Sally, I really like your approach. I am part way there telling them to read 20 minutes or more a night and having no parent initials. Some do it, some pretend. But I am going to have them set their goals like you do. Plus, I like the letter dialog, if I can find the time! Thanks for sharing. Sue
--- On Tue, 10/4/11, Sally Thomas <sally.thom...@verizon.net> wrote: From: Sally Thomas <sally.thom...@verizon.net> Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Reading Requirement To: "mosaic listserve" <mosaic@literacyworkshop.org> Date: Tuesday, October 4, 2011, 3:44 PM My students set their own goals. We had great discussions about whether or not they wanted to use # pages, # books. We had great discussions about the value of rereading if one wanted to. And on and on. I have evidence of them raising and lowering their goals for different reasons (e.g. Afterschool commitments etc. for awhile). Of course at first it took them some getting used to. Did I really mean it? I shared the "research" about the importance of extensive reading but that it needed to be engaged reading. There was literally no way that I could ever really measure that - it meant that they had to want to read. Thus their own choices, their own goals. So this was their own goal for a reason. I did "push" sometimes, like in about the third month asking them to graph categories of books ( categories elicited in a class brainstorm) and they had to plot their own. In addition to amount, they had to try a text from one new category that month. Part of the secret is creating a reading culture where it is an activity that most (and eventually alll) kids treasure. Another part is using our teacher knowledge to help kids find the books they will love. They also learn to help each other find those books. Kids took this super seriously. Think if you are building in this kind of thinking (I also did reading dialogue letters once a week - authentic talk in writing about a book in the form of real letters back and forth) that the worry about assessment and the worry about not really reading just disappears. At least that was my experience. I LOVED this time and the letters and the talk. Sally On 10/4/11 11:06 AM, "Terry" <trwr...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hello All, > Would you share your thoughts about requiring a certain number of books to > be read per quarter? _______________________________________________ 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 _______________________________________________ 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
