How much should high school English teachers require their students to read independently, in your opinion?

@VioletRayne What level do you teach?

@33person elementary. I’ve taught anywhere from Kinder all the way to 6th grade. Generally, we don’t start requiring reading until 3rd grade. It gets more intensive in jr high, but I’ve no experience with that.

@VioletRayne I see. In high school, most books would be novels of more than 200 pages, but I still think it's doable.

@33person In high school I completed all the class required reading and comprehension exams in the 1st quarter. I literally had a free period for 4semesters. I think they don’t require kids to read enough. I’m not a genius by any standard.

@VioletRayne I'll at least say this: they don't require kids to read enough in order for their reading ability to keep up with their grade level. Now, in high school honors courses, they usually study something like 5-6 novels a year or something, plus maybe one independent reading novel per quarter. Still not enough, really, because studies show students should be reading at least 90 minutes a day. Now, when each novel is being studied, the class usually spends about 2-3 weeks studying it. So would you say they should be required to read one book a week on their own in addition to whatever novel is being studied in class?

@33person My niece is in AP English at her high school and they have summer reading lists and study way more that 5-6 novels a year. She went through most of the “classics”. I know because I helped her with Shakespeare and Bronte.

@VioletRayne Good! How much did she have to read?

@33person Im not sure the exact amount but I’m sure she read at least 15-20 required novels, plus 10 over the summer from the required reading list.

@VioletRayne That seems pretty good to me. I'm impressed!

@33person Yeah, she’s at a pretty decent school. Especially to be a public school.