From reading the article, The Pleasure Principle I was able to see the importance of teaching kids how to read for pleasure rather than just reading for grades. As an adult, I enjoy reading so I have the desire to get my students to start loving reading as much as I do however; I find that it is really hard to find extra time in the day to just sit back and let students read. With all of the curriculum that is required plus the addition of handwriting this year, I am having a really hard time getting everything in. Also, with the importance placed on having nine grades per subject per nine weeks, it is often hard to find time to grade assignments.
I like that the article pointed out things to focus on during independent reading time such as elements of fiction, poetry, decoding, etc. I would love to see a form that the teacher could use during conferencing with students to make sure that all of these skills are addressed in some way by the end of the year. Conferencing with students on books that they have chosen can be difficult at times if I haven't read the book myself. I like being able to offer suggestions of future reads or authors, but they are sometimes into completely different topics from what I think is "popular." My favorite part of this article was the The Reader's Bill of Rights. I love the idea of giving students some tips to use when reading and to let them know different things that adult readers do. This gives them the right to really enjoy reading and not feel as though it is a forced activity. I hope that in the future I am able to set aside more time for reading for pleasure.
I agree that it's hard to find the extra time to let students just sit down and read.
ReplyDeleteYour comment about a form that would list all of the reading standards and help a teacher make sure the students are covering the skills during independent reading reminds me of the reading conference logs we completed a few years ago. I think it's a great idea and would be happy to help develop a log for you to use during conferencing.
ReplyDeleteBeing a new teacher, it would be beneficial to have more books for them to have independent reading. I also am struggling to get all standards taught and let them have the independent reading time needed.
ReplyDeleteHi Cristin,
ReplyDeleteI found the suggestions in Atwell's article to be thoughtful and practical as well. You mentioned how grading makes it difficult to "fit everything in" with ELA. This is a common struggle but one I think can be addressed if we assess what we value. I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about how we can assess student engagement during independent reading through conferencing and reading responses, exit slips, and self-assessments, as well as authentic reading logs. Many times we think those things aren't gradable so we make sure we have at least one grade a week for each nine weeks that takes time away from our students' most meaningful work. I 'd love to talk with you about creating assessments for independent reading and writing. Thanks, Dawn