I tend to agree with Elisa on this and would also tend to leave him
alone, AND I would "make available" other books with topics related to
sharks if I happened to come along them. I wouldn't push them, just
have them "visible" near the sharks books. For example, books about
other fishes, or the ocean, or the food chain, whatever.
And I might randomly ask him questions like "How are sharks like
people?" or "Are there other fish who have to keep swimming or they
will sink?" or whatever. Not push the questions, but just ask in an
idle, offhand way.
Renee
On May 25, 2011, at 4:26 AM, [email protected] wrote:
Hi Judy,
Though it may be frustrating to have this child read only about sharks
(running out of books he can read, thinking he needs to be prepared
for other reading demands in school) I would leave him alone. He is
developing expertise on a topic that he is passionate about. Why
squelch that? In time, he will develop other reading interests and the
sharks will fall by the wayside. He is learning that reading is to
find out about things we are interested in and that's important. He
will hear other genres/topics when his teacher does read alouds. He
can have his mom read books to him about sharks that are a stretch for
him right now. And, IMHO, we should never make an instructional
decision because of the perceived needs of the next grade level. Would
this be an example of teaching to test for the next grade level? My
best advice, again, is to leave the boy alone.
Elisa
Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry
-----Original Message-----
From: judy fiene <[email protected]>
Sender: [email protected]
Date: Tue, 24 May 2011 08:44:04
To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email
Group<[email protected]>
Reply-To: "Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group"
<[email protected]>
Subject: [MOSAIC] Your thoughts needed-
Hi all,
I did a presentation last night for a PTA group. My focus was on how
to get
your kids excited about reading. One mother had a question that
stumped me.
She stated that her eight year old son enjoys reading, but he's very
specific about what he likes to read. He will only read books about
sharks.
He's been like this for a couple of years now. He can't seem to get
enough
books on this topic. She stated that the librarian at her local
library is
running out of book selections that are at his reading level. She
doesn't
want to squelch his passion for reading, but she also wants him to be
prepared for books he may not want to read but needs to read for
school. I'm
curious to know your thoughts.
"You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him to find it
within himself."
~ Galileo
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