I've just been reading Lucy Calkins' "The Art of Teaching Reading," and I've been reminded that shorter texts have greater social currency. They're accessible to a greater number of readers and can be passed around the classroom in a shorter period of time (i.e. when one classmate recommends it to another, in terms of choosing books from the classroom library).
-- Lyndsay Buehler Grade 1 Literacy / Grades 1-6 Music, Ontario "There is no end to learning." -- Robert Schumann On Fri, Sep 5, 2008 at 10:03 PM, Laura Cannon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Why don't you make your own tests for those books and put it in your AR > system? I have done that for quite a few books that weren't AR books, or > we hadn't purchased the tests. Your students could even help in creating > some of the tests. > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of William Roberts > Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2008 10:27 PM > To: 'Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group' > Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] text length > > Believe me when I say I understand completely how you feel. > > The problem is if one strategy works, then the powers that be decree that > ALL must do it. I have kids who are fluent readers well above the 150-170 > wpm of their age group, but we have to do daily fluency practice regardless. > I understand what you are going through. I've had to revise college level > samples for them in order to challenge them during the fluency practice. > I've gone to my principal and have shown her the data proving my students > are all fluent, but as a school, we didn't show growth in fluency last year, > so she is insisting that everyone will do fluency. > > I like AR for students who don't read much, but when you have students > reading Vonnegut, Grisham, King, and THE HITCHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, > those aren't all AR books. Do I force AR on my students? No, but we are > required to read AR books daily for 20 minutes SSR. I'd rather a student > read a non AR selection that challenges them, than a boring series book > written for children, but when they are required to have an AR book with > them daily....I just tell them to have 2 books with them. > > In fact, I teach my kids 2 types of reading: SCHOOL and REAL WORLD. In > school, we read nonsense and stuff that has little or no meaning in our > lives at the present moment. In real life, we read what we enjoy, what we > are interested in, and what has meaning in our lives. Many times I have had > to make the distinction when teaching a strategy or lesson.... > > But as far as short texts go, there are many that lend themselves to deep > discussion and debate. Opinion pieces, poetry by Langston Hughes or Robert > Frost, speeches, short stories like "The Lottery" and "The Monkey's Paw" can > all bring out the kind of teaching you described. I agree that larger works > can enhance a reader's strengths, but don't discount the short texts. I > like exposing them to more works and authors to enhance their backgrounds. > I an just concerned that a longer work may turn off a reader who has to wait > for the book to be finished, while shorter works may keep them interested > with the variety of choices. > > I know there is some support for it, but I don't remember where I saw it. I > tend to discount most research anyway since Reading First has been found at > fault. I think sometimes we spend so much time worried about whether a > teaching strategy has research or documentation, we tend to forget what's > happening in our classrooms. A program or strategy is only as good as the > teacher teaching it. A great researched program given to a bad teacher is > not going to work as well as a good teacher teaching by the seat of his or > her pants... > > Bill > > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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. > > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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. > > _______________________________________________ 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.
