The Pleasure Principle
By Nancie Atwell
Growing up, I hated reading at school. I would give my mom a fit when I had reading
assignments for homework in all subject areas.
With that being said, library was my favorite related arts class. My parents and I did not understand why I loved
going to the library, but hated reading.
After reading this article, it all makes sense. I love reading what I choose to read, not
what I am required to read.
I fully support ‘the P word’. I never thought about how much you can learn,
and how much I learned, from reading independently and reading a selection of
your choice until I read this article.
On quote that stood out to me was, “One of our primary goals as reading
teachers is to eliminate – or at least reduce – frustrations.” This stood out to me because I see a lot of frustration
in reading from my students on a daily basis.
Reading is hard for my students.
They have a disability that makes it harder for them to learn reading
skills. My students sit through reading
lessons in their classroom, and then come to me for another reading
lesson. This has to be exhausting and
extremely frustrating for a student who has a hard time reading.
I would love to find
a balance between pleasure reading and providing direct instruction for
students with a learning disability in reading.
For most of my students, reading tests are intimidating and
frustrating. I agree with the author
when she talks about assessing reading.
There are no tests to truly assess reading growth. Part of my job is to monitor my students’ progress
towards their IEP goals. IEP goals have
to measureable. In order to measure
progress, assessments have to be given.
I loved when the author talked about her classroom during
independent reading. She said that her
students were silent and gone. Each
student was lose in their books. This is
what reading should look like. As an
adult, I understand being lost in a book.
Right now, my students have a hard time reading independently. I hope I can get them to a place where they
find pleasure in reading and are able to get lost in a good book.
It's always eye opening to me to learn how teachers interact with their curriculum in different scenarios. Your work as a resource teacher gives you a different perspective on reading in the classroom. I know that curriculum in your room is district mandated but I'm glad to hear that you're considering ways to allow for choice and pleasure reading as well. It's great that these kids have an advocate who realizes how frustrating it can be to read but who is willing to try new things to get them excited.
ReplyDeleteHi Katie,
ReplyDeleteI understand your struggle. I added on a learning disabilities certification as an undergraduate and provided homebound instruction afterschool for two years to a student who had severe learning disabilities. While we were required to work on his IEP goals I worked also to provide opportunities that were enjoyable to him as well such as listening to his favorite book read aloud and pointing to the pictures of what he thought would happen next. Like Heather, I understand that our students with special needs require explicit, direct instruction as part of their IEP goals, but I would love to hear about any ways you find to help motivate them to want to read and to enjoy it. Sincerely, Dawn