Hello all, I am a Learning Support Facilitator in the area of literacy in my school division. We have been working on reading comprehension strategies using the work of Ellin Keene, Stephanie Harvey, etc. etc. etc. As with all things, there are the keen, the reluctant, and all those in between (and on other sides of the spectrum!). Recently I had an administrator contact me because he wants to purchase the Accelerated Reading software. I was somewhat familiar with it, having read about it years ago, but my very general opinion was (is) that these are worksheets on a computer screen, the main point is to get kids to do lots of reading (which isn't a bad thing), it tests kids on very literal comprehension, but it doesn't teach kids about how to think about their reading which is something we are working on. Also, it's an incentive program which research shows has little or no effect on long-term attitudes towards reading. Of course, wanting to be someone with an open mind, I have been researching anything to do with AR and still, I haven't been swayed to the other side. That's not necessarily a bad thing either, in this case. What I have read is that like any other program, it's not the program, but the people who implement it, that make the difference. So I am looking for for some response to this issue. Is there anyone out there who uses AR in a way that supports "Mosaic of Thought" thinking? (I warn you, it has to be a VERY good argument to convince me!!!!). I sound like one of those resistant people, don't I?! However, I really am interested in a conversation about this.
Marg Epp Learning Support Facilitator Prairie Spirit School Division Saskatchewan, Canada _______________________________________________ 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.
