Why Do We Read?

Why do we read? Why do we write? 

Surely, we read to improve our "reading skills," and we write to improve our grammar, our mechanics. We write to communicate and to organize our thoughts. 

When we talk about reading and writing in middle school, we talk about it a little bit differently. 

We read to learn about the world. We read to discover what the world was like many years ago. We read to expand our perspective; to learn what it may have been like to see something from a different point of view. We read to watch how characters interact, how they resolve conflict, how they care for one another. We read to watch how deeply integrated themes of justice, mercy, and relationship have changed and evolved over history. We read to interpret. We read to see. 

We write to communicate our own stories. We write to claim the truth in our lives and to show how we have grown through struggle. We write to develop and use our voices. We write to capture our story on paper, and see how all of our stories are interwoven. We write to speak. 

As we introduce Reader's Workshop and Writer's Workshop in the middle school during the first six weeks, students discuss these very questions. Why do we care so deeply about reading and writing at Mustard Seed School? Why are we so invested in cultivating these skills in students? 

A few days ago, a student finished a writing piece and sighed. "Writing is hard -- it's so hard to write about myself!" 

I smiled. "Exactly," I replied. 

Readers and writers must be deeply self-reflective, observant, and thoughtful. It is difficult to be these things, and to engage fully in highly personal projects. When they are equipped with the right tools to read and write, however, students are equipped to truly flourish in the world. They will be strong interpreters, advocates, seekers of justice and of mercy. That is why we read, and that is why we write.