The paper will present the basic differences between alternative and contemporary school systems. We are going to present the beginnings of the Waldorf School, as well as its founder, Rudolf Steiner. The paper also deals with pedagogical principles inherent to the Waldorf School and provides answers to questions about the lessons pupils take and the ways they read and do their reading assignments. When approaching contemporary schools we considered Croatian language lessons, and how the concept of reading assignments changed through time in the school curriculum. We are also interested in the way teachers prepare for reading assignment lessons and in the roles they take during the lessons. The importance of reading assignments is presented through a creative approach. Some of the described and presented ways of teaching include ‘stories from a bag’, ‘magical talking box’, ‘blocks story’, ‘roles interview’ etc. The aim of the research was to observe the differences between the approach to reading assignments in alternative and contemporary schools. The questions asked were supposed to reveal teachers’ attitude towards reading and their reading preferences. We wanted to find out if they use different teaching methods in dealing with reading assignments or if they use classical methods. The research showed that there are no significant differences in approaching reading assignments.