I Hate to Read

Just what is the Writing Center up to? Take a look below to learn about our I Hate to Read book shelf! It's a bit different, and focuses on Trades and Hobbies, with many cool books and magazines that our students may check out for their independent reading. 

We can use your help! If you are interested in donating any new or used materials, or want to know what titles we have, please click on the I Hate to Read Logo.

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Introducing the I Hate to Read Bookshelf and Reading Corner:

One of the most important skills a person needs in life, is the ability to read and comprehend text. A person with no ambition to become a published writer, or an avid reader, still must be able to read and comprehend a myriad of documents like tax forms, bills, prescription labels, their children’s report cards, etc. And while it is possible to make it through life without these skills, the level of success a person feels is connected to their self-confidence, which is rooted in a person’s level of understanding.

It is understandable that a major focus at Flathead High School is to ensure that each student is able to reach proficiency in reading and comprehension for their grade level. Their success in every other class depends on it.

There is a stigma associated with low reading fluency; however, it often is not a good measure of intelligence or even a way to judge vocabulary levels. Often, low proficiency readers have very good vocabularies. Why the difficulty reading? They haven’t practiced enough to become familiar with what those words look like in print.

It can be a sad chain of events that stops a child from practicing their reading, usually beginning with embarrassment and lack of confidence in their own abilities. It’s easy to spend more time practicing basketball or video game skills when a child feels more accomplished in those areas.

A child practicing to achieve success is the goal every parent, teacher, and coach who is in the business of educating children. It’s nice when the practice can be fun; however, fun isn’t necessarily the key—interest is. If a person is interested and curious, they will invest the practice time necessary to achieve success.

That is the thinking behind a new section in the Flathead High School Writing Center. Made possible by a Kalispell Education Foundation Grant, there is now an “I Hate to Read" bookshelf and reading area available to all students who are interested in a different type of reading. There is a section on homesteading and small scale farming, including beekeeping, raising chickens, and gardening. Another section has several books relating to camping and wilderness survival. Home repair, wiring, plumbing, carpentry. Horses and rodeo. Sailing, rock climbing, fly fishing, freshwater fishing, hunting and butchering deer. The poetry section is purported to “make your English Teacher cringe.” The Guinness Book of World Records is always a fun source of interesting information, and you are guaranteed to hear many snickers as the students read the recounts of incredibly bad choices made by the winners of the Darwin Awards.

Another very full section contains a wide variety of magazines: Car & Driver, Classic Car, Hemming’s Motor Trend, Smithsonian, Popular Mechanics, Digital Machinist, Machinist’s Workshop, WIRED, All About Animals, and Montana Outdoors.

Eventually, topics will grow to include auto mechanics, bicycle repair, cooking, and some arts and crafts.

If you have ideas for books on practical and useful subjects, Please get in touch with the FHS Writing Center—we’d love to improve upon a great idea!

 

Flathead High School Writing Center
Tracey Johnson, Writing Center Specialist
406 751 3500 ext. 3509