My observation of reading and academic ability... (not scientifically proven that I know of, just my observations)

I love reading, I want other people to love reading too!!  Reading is so amazing for you.

At school, I teach 2 English classes, one upper stream, one lower stream - both are the same year level. The upper stream class all read, they seem to enjoy reading; they often have what I would consider more 'adult' books with them. Some of them are prolific readers and have a new book every week. As learners, they are motivated, they grasp most concepts quite quickly, they ask loads of relevant questions and they want to be there.

The lower stream class is the complete opposite. Oh my goodness!! It can be such a struggle to get them to read!! I try and find interesting material, easier-to-read material, short stories, song lyrics. They hate reading. They often get no 'success' and it takes them ages to read the story, then they lose interest. They're not strong readers at all. I fight an uphill battle with them every class. I try to get little snippets of written text into class so they do have to read something, eg, written instructions for a task, etc, but even this is abandoned by many. As learners, they are often all over the place. They are generally not as motivated to be there, they take a while to grasp new concepts and they ask loads of questions - in their favour, some of these questions are awesome and really insightful, but so many are unrelated questions. It can be quite difficult!

My observation basically has a lot to do with reading: Reading and academic ability, to some degree, go hand in hand. Obviously reading is NOT the only factor, not by a long way. But I think it is huge. Somewhere along the way, some students have 'slipped through the cracks' with their reading, they haven't 'kept up' with their peers. It makes me wonder: would these students still be in the lower stream class if they enjoyed reading? How much does reading affect their work? their concentration? their overall level of achievement?  And finally, what can I do to make reading less strenuous and more enjoyable? What would it take to get these kids to that place where they actually want to read in their own time??

...I guess this is where I get to do some more work, some more professional reading to get more ideas to try and help my class.