Sorry about the negative tone. Good Luck! > Michele Michele,
I don't think this is negative, I think it's a realistic look at what's going on with our kids today. It's important to think about what their lives are like since we're really talking about a literate lifestyle. I agree with you, and I'd like to add that the pressures we have in the classroom to jump through testing hoops have only made this worse. Last year the 5th grade teachers told me they have so much curriculum to get in that kids rarely get time to read for pleasure in class. Some of my former students have complained to me about this as well. Do the kids who come to you come from classrooms like this? Or, in your district is there an excessive focus on external motivation for reading? (e.g pizza, stickers, etc) I can't think of any suggestions for this problem except to give kids the chance and time (in class if you have it) to experience reading on their own terms...magazines, graphic novels, romance, etc. so that they can find out what they like. I also like the idea of having them try different genres... compelling read alouds from the genres help. Of course, you're probably already doing these things. It sounds like the real job may be undoing previous damage. And motivation is a multi-faceted issue...very tricky from a psychological standpoint... and each person can need something different. I guess we just need to keep on keepin on! Lisa :o) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
