The end is bittersweet

I really enjoyed my student teaching, but was concerned with students lack of interest in reading. For my unit I had my students read a handout on Chuck Close and then answer questions about it. I thought that this excericise had gone well because almost all questions were answered correctly. However the next day when I asked questions from the handout no one could answer them. Not even the honor students. This shocked and saddened me that the students had not processed any of the material as they answered the questions. To rectify this situation I decided for the students to read popcorn style. I called on the first student to read and then he would call on the next student and so forth. This seemed to work well because all the students had to read along with the out loud reader because they never knew who would be called on next. After we finished the reading, I once again asked questions from the reading and the class discussed the reading. Throughout the rest of my unit I would ask students key questions, and they were able to asnwer them. The whole problem I found out and worries me is that students do not read the readings if they think that they can get away with it. I hope to find a way in my teaching to really promote the students to read articles about content areas and enjoy them. I had thought that they would enjoy the Chuck Close article, because he is handicapped and uses a forklift to paint 6ft to 8ft canvases in a unique fashion.
I really understand the frustration of Readicide. How do we as teachers fully engage our students to actively read. I worry that not enough teachers are concerned enough withh their students reading habits as long as the student gets their work done and passes. I for one will continue to look for neat articles for my students to read and hope that I can reach some.