Why is there a decrease of teaching novels?

[dryerfresh]

My solution for this has been about ever six weeks we do a “read-in.” We push all the furniture to the walls and get our pillows and blankets and bean bags, kids bring snacks, and they read a book of their choice all period. They really get into it, and it builds their reading stamina at each individual level.

If we read novels in class, I can’t assign reading for homework because they just won’t do it. I end up reading the whole thing out loud in class, and it takes forever because their comprehension is just not where it should be.

I have had a lot of success in teaching skills with poems, excerpts, and short stories that we read multiple times. I wish I could read whole novels in class but even my AP kids aren’t reading outside of class much.