Reading IS FUNdamental!

Here's a conversation I had with students yesterday:  

(Picture 28 World Literature textbooks piled on a desk)

Student:  [genuinely shocked] "Miss, what's this?"

Me:  "A book!"

Student: "What are we going to do with it?"

Me:  "READ!"

Student:  "Miss, can't we watch a movie instead?"

Me:  <sigh>  "NO!  This is a literature class; not a movie class."

Several students: "But, miss..."

Me:  "Listen, if you can't read 3 pages of a story, then don't go to college next year.  We are reading!"

I had decided to read a 3-page excerpt from Don Quixote with my seniors and they practically revolted! Yeah, that's the sad state of my English 4 class and an ongoing problem in most of my classes.  My students don't read and don't understand why reading is necessary.  For anyone who doesn't think reading is important, here's my list of why reading matters:

1. Reading improves vocabulary. This skill is particularly important for my students in which nearly all are English language learners.
2. Reading develops logical thinking skills. Yeah, believe it or not - even reading fiction develops logical thinking.
3. Reading enhances concentration and discipline - something most of my students don't have.
4. Reading is how to obtain information.  People learn about the world through reading - fiction, non-fiction, blogs, newspapers, etc.     
5. Reading is FUN!  I will live and die by this statement. 

I struggle on a daily basis on how to engage my students in my classes and it's very frustrating when I am constantly getting pushback from students who apparently decide that they have choices in their high school education. Students don't understand the importance of reading and don't believe me when I explain the importance.  The only thing that relieves me ever so slightly is that this problem is not particular to my classroom or even my district.  My grad class this semester is a "reading for middle and high school" class and all 20 grad students struggle with the exact same issues in their classrooms that I struggle with in mine. 

Later during that same English 4 class, I had the following conversation with another student:

Female Student:  "Miss, what are we doing next?"

Me:  "Next week, we'll be starting this book - Jane Eyre." [showing her the book]

Female Student: [taking book from my hand] "Miss, this looks mad boring.  I know you said 'don't judge a book by its cover', but it does."

Me:  <small sigh> "Do you know what this book is about?"

Female Student:  "No."

Me: "It's about an orphan girl who goes to live at a terrible boarding school, grows up, becomes a governess and then falls in love with the master of the house."

Female Student:  "Oh, miss, that's exactly the type of book I like!"

Me: <another sigh>  "When will you learn to trust me?"

The funny thing is most of the stories that I read with my students they actually enjoy.  But I end up spending most of my class fighting with them about reading every story before we can settle down to read it.  Oh, and I can forget about having them read at home. Not happening! What's a teacher to do? Just keep on truckin'!

Updated - 1/26/13; 5:42pm:  I have found the silver lining to the fact that my students don't read independently outside of class. Easy lesson planning. For example, Monday's lesson - read chapters 1-2 in class, Tuesday - read chapters 3-4 in class, Wednesday - read chapters 5-6 in class... <sigh>  I'd rather that they read, but...