Reading WITHOUT Meaning

I am a reader. I am passionate about reading and even more passionate about teachingfuture readers to understand its power, complexity, and beauty.It is magical to watch them as they turn the squiggles on the page (or screen) into joyous,personal meaning.That's what it's all about, right? Why we teach students about the squiggles on the pages,the letters, the sounds, and the words they represent...so they can get to meaning?Reading is a meaning-making process. Without meaning, what would be the point?Yet, imagine what your life as a reader would be like, WITHOUT meaning:You could read the words accurately, fluently, even with intonation and proper phrasing:

The wogglily thenk mired zurrely bire the herp.

You could describe/define attributes of those words:

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Is "woggily" a noun, verb, or adjective? (Hint: an adjective)

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What about "zurrely"?You could answer questions about the words you read:

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What kind of thenk was it? (Hint: A woggily one, right?)

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How did the thenk mire the herp?

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Where was the thenk?Even if you could do all of that really, really, really, really well....what would be the point, if

you couldn’t c

onnect to, share, understand, relate to, compare, be impacted by, envision,create, elaborate, explore, laugh at, cry over, question, become empowered by, bemotivated because of, write about, present, discover, reread, re-imagine, hold dear, hangonto, or be forever changed because of those words!Imagine what

your

life as a reader would be like without meaning?

Heartbreak at Home

"Reading changes your life. Reading unlocks worlds unknown or forgotten, takingtravelers around the world and through time. Reading helps you escape the confines ofschool and pursue your own education. Through characters - the saints and sinners, realor imagined-reading shows you how to be a better human being."The Book WhispererReal readers get this. We read for the escape. We read to get lost, and read to be found.We read to learn new things and discover what has not yet been considered. We read forhope, for love, for inspiration. We read to sustain our beliefs, to vanquish our doubts, tosearch for our dreams. We read because we need to believe in the impossible and knowthat there is wonder in the world. We understand at the deepest level the power of books.We have experienced the laughter, the tears, the enlightenment, the transformations, andare forever changed by the process.For the last two decades, I have spent my time making sure that as I teach students theskills and strategies of reading, they leave my classroom knowing the elements thatmake the work of reading worth it. Which makes the following conversation even moredifficult to share.I sat across from my teenage son, watching him"get through" his weekly reading assignment.You know the one:

Monday

: Vocabulary Work

Tuesday

: Plot Structure- name thecharacters, setting, three events...

Wednesday

: Strategy Time - this weekstar -" Inferring"

Thursday

: 59 questions to answer

Friday

: Ahhh - "The extension activity" Here's where it gets really exciting -Create a new book cover? Make a poster of your favorite scene? Or, my all timefavorite - the shoe box diaramma!