Feature rough draft

A book can hold the adventure of a lifetime. Readers can fall in love, laugh, cry, defeat an army or kiss the prince without ever leaving the comfort of their own home, all through a single book. But the magic is fading fast.
The villain in this story has plagued readers for years, inducing gut-churning dread in children and teenagers alike: assigned reading. Those two little words carry some heavy baggage, and have drawn a distinct line between pleasure-reading and school-reading, a line which many students seem to reluctant to cross.
According to a study conducted by Dayton University, 58% of the adult U.S. population never read a book after leaving school, and that number appears to be increasing. What this means is that once the dreaded assigned-reading phase is over, most adults are content to part ways with the book. Even more alarming is that in the same study it was reported that 80% of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year. Not only are adults not reading, they’re passing the habit on to the new generation.
Several book professionals told the Boston Globe’s David Mehegan that introducing reading to children at a young age is the key to reading for pleasure in adulthood.
So how do we make reading fun before it becomes a chore? First of all, give students a choice; let them decide what they want to read.
“Knowing that they have to read a specific book takes away half the fun,” said Jessica Costa, a sixth grade student-teacher at Tecumseh Middle School. At the middle school age, there are no assigned “classic” books designated to English classes, and teachers are free to choose their own reading lists. Sounds like the perfect time to have a little fun.
“We make it a competition,” Costa said. “We see which class can read the most books in nine weeks, and the winner has a little party.” They also form “mini book clubs,” where each group of students is allowed to choose a book they want to read and later share it with the rest of the class.
While this seems like a step in the right direction, inching ever closer towards fun, Costa’s students hit a major roadblock with the introduction of two new little words: Accelerated Reading.
Here’s the rundown: the AR system is designed to make sure students are reading books appropriate for their level. Students are first given a test to determine their reading level, and then choose from specific books that have been designated appropriate for their particular level. Each book is worth a certain amount of points, and each student is responsible for fulfilling a number of points. To reward all the hard work, the kids then get to take a test over their level-suitable book.
The system was introduced to Tecumseh Middle School just last year, but sadly the results thus far haven’t seen improvement in children’s reading activities.
“There’s a couple of kids who are outside of their points, but it’s very rare, “Costa said,
The system’s intentions may be good, but in reality it is simply putting up another hurtle for students’ to jump in order to read what they want.
“It discourages kids, because they have to get this certain number of points. And if they want to read a book higher than their reading level, they have to ask their teacher. It’s embarrassing if they say no,” said Costa.
Simply reading a book has suddenly become very complicated. Whether it’s assigned reading or accelerated reading, the fact is it’s stripping the fun from a book and taking the imagination out of reading.