Decades of research, known as the Science of Reading, has still not been taught to teachers. It's not just phonics. You need to understand the English language including the meanings of rich vocabulary, knowledge upon which literature is written, and the structures of sentences. The students should use real paper books, not digitalized written material. Studies show that students tend to skim rather read deeply in a digital format. Successful reading must be built on strong oral language skills that can be translated into strong written language. We know how to teach children how to read. We just aren't following the research. The school system is tied to the publishing companies that make millions of dollars through making books with bright pictures that do not align stories with research. Read "Reading in the Brain, by Stanislas Dehaene, "Language at the Speed of Sight by Mark Seidenberg, "Proust and the Squid" by Maryanne Wolf, "Speech to Print" by Louisa Cook Moats, and "Tyranny of the Textbook" by Beverlee Jobrack for starters. There is no excuse for graduating students who are functionally illiterate. We know what to do. Get started!
After learning to read at a dyslexia school, my kid went to an Early College. The canon included Chinua Achebe, Toni Morrison, Octavia Butler and some dead white men. During spring break in college he decided to read The Grapes of Wrath - he wanted to understand the Tom Joad references better.
My son, who has dyslexia, FINALLY found something he was excited about reading and guess what? His teacher told him "it's not his level". Even with his specialized reading teacher making the case that he could in fact read it. The end. Wanting to read in school squashed and over.
Missing here is the idea that parents should be the ones to foster a love of reading. Schools are not always the answer, especially these days. I homeschooled my kiddo, one of his favorite places to go now at age 32, is a bookstore…
I was working in a fifth grade class today as a sub. While sitting with my ELL students (non native speakers), some of the native speakers were looking at a pornographic news sensation on YouTube associated with thanksgiving turkeys.
I began teaching in the 1980's and decided to retire when the pandemic hit. During that era, I always had a certain number of students who were indifferent to reading, but in the last few years of my career, I began to see increasing numbers of students who were quite vocal about their actual hatred of reading. From informal discussions as to why this was, the big factor that seemed to account for the extreme negativity was how much reading in school became conflated with preparation for standardized testing. (Thanks, No Child Left Behind! Was there ever a more ironic name for anything?) Drill and Kill seemed to kill the love of reading as much as anything I've ever seen. While I am sure this is not the only reason for increasing antipathy to reading, I am convinced that it is a significant one.
I know that there is no way around trying to prepare students for standardized testing, but let's make sure that we spend the time using proven strategies. And let's not make test prep the entire curriculum, which we have a tendency to do (as ordered by administrators.)
Dell, Bantam, and Scholastic ushered in a Golden Age of young adult paperbacks starting in the 1970s. I’ll bet you could mark the drop in kids reading for pleasure by the year Daniel Fader’s Hooked on Books went out of print. In the meantime, The Harry Potter series triggered a surge in reading for pleasure. Percy Jackson was triggered a smaller surge. It might take another global phenomenon like those authors to trigger another one. Jane Eyre is a brilliant book, but is it the answer? A brilliant teacher does make a difference. As for Shakespeare, the Folger Method is the way to go. Get the kids on their feet and helping each other puzzle their way through their interpretations. And yes, pair with current day works as well. https://www.folger.edu/teach/
Decades of research, known as the Science of Reading, has still not been taught to teachers. It's not just phonics. You need to understand the English language including the meanings of rich vocabulary, knowledge upon which literature is written, and the structures of sentences. The students should use real paper books, not digitalized written material. Studies show that students tend to skim rather read deeply in a digital format. Successful reading must be built on strong oral language skills that can be translated into strong written language. We know how to teach children how to read. We just aren't following the research. The school system is tied to the publishing companies that make millions of dollars through making books with bright pictures that do not align stories with research. Read "Reading in the Brain, by Stanislas Dehaene, "Language at the Speed of Sight by Mark Seidenberg, "Proust and the Squid" by Maryanne Wolf, "Speech to Print" by Louisa Cook Moats, and "Tyranny of the Textbook" by Beverlee Jobrack for starters. There is no excuse for graduating students who are functionally illiterate. We know what to do. Get started!
After learning to read at a dyslexia school, my kid went to an Early College. The canon included Chinua Achebe, Toni Morrison, Octavia Butler and some dead white men. During spring break in college he decided to read The Grapes of Wrath - he wanted to understand the Tom Joad references better.
My son, who has dyslexia, FINALLY found something he was excited about reading and guess what? His teacher told him "it's not his level". Even with his specialized reading teacher making the case that he could in fact read it. The end. Wanting to read in school squashed and over.
Missing here is the idea that parents should be the ones to foster a love of reading. Schools are not always the answer, especially these days. I homeschooled my kiddo, one of his favorite places to go now at age 32, is a bookstore…
Thank you for presenting strategies with true potential for change.
I was working in a fifth grade class today as a sub. While sitting with my ELL students (non native speakers), some of the native speakers were looking at a pornographic news sensation on YouTube associated with thanksgiving turkeys.
Reading books aloud in class takes so much time. The Fast Read model seems incredibly slow to me.
I began teaching in the 1980's and decided to retire when the pandemic hit. During that era, I always had a certain number of students who were indifferent to reading, but in the last few years of my career, I began to see increasing numbers of students who were quite vocal about their actual hatred of reading. From informal discussions as to why this was, the big factor that seemed to account for the extreme negativity was how much reading in school became conflated with preparation for standardized testing. (Thanks, No Child Left Behind! Was there ever a more ironic name for anything?) Drill and Kill seemed to kill the love of reading as much as anything I've ever seen. While I am sure this is not the only reason for increasing antipathy to reading, I am convinced that it is a significant one.
I know that there is no way around trying to prepare students for standardized testing, but let's make sure that we spend the time using proven strategies. And let's not make test prep the entire curriculum, which we have a tendency to do (as ordered by administrators.)
Dell, Bantam, and Scholastic ushered in a Golden Age of young adult paperbacks starting in the 1970s. I’ll bet you could mark the drop in kids reading for pleasure by the year Daniel Fader’s Hooked on Books went out of print. In the meantime, The Harry Potter series triggered a surge in reading for pleasure. Percy Jackson was triggered a smaller surge. It might take another global phenomenon like those authors to trigger another one. Jane Eyre is a brilliant book, but is it the answer? A brilliant teacher does make a difference. As for Shakespeare, the Folger Method is the way to go. Get the kids on their feet and helping each other puzzle their way through their interpretations. And yes, pair with current day works as well. https://www.folger.edu/teach/