Monday, September 20, 2010
blog 2
I found a lot of interesting information in this weeks readings. The first thing that caught my eye was schools are going away from Silent Sustained Reading (SSR) to make room more more test prep. I can say my current school has SSR everyday for atleast 20 minutes during first period literacy. In Chapter 2 of Readicide, there is proven research that SSR improves reading comprehension. So why are schools eliminating it? I had a problem with this last year. I taught a literacy class last year and offered SSR everyday for a while, but soon found out only 3 to 5 people would bring a book everyday and read. So the other 20 students wouldn't bring something in to read. So my next question is how do you get kids to read willingly? Readicide believes SSR develops prior knowledge and background information students need to survive in our classrooms. It also helps develop ones vocabulary too. The book refers to if students are only given academic reading and are forced to read material that doesn't interest them, than by the time they reach 9th grade they are sick of reading and don't enjoy recreational reading. I believe this is true. I personally didn't enjoy reading, but if I found something of interest I could manage. If you are forced to read something you don't like all the time, eventually you aren't going to want to read anymore. I like the idea of Article of the Week. I feel the reading is relevant, and interesting. This is a great way to bring interest back to reading for students who struggle with academic reading. This is something I want to try in my classroom.
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Josh,
ReplyDeleteI think that it is really cool that your school does reading everyday. The school that I was just in placement at only gave the students one day a week for SSR. It is very true that there still are students who do not bring anything to read and just want to sit there.I think that article of the week, newspapers and magazines are all useful resources to promote reading.
I have had adults, including our county's superintendent, tell me that they don't read because they were forced to read in school. If they had been provided the opportunity to read books they were interested in, their attitudes might be different. My school does not have SSR. I wonder if more students would enjoy reading if they were allowed class time to read a book of interest. Or would they be like the students you described - 3 or 4 bring a book and the rest sit there and twiddle their thumbs or disrupt the class.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right. I'm one of those people who is forced to read so much to the point that I don't want to read anything else. I have other things to do that consume my time instead of picking up a book to read. I'm not surprised that our students are the same way.
ReplyDeleteI can totally relate to students getting bored with reading especially if the main exposure a lot of our students have had since elementary schools are text books, man these things are dry. I think I have a total case of senioritis but I am so tired of reading things that I am assigned and passing by books that I really want to read. At least we have gotten to read a couple of interesting teen novels throughout this process. Typical that they are cutting a program that works for the purpose testing. I do like the idea of having magazines and newspapers as other reading materials for the students who dont bring books anymore.
ReplyDeleteJosh - I find it cool that your school does the SSR. Our school certainly does not. I agree with Keri - I think the idea of having magazines for students who don't bring materials is a great one. Oftentimes, even students who don't enjoy reading like to flip through a current magazine. Good luck with your attempts at combining literacy with physical education - that sounds difficult.
ReplyDeleteI find it amazing all of the schools that have SSR. We don't at our school. I agree with the magazines or maybe an EDUCATIONAL yet enjoyable web site like teen news or something. I stated in my blog that I did not like to read in high school but grew to love it so I can relate to you not liking to read.
ReplyDeleteI like article of the week too. It would be nice to require them to find thier own article, like history teaches do with Current Events. This way maybe they read more than one article trying to decide what to write about! My two practicum schools have had SSR. I was surprised because I didnt have it in high school and I went to school in this county. I know some stuff is left to teacher choice, but I was never given an option on a book to read. This gives me hope that schools are changing and hopefully giving students more freedom, therefore motivating them to read!
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