Education Book Reviews

Gallagher, Kelly (2003) Reading Reasons: Motivational Mini-Lessons for Middle and High School. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.

The publisher's web page claims
In Reading Reasons, Kelly Gallagher offers a series of mini-lessons specifically tailored to motivate middle and high school students to read, and in doing so, to help them understand the importance and relevance reading will take in their lives. This book introduces and explains in detail nine specific "real-world" reasons why students should be readers. The book contains forty practical, classroom-tested and reproducible mini-lessons that get to the heart of reading motivation and that can be used immediately in English - as well as other content-area - classrooms. These easy-to-use motivational lessons serve as weekly reading "booster shots" that help maintain reading enthusiasm.(Stenhouse web page)

Now days,teachers are bombarded with teaching the standards. They are overwhelmed with meeting the requirements set forth by the State and District. Motivating them to read can seem like an additional and unnecessary task. I agree with Gallagher on the importance of motivating students who ask "Why do I have to read?" The lessons covered in this book are applicable to daily living situations thus providing “able” students with a better understanding of why reading is important. The reasons the author provides are wonderful and convincing for those students who can be reached by engaging them educationally. However, most of the mini-lessons are suitable only for students who are able to read at least at grade level. The book does not explain how to modify the lessons in order to meet the needs of all learning abilities. It does not target all student populations, such as students who are in intervention classes or special education. It is these students who often ask “why do I have to read?” The book also does not target English language learners and other student populations who may need differentiated instruction to comprehend the meaning of the lessons in the book. Gallagher's failure to reach out to the students most likely to need help, makes the book a disappointment.

References

Stenhouse Publishers online catalog. Retrieved 5/3/04 from http://www.stenhouse.com/storefront/scripts/product/ProductView.asp?prodID=0356

Pages: 180     Price: $19.50     ISBN: 1-57110-356-2

Reviewed by Maria Hernandez-Becerra, St. Mary’s College of California.

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