"As I teacher, I must assign reading. I choose text for guided reading hoping to prompt engagement and discussion, but the texts are still my choice. Again, I wonder how Ellin would explain the difference in our engagement with self-selected vs. required reading."
As teachers, we must assign reading, but it doesn't mean we have to stick to the same books every year. We don't have to read HATCHET for the 1000th time just because we have the worksheets, manuals, and copies for class. We should tailor the reading to the needs of the students. Take, for example, my kids this year. I have all "advanced" students. They are designated so because of their state test scores and grades from last year's teachers. I'd say only about 20% are actually advanced...the rest are just hard working or good at taking tests. Their thinking skills aren't developed. Plus, they mostly hate to read because they haven't been taught to enjoy it. They have been taught that reading is a chore you do to pass the test or to pass the class. So my emphasis this year has been stories with emotional impact, surprise endings, TWILIGHT ZONE episodes, and humor. Also, because they were taught to learn only what was needed for the test, they had very little background knowledge on anything, so I've spent a lot of time building background knowledge with units on art, music, dance, opera, history, and other areas. Unlike last year where I had regular classes and spent much of my time working with kids who couldn't visualize, make predictions, or even pronounce most of the words. The needs of the kids were different, so my choice of reading was different. Yet they weren't that different. Both groups mostly didn't like to read, so I had to find stories that were emotional and hard hitting. Both groups lacked background knowledge, and I think background knowledge is a key to understanding (I think that is one of the things that Ellin is trying to promote with the new book with her "Renaissance" thinking) so I still taught music, art, history, etc. last year, but I was able to emphasize those areas this year with my new kids. Bottom line, required reading doesn't mean boring reading. You don't have to read the story just because it's in the book. But if we don't get these kids to enjoy reading, then they will never be able to read self-selected books which I think should be our ultimate goal for every student. Bill _______________________________________________ Understand mailing list [email protected] http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org
