What do you mean by a lazy reader? unmotivated? I would try all kinds of books to entice them to read. I always think that a reluctant reader just hasn't found the right book to turn them on to the joy of reading yet. And I should say text, as magazines and other nonfiction text like magazines for kids (yes, even video game cheats, what schema some of these guys have!!).
You may want to try number of pages read, instead number of books. A student who reads one or two Harry Potter books vs. one who reads 6 Wimpy Kid books are not doing the same work! Although by the number-of-books-read rule, the one reading the 6 books would seem to be doing more. Why is it necessary to have a number? What about having accountability by having them respond meaningfully to what they read? Written reading response, book reviews, even answering comprehension questions may be a better way to hold children to a standard for what readers do as they grow. I agree with your idea that the goal becomes meaningless when they are just counting books towards the end of the quarter in order to meet the goal. I would do the same thing if I was a kid. Maura 5/NJ On Tue, Oct 4, 2011 at 2:06 PM, Terry <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello All, > Would you share your thoughts about requiring a certain number of books to > be read per quarter? I use and teach the thinking strategies and we do > much > work honing those skills. Although I use mentor texts for lessons, the > bulk > of reading is student choice. Prior to this "thinking culture", I used AR > tests and had point goals for each student. I read (and loved) The Book > Whisperer and felt like I needed some type of "requirement" to keep > reluctant readers focused on that goal - thus the 6 book per quarter goal. > > What I am seeing, however, is that students who haven't met their goal yet > are choosing short, easy books to just finish the goal rather than digging > into a book they would truly love or want to read. I think that defeats > the > purpose of developing a passion for reading...it becomes more of a chore. > > Any suggestion or advice would be welcome. Should I continue with a number > requirement per quarter? How do I keep those reluctant or lazy readers > reading of there is no requirement??? > > Thanks...in advance. > > Terry > > -- > *Stress (substitue "worry") is a form of atheism; it infers that you do not > believe God is in control.* > * > * `´*:-.,_,.-:*´`´*:-,_,.-:*´`´*:-.,_,.-:*´`´*: > _______________________________________________ > 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
