The Importance of Reading:What’s in it for me?

Reading and Writing declined on the S.A.T. AGAIN…

The Scary Truth About Reading Levels

Some Facts…

“Only about half of our nation’s ACT-tested high school students are ready for college-level reading.”

- American College Testing, 2006

At 2 year community colleges, 22% and 27% freshmen recommended for remedial classes.

- National Center for Educational Statistics 2003

2005-06 Lexile Framework® for Reading Study Summary of Text Lexile Measures

600

800

1000

1400

1600

1200

Text

Lex

ile

Mea

sure

(L

)

HighSchool

Literature

CollegeLiterature

HighSchool

Textbooks

CollegeTextbooks

Military PersonalUse

Entry-LevelOccupations

SAT 1,ACT,AP*

* Source of National Test Data: MetaMetrics

Interquartile Ranges Shown (25% - 75%)

Research shows that teens’ priorities are…

Why are we behind?

How teens are spending their time…

Teens place reading at the bottom of their to-do lists.

There is some good news…

Making time for reading can …

Gallagher, K. 2003

^ How well they can read compared to others who took the test.

…amp up your vocabulary and…

Help you learn more and reduce stress93% of studies show that reading for enjoyment helps with reading comprehension more than whole-class reading instruction (Gallagher).

Reading an engrossing book for just six minutes can help reduce stress by 60% (Robbins).

Help you understand others betterReading stories about others will

help your relationships. Associate Professor of Psychology Raymond Mar explains, “the network of brain regions activated during story comprehension are the same as those that help you understand what other people are thinking and feeling” (Robbins).

Make you better at mathAccording to the Institute of Education in

London, reading can even make you better at math. Kids who read for pleasure not only excel in literature, but excel in math too (Robbins).

Still not persuaded?

$$ Reading will make you rich $$

And, it shouldn’t be hard!According to Richard Allington, reading at your reading level makes you a better reader (qtd. in Kittle)

• Percentage of time should students be independently reading books at these levels:• Easy-Independent - 85%• Instructional Reading- 15%• Challenging- 0%

So, what’s in it for you? Less stress, better relationships, more smarts and money.

What are you going to read?

Works CitedDoubleday, Justin. “Earnings Gap Narrows,

but College Education Still Pays, Report Says.” The Chronicle of Higher Education. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 07 Oct. 2013. Web. 14. Aug. 2014.

Gallagher, Kelly. 2009. Readicide. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.

Kittle, Penny. 2013. Book Love. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Robbins, Sarah J. “Remember Reading?” Real Simple. June 2014: 107-10. Print.