Sunday, July 8, 2012
Encourage More Reading!
I was a bit appalled by the statistics of the amount of time students read and write each day in the Effective Reading Instruction article. The article stated that it is not uncommon for students to read and write for as little as 10% of the school day. The article also mentioned that many typical classrooms only spend up to 20 minutes reading each day. How are students supposed to become fluent readers if they spend so little time reading? Students should view reading and writing as valuable, but this is hard for them to do if they spend so little time doing it in school. I think it is important for teachers to encourage their students to spend a good amount of time reading both in class and outside of school. I saw the picture below on Pinterest and it was linked to another blog that I found really interesting. I think this picture shows a great strategy to encourage your students to read more. You can devote an area of your classroom to Post-Its where your students can write their name and a name of a book that they just finished reading. I think this is a fun way to encourage students to keep reading and find pleasure in doing so. I also included the link to the blog. The author is passionate about literacy and has some fun activities you might enjoy!
www.rainbowswithinreach.blogspot.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
That statistic grabbed my attention also. It makes sense that the more you read the better you will be able to read. The better you are able to read the more you will read etc...I know that it will be a challenge to motivate kids to read. I liked the post-it book board idea also. The rotating crate incident described in the text was also interesting from a psychology/motivation perspective. When the kids realized the books were only going to be available for a limited time it increased their motivation to read them. Something that started out as a problem turned into a successful motivator.
ReplyDeleteJennifer Evans
I also found that statistic to be very low. I know that when I am a teacher I am going to do everything I can to make sure my students get the attention that each of them are going to need especially with reading and writing. Reading and writing are such essential elements to a child's developmental growth. To see that students are only assigned to read 20 minutes per day is definitely not something that I find very helpful to a child. It takes children time to read, and they should not be rushed in such a small time interval everyday.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised to read how little time was spent on reading and writing in the classroom. It also surprised me that the authors say that the most effective teachers integrate reading and writing into the science and social studies curriculum. It seems as if that should already be happening in all classrooms and not just the highly effective ones. I also like the post it note idea. I've always wondered what a wall full of post it notes really look like in person and a class of children would love creating this.
ReplyDeleteI was also surprised when I read these statistics. I thought it was interesting that some schools set aside a large amount of time for reading and writing, yet the teachers do not actually have the children read or write for most of the allotted time. If they have set aside the time, they should make use of it especially since reading and writing are so important. I also agree with with Alyssa about using reading and writing in other curriculum. Why is it that only the most effective teachers are doing cross-curricular lessons and why is no one mandating that all teachers do this?
ReplyDeleteI always hear teachers complaining about not having enough time to incorporate all of the good ideas they want to use in the classroom. I really liked the idea of using reading across other subject areas as a way of spending more time building those skills. I also think it is important for teachers to emphasize how important reading is. I liked the example of relating it to the idea of learning a new sport (something a child can relate to). In order to become good at anything, including reading, you need 1. instruction, 2. practice on the skills, and 3. practice on the whole thing. Teachers need to get students excited about reading and show them it can be fun with a little practice!
ReplyDelete