In a message dated 2/1/2007 7:28:55 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> What do you all feel?
In a message dated 2/1/2007 7:28:55 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> "What do you think are the most significant barriers that hinder the
development of a successful reading/language arts program?"
>
> What do you all feel?
I could ramble all day about our current mandates. We are required to have
a 90 minute reading block. 30 minutes is whole group, 60 minutes is
stations/small group. We MUST teach from the Houghton Mifflin basal. The
overwhelming majority of my class reads below grade level, yet I must teach
them from
the on level basal. When they are in stations, the group that works
independently, while I work with a group, most of them do nothing. They are
not
capable of reading grade level materials, and I am not supposed to be giving
them
work that isn't from this publisher. (Although out of desperation I
sometimes ignore this mandate). I am not allowed to integrate any other
subject
areas into the 90 minute reading block either.
We aren't allowed to read novels or chapter books at all. When I
questioned the literacy coach about reading novels her response was, "Why
would you
want to do that"? I replied, " So we could read authentic literature". But I
was told no we must read the basal. We cannot do any writing during the
reading block, unless it is a response to something they read in the wonderful
basal series.
I believe that my students would make more progress if they were reading
texts-including a basal-that was at their reading level, not necessarily their
grade level. The students I do have who read on grade level don't really get
the attention they need or deserve because we are focused on those who are
behind.
The ony analogy I can make is if I spend all day in Calculus and I am
capable of 6th grade math, what am I really going to be learning? Nothing.
I absolutely love reading, personally, as well as writing, but I HATE
teaching it. We also have no formal writing curriculum and many of our grade
level
objectives for writing sound like reading objectives. Example:
TLW
Apply knowledge of word families to increase vocabulary.
Rosie
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