Makes sense. How much does the extrinsic motivations we attach to English class foster an enduring appreciation for reading? The greater sense of personal choice we infuse into the selection of texts and support of multiple pathways for expression leads to a sustaining love of reading. It is rare, as an adult, that one would head into a book store (physically or virtually) and be subjected to the disclaimers offered by Gallagher. However, this is not true for students and as Gallagher subtly points out, why is this the case?
Monday, August 20, 2012
Preventing Readicide
I want to share the following from Kelly Gallagher's Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About I.
We would never buy a book at Barnes and Noble if it came with mandated chapter-by-chapter exams. We would never read a book so that we could tackle worksheets afterward. We would never begin a new read with the expressed goal of earning points. And we would never feel compelled to read if we had to complete a project after every book. Yet, as teachers, we do all of these things to developing readers. We subject them repeatedly to treatments that are counterproductive to developing book lovers
Makes sense. How much does the extrinsic motivations we attach to English class foster an enduring appreciation for reading? The greater sense of personal choice we infuse into the selection of texts and support of multiple pathways for expression leads to a sustaining love of reading. It is rare, as an adult, that one would head into a book store (physically or virtually) and be subjected to the disclaimers offered by Gallagher. However, this is not true for students and as Gallagher subtly points out, why is this the case?
Makes sense. How much does the extrinsic motivations we attach to English class foster an enduring appreciation for reading? The greater sense of personal choice we infuse into the selection of texts and support of multiple pathways for expression leads to a sustaining love of reading. It is rare, as an adult, that one would head into a book store (physically or virtually) and be subjected to the disclaimers offered by Gallagher. However, this is not true for students and as Gallagher subtly points out, why is this the case?
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Important post Scott. I have watched my own child's love of reading diminish with each school year passing. The awful stuff that we ask kids to do with books should have ended years ago.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how teachers' implementation of the CCSS will influence children's reading?