Sunday, October 24, 2010
Reading is "Sweet"
Teaching reading is tough. Older students are exceptionally stubborn when it comes to analyzing a text- they just want to read what they want to read and be done with it. It is often hard to excite students who are not encouraged to read, to read. It is difficult to excite children who do not see reading being done in their homes to read in their homes. It is a challenge to get students to read when they believe reading is for"geeks". It is my passion to energize students about reading- I tell them to read movie reviews and tell me what new good scary movies are coming out. Yes, it is a trick, but it gets them excited about reading and they are able to comprehend, summarize and recall information from the reviews. I ask them to read me the directions on the back of my new Reading Horizons program box - I act confused and unsure about the directions. Yes, another trick to get them to read expository texts without being so overt. It is amazing how technologically advanced these students are and their ability to identify the procedures outlined in the program's directions. It may take two or three students to work it out, but they work it out. I try to perform small tricks weekly on each student in my class- "Hey, someone is letting me borrow this book. Do you mind reading the back and tell me what it's about?" OR "Y'all , look at what my son wrote. What do you see funny in it?" Although reading for information in content areas can be a bit sour, allowing students to taste the sweetness of everyday reading may encourage more reading.
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Call them what you will, but I like your reading "tricks." I think its an ingenious idea. Whatever you can do to engage reluctant readers is a step towards advancing their overall literacy. I think your absolutely right when you say its tough to inspire kids to read or do anything else academic when the particular activity holds a negative social connotation like "geekism." If you can get them to do it without realizing they're learning- great! It's like getting a child to eat his veggies without knowing he's doing it so he won't shut down and refuse them before the first bite- he actually might like!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your blog and recalling your comment about your tricks from last night, I really think you're onto something here. Even if students don't read "for classes," it's clear that your students can read for their lives. It's also clear that they don't hate the act of reading itself or they wouldn't read about movies and directions for your software. Have you ever revealed your tricks to them, maybe at the end of their time with you? I wonder if they see that they're doing important reading when you've managed to get them to read things that are relevant.
ReplyDeleteJennifer,
ReplyDeleteI never thought about revealing my secrets to them- but I just might at the end of the year and let them just stew on it...
Think about inquiry as another trick in your magic bag ;-)
ReplyDelete