Dear Ann,
It certainly sounds like you are working hard and doing all the
right things. I remember being in seventh grade vividly. I loved to read,
and I was the kind of reader who sneaked a flashlight into bed so I could
read after lights out. In seventh grade I had a teacher who loved to read
too. She demanded that I respond to, quantify, and write about everything I
read. I know she felt that it was a necessary measure, an assessment of
sorts, to keep me reading and to measure what and how I was responding.
However, I grew to dread reading because it was always tied to other written
work (some meaningful, some menial) that took time away from my reading. I
liked the reading, but the writing about it took time from my very important
seventh grade life of braces, boys, and bad hair days.
As a young teacher, I made the same mistake of my seventh grade teacher. I
thought that for my lessons to be important that they had to focus on
responding to a text. Now I see that it is the reading process that is the
important part--the before, the during, and the after. After years of
teaching middle grades, I've come to the conclusion that my best chance at
nurturing a love of reading is by giving my students the time and
opportunity to read and react. I have to model what people who love reading
do. And grown ups who love reading don't measure it all in coffee spoons.
I believe heartily that self-selecting texts for independent reading is
important, but you might want to try a super-engaging, tried and true whole
class read to get students talking about their reading--then the pleasure
will come.
I don't mean to preach from this soap box, but seventh grade was a hard year
for me:)
-----Original Message-----
From: Ann [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2007 6:17 AM
To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Listserv; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [MOSAIC] appreciating reading
My 7th graders are reading at home (self-selected books) for 15 mins/daily
and doing a quick summary or reflection. I only check for completion of
these logs, but I do require a parent's signature which certifies that they
observed their child reading over each two week period.
Once a month, students need to do an oral book talk 3-5 mins. in length. My
requirements are to make a brief summary and a connection, do a short oral
reading from the book, and why they would recommend this book to others. I
have also required they read a variety of genres.
In February, I am planning to add a longer reading response to their
reading. They will be doing a two paragraph response. The first is a brief
summary of what is currently happening in their book, and the second
choosing a specific prompt to respond. Examples and/or details from the book
must be used to back up this response. Each student will need to turn in
two a month.
I will be starting literature circles in February, so that will provide
students with additional reading with more in-depth conversations about
their reading with their peers on a biweekly basis.
I'm oral reading to one of my classes because we have 15 mins extra built
into our schedule for the entire building for that purpose. The other class
periods are only 50 mins. long, so that really defines how much can be
accomplished in one class period. I am still accountable for teaching many
writing skills too.
I'm doing all of this and I still have students who hate reading! Even
though their books are self selected, students don't want to be accountable
for any assignments and don't want to take time to read. There are too many
other things to do....computer, video games, extracurricular activities,
etc....away from school.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to move students to an appreciation
for reading?
Ann
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