Penny Kittle > Quotes

“Teenagers want to read - if we let them.”
― Penny Kittle, Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in Adolescent Readers

“A book isn’t rigorous if students aren’t reading it.”
― Penny Kittle, Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in Adolescent Readers

“Go and live the lives you've imagined.”
― Penny Kittle

“Habits of an empowerED teacher: “read, notice, think, make theories about how writing works, imagine possibilities, write yourself; it isn’t magic, it’s just slow, creative work.”
― Penny Kittle, Write Beside Them: Risk, Voice, and Clarity in High School Writing

“A reading appetite is quirky, singular, and essential”
― Penny Kittle, Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in Adolescent Readers

“Teachers need to sit with their journal and write in the voice of that teenager. Write and remember. That’s who we teach!”
― Penny Kittle, Write Beside Them: Risk, Voice, and Clarity in High School Writing

“Good writing makes writers want to write.”
― Penny Kittle, Write Beside Them: Risk, Voice, and Clarity in High School Writing

“I'm all for reading bad books because I consider them a gateway drug. People who read bad books now may or may not read better books in the future. People who read nothing now will read nothing in the future.”
― Penny Kittle, Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in Adolescent Readers

“Too many people in power think reading is the sum of its parts, so we've got all these kids playing air guitar, if you will, with short passages and questions and multiple-choice answers. These abbreviated bits of reading are not the real thing. Passages lack wholeness and feel like work without purpose. When we give students books, thinking they can transfer their practice or that they'll even want to, we're surprised they don't have the interest or the stamina for it.”
― Penny Kittle, Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in Adolescent Readers

“Teachers still teach books they know most kids won't read; they do it because they feel pressured by their curriculum. They pace the reading so it's not overwhelming for those who struggle, but they know they are selling the best readers short by moving so slowly.”
― Penny Kittle, Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in Adolescent Readers

“What power--what importance--lies in the blank lines of an open notebook. Go and fill yours. Then share.”
― Penny Kittle, Write Beside Them: Risk, Voice, and Clarity in High School Writing