Leslie writes: new critical concern. I teach third grade in a school that is all about teaching reading strategies. We have been told not to teach novels - better to have quantity than quality - and we have been told to stick to teaching the strategies from grades K-4, often times using the same texts! We have even been told that it is not our job to make children like reading. I am now noticing that my children can recite the strategies and even apply them and write to them but they are missing the book. They aren't looking at the book as a whole anymore. It has been delivered to them piecemeal and they are reading it that way. Many of them are missing the entire point, theme, lesson, importance, etc of the story. I am trying frantically to correct this before the year is over. Are any of you experiencing anything similar to this?
This is confusing...the reason for the reading strategies is so that kids can understand what they read and enjoy what they read. Something has gone wrong here. I never read a book piecemeal....I read it in its entirety so we can enjoy it. I don't even have a problem if you are using the same texts K-4, because as kids grow..they should get more out of it..take it deeper, or even need an easier text to learn from (and many more reasons!) But you always look at the book as a whole. Either something has gone wrong with the message....OR...something has gone wrong with the teaching OR both. Since I began focusing on each strategy and then build on each one, my kids LOVE to read. I even got a note today saying thank you for teaching their child to read because they can't keep her out of the library! I hear from students years later how much they love to read. Sandi 1st/2nd Elgin IL _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
