the library period. Students can then refer to others' posts when looking for a new book to read, and it also prompts conversations between students about the books, their covers, similarities to other texts, worthiness of movie/TV adaptations, and so on.

An interesting pattern has also emerged; the students often will share a part of their book (a funny part, or an image) with their friends as they are reading; or students will sit together and read a book (usually image-heavy, such as a graphic novel or nonfiction text like Guinness Book of World Records) at the same time.

Across both classes, it is apparent that quite a few students desire social interactions during their reading time, not just at the beginning or end; so, to encourage their engagement with reading and to convince them there are many ways that books can have social benefits, I sought a multimedia solution.

HOW IT WORKS:

Each "audioreader" device has a book app that features the same library of audiobooks (see below for the list of titles in the pilot programme). These have been purchased and downloaded, so there is no need for connectivity, logging in, etc. All devices can be playing the same title at the same time, or any combination of the titles desired by each user or group. (Please see Further Resources for a breakdown of how this was set up and other considerations.)

The headphone splitter gadgets plug into the headphone jacks of each device, allowing up to five people to listen to the same audiobook at the same time. (Originally, small bluetooth speakers were trialled, but the speakers were either too quiet for the whole class to hear, or it was too noisy/distracting with multiple groups.)

NOTE: Students self-select what type of book and format they want to read during library; participation in the audiobook clubs is entirely optional but is being regularly enjoyed by about a third of each class. Interestingly, and very pleasingly, the students who are regularly taking part include reluctant readers as well as confident, higher-achieving readers.

Once the audiobook is playing, the device is locked (pause/play and volume controls are still available to the group via the lock screen and device buttons) and the students sit together as they listen. They have the option of reading along with the paperback copy, OR, they are offered a "fidget" option.

These fidget options include:

• "scruffy rainbow ball" (imitation Koosh™ balls)

• "pop-it" strips

• fidget cubes

• a blob of reusable adhesive putty (Blu-Tack™) - a non-staining, non-drying play dough alternative

• mini rainbow plastic coils (imitation Slinky™ toys)

• A5 colouring pages (featuring generic "mindful" geometric patterns) and pencils

(Squishy stress balls were briefly included, but did not have the longevity required... they were removed after one split and left ooze all over the table. Luckily no books, devices, or uniforms were harmed!)

Students may choose ONE fidget toy option, plus a blob of Blu-Tack and a colouring page, if they wish. There is one pencil case provided per group, if anyone wants to colour (interestingly, so far it appears that most students often end up colouring or making shapes out of the Blu-Tack after the novelty of the toy wears off).

At the end of the session, the student names, book title, timestamp, and (if paperbacks were used) page number for each club is recorded in the class notebook. The notebook is stored in the kit for easy access at the next reading session.

Because the same audiobooks are available on every device, the clubs do not have to use the same audioreader every time. Keeping a paper record prevents loss of progress when the devices are used by difference classes and students, and is independent of wifi issues, logins, or absent students on any given day.

At the time of writing, most students who try the audiobook club option are choosing to continue during the following library lessons, and others have joined in later. 

A few students are opting to use the audioreaders to read on their own, which (thus far) has not caused any issues as the number of devices has been enough for the number of students who want to use them.

Audiobook Choices

The selected titles for this first pilot programme are:

Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan - fantasy, action, some humour, contemporary

How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell (narrated by David Tennant) - fantasy, humour

Minecraft: The Island by Max Brooks (narrated by Jack Black) - gaming, adventure, humour

Robin Hood: Hacking, Heists, & Flaming Arrows by Robert Muchamore (author of C.H.E.R.U.B., the most popular series at this school for many years in a row) - action, adventure, some humour, contemporary

Billionaire Boy written and narrated by David Walliams - silly humour, contemporary

The World's Worst Teachers* written by David Walliams, a collection of ten short funny stories (multiple narrators)

*NOTE: After initial observations in the first term of the audiobook club, some students lost interest after several weeks because there was too much time in between each reading session (limited to scheduled library lessons only). In addition to exploring options for additional reading opportunities on other days of the week, the teachers and I discussed the need for shorter audio options, that students could finish in one to two sessions.

Shorter audiobooks that are appropriate for teens are apparently in short supply; however, due to the popularity of David Walliams' book Billionaire Boy, I chose to one of his other extremely popular collections of funny short stories to test this 'proof of concept'. At the time of writing (Week 4 Term 3) it has only just been added to the audiobook club 'library', so it is too soon to tell what impact that may have on students' engagement.

Educational Design Intentions:

ACCESS ISSUES

One of the most significant obstacles observed during the early stages of the programme was the difficulty the students had in simply choosing a title to read, either in paperback, ebook, or audiobook format. The paradox of choice led to indecision and, possibly, feelings of being overwhelmed or application as an avoidance tactic; for example, students were observed browsing online for books for over thirty minutes (more than half the lesson) without sampling any of the titles.

Other major challenges centred on device management. BYOD technical difficulties included: 

• low batteries

• glitchy wifi connections

• slow-to-boot laptops

• trouble pairing Bluetooth headphones with approved devices

• logins not working

• students forgetting how to access the elibrary

• the desired audiobook/ebook being already "issued" and therefore inaccessible to additional users

• distractions - playing games online, messaging, checking emails, completing other homework while "listening" to the book, etc.

It was obvious that for audiobooks to be a practical option for the students to access reading, an alternative was needed.

Additionally, a more limited but carefully curated selection of books would help students choose a title more quickly, whilst still having control over what they read.

SOCIAL FEATURES

Students had been observed looking over each other's shoulders, and interrupting each other to share parts of their book (e.g. funny or interesting descriptions, as well as images). Many students were more interested in talking with their friends than reading, and some were even trying to read the same physical book at the same time, regardless of size and practicality.

Therefore, enabling groups to read/listen to the same book at the same time without disturbing others in the class fulfils the adolescent need to know what their friends are doing, and enables them to share reactions to the text in real-time. It also helps filter out distractions from others in the class or library space; and both the teacher and researcher has observed that it has the additional benefit of calming and focusing the very students who are often causing the distractions in the first place.

OTHER ADVANTAGES

• Audiobooks can allow the eyes to rest, which is particularly relevant in a BYOD environment and rising concerns about children's screen time, especially in NZ and our extremely high adoption rates of BYOD

• Audiobooks allow students to fidget or do other things such as drawing (or, outside of the library/classroom, other activities such as walking or running) which provides relief from sitting still at a desk most of the day

• Even the "smart kids" or higher achievers and keen readers in one class have already explicitly said, without prompting, that they enjoy the audiobook option as it "gives them a break". After all, the intention is to promote reading for pleasure.