Affective Deminsions of Reading

I know that I am a slow reader, but I still regard myself as a good reader. Most days I find myself reading news articles, scientific articles, or textbooks but I occasionally get the chance to sit down and read a good fiction novel. It wasn’t always like this, I used to read for fun far more than I do today, but the overwhelm amount of text required for some courses at the university level leave little time for reading for pleasure. An excellent way to foster your reading is to develop an interest in the subject you are reading about.

When I was young, before my elementary school years, my mother would read to me, and I would try and follow along with the words. It was exciting and it seemed like it was the cool thing to do. It made me want to read more. In kindergarten, the cool thing to do was read. We had a tiny little library in the class room and everyone would rush over to their favorite books during reading time. Reading in middle school was pretty much the same experience. Among my friends, reading fantasy action adventures were the thing. This changed about the time I got my first serious assigned reading. To Kill a Mocking Bird was required in my Junior High English class. I could not get into the book; I had absolutely no interest in it. When we were allowed to pick our own literature in high school, I picked Insomnia By Stephen King. It was my first big trip back into reading for fun. After that I started reading a lot more again, mostly on breaks between classes and to kill time wherever I could.

In order to foster a climate where students can enjoy reading about physics, they have to first develop an interest in the subject itself. In my methods class, we learn that teaching science in a learner-centered way requires that the teacher create fun lessons that play on students current interests. By building a student’s interest in physics by using their current interests as a step stone, the students will be more engaged by the scientific texts.