Kristin, it makes perfect sense to me. I had the same experience my 1st
year as a literacy coach. My principal was not on board with any of
this "fluff" A 3rd grade teacher approached me and told me that
something I said in one of our study groups made him realize that he
didn't know how to teach kids to read or help his struggling readers. I
suggested he begin with independent reading - we took Dominie scores and
organized materials accordingly - so he could guide his readers. I
conferenced with some of his students (to model) --needless to say - the
next fall when we got state test scores back, his class scored the
highest in reading - the principal scratched his head and said I don't
know what he did - when I explained - no comment - that quickly went by
the wayside as it was not viewed as instruction and we quickly adopted
direct instruction - every year it is another "program" - the analogy I
used was -- reading is like playing football or learning to ride a bike
- if you don't practice it everyday - you don't get very good at it :)
sorry for the epistle - just my thoughts about independent reading
>>> Kristin Mitchell <kristinlmitch...@yahoo.com> 2/20/2009 9:39 am
>>>
Elisa and others,
I've been following this conversation with much interest (as I'm sure
many are!) and I think I've already piped in with this, but I need to
bring it up again (it's possible I never did in the first place, I'm
almost 6 months pregnant and I left my brain at about 8 weeks!). Last
month's issue of The Reading Teacher had an article about SSR (which for
me is simply Independent Reading...it's what kids do while I do guided
reading). For me, the premise of the article was how federal dollars
will most likely never be used to support something like SSR because
they cannot do "medical research" to PROVE that it works. Even though
I've seen test scores go up from a group that got "Guided Reading" using
their SS textbooks (I wish I were kidding) their entire 5th grade year.
As 6th graders they recieved Guided Reading and lots of choice
independent reading time from me and their reading scores went up.
While this is not "reasearch" that can prove anything,
it's pretty strong evidence for me to continue how I teach reading to
upper grades.
Unfortunately, the feds need programs and other methods of teaching
reading to be tested quantitatively. Which, is not a reality in
schools. There is no fair playing field when it comes to research on
teaching reading. Until "outsiders" (non educators who direct our
policies whether they be gov't or buisness) realize that schools are NOT
clinical places where you can have strict control groups this will
always be the case. Things like Mosaic of Thought will not have support
until someone can magically produce a control group of kids that can be
tested "fairly."
I hope I made sense!
Kristin Mitchell/4th/CO
"Be the change you want to see in the world"
-Ghandi
Each child is different and deserves different approaches to learning
based on a solid philosophy backed up by pedagogical principles and
research (expert and teacher).
Elisa
Elisa Waingort
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