Good Morning All!
I hope you have enjoyed getting started with our reading of Cris Tovani's book. I haven't gotten as far as I would have liked at this point but we will make it. Today's post is about chapter one.
Have you had students that fake read? React to the list of things the kids do on pages 6 and 7 when they read. Sound familiar?
Do you agree with the author that students often perceive reading as drudgery? Is your toughest challenge getting reluctant readers to read? I wonder though is it only struggling readers that are reluctant?
What do you think of her strategy to "disarming their defenses" by using a past experience of reading that was important or meaningful to them? What about her personal example?
Looks like some great chapters ahead. Please respond with your comments and check back regularly.
Thanks for your participation!!
I have students that fake read, and I have also been that student who fake reads. I think almost all of my students, at least at some point, have experienced most of the things from this list, especially "read without paying attention". Sometimes, when I have a student read aloud from a story or a passage, I will immediately ask that same student a basic recall question from what was JUST read, and he/she will not be able to answer it correctly. At that point, I know the problem isn't that they haven't read the material; it's that they aren't comprehending the words.
ReplyDeleteI think most students have a negative attitude towards reading because they associate it with being something they HAVE to do followed by a long task list of follow up assignments. My experience is that students are very scared to be "wrong", so they initially don't find pleasure in discussing their thoughts or ideas. Instead, they'd rather just take the test and move on, but just taking a test does nothing to increase intrinsic motivation to read for pleasure and shirk those reluctant feelings.
I always share with my students that I know exactly how they feel about reading, regardless if their feelings are negative or positive. I closely relate with Tovani in that I didn't TRULY learn how to read until my first year of college. Until then, I could've really cared less about reading and would do most of the things from the list when I did read. Once I learned what real reading was and started to take responsibility for my own comprehension, I took on an entirely new perspective and started to see everything, not just reading, in a different light. I think sharing my own experience with reading does help to disarm them and perhaps gives them motivation that maybe, just maybe, they might also learn to love reading.
Fake reading is very common. A few years ago when I first read this book, I was relieved to learn that I was not the only reading teacher that has done this. Like Tovani, I also share this concept with my students and tell them that I have not liked everything I have read, either. Also, one novel that I use in the classroom could easily be shortened by at least 100 pages. I share my opinion with them, and instead of having them read those chapters, I give them a summary of skipped pages.
ReplyDeleteSome reluctant readers are not struggling readers; they just do not enjoy reading for one reason or another. One way I try to encourage them to read is by allowing them as much choice as possible. Literature circles are a great way to provide choice. Even though they choices are controlled, the students seem to enjoy the opportunity to have a choice.
I will have to say that at first, I thought she was describing me as a student....I think at some point most every student does this. I completely agree with Mrs. Barry and Mrs. Ferguson, not all students enjoy reading and that some reluctant readers are not struggling readers, they merely choose not to. I too, have shared my thoughts and opinions about reading with all my students. Especially in the nonfiction/informational realm, it's not always easy to hook the students interest.
ReplyDeleteFrom pages 5-9 I took away some great ideas that can be used for fiction and nonfiction in any classroom.
I think the most important thing to take away from this chapter is the fact that we are preparing most students for college, strugglers and non-strugglers. If we all "fake-read" to get through school because we didn't know any other way, the only way to correct this cycle is to present our students with the tools AND show them how to use them.
Fake reading seems to be common in history classrooms as well. Students struggle with historical concepts and the vast historical vocabulary that can be found in the classroom. I agree with Mrs. Britton, that we must assist students as well as provide tools that will help students with their reading difficulty. I think it is important for us as teachers to determine what the actual problem is. Whether it is interest in the text or if there is a fundamental problem.
ReplyDeleteI have certain students that fake read in my classroom every day, and I also have other students who fake read from time to time. I see this in my regular as well as my Pre-AP classes. For some students, they only need to know that I am aware they are fake reading, and they will improve. For others, it takes more than that. I have to figure out why they are fake reading; sometimes it is a drudgery issue and sometimes not. I liked her personal example because I think anytime our students know we struggled with something in school but overcame it, it encourages them.
ReplyDeleteThough a challenge, I wouldn't say that getting reluctant readers to read is my toughest challenge. My toughest challenge is making sure my struggling students can make meaning of what they read. I've seen many fake readers who had excellent comprehension once they actually read something. It is the students who read everything required, but have no clue what it means or how to get meaning from it. Strategies are the equipment they need to complete the job, and that is what I have to teach them and give them experience with using.
I have also fake read before and I have students each year that try to do it. I allow my students a lot of freedom when choosing their independent books. I conference with each student weekly. I find the students like the one on one attention and it also holds them more accountable. It also helps me identify the students that are struggling. I try to plug them in to books that better suit them. I carefully select the novels that we read as a class. I try to find books that they are going to like and spark their interest in reading. I find they get disappointed on the days we don't read the novels in class. I use this as teaching moments to let them see that reading can be fun.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it is difficult to teach a skill that has come easily to us personally. If I ever had any trouble reading, it must have happened when I was too young to remember. That is not to say, however, that I always completely understood what I was reading the first time through. Some of the material that I had to read in many of my college science courses was challenging, to say the least. I attributed that to my lack of background knowledge and overcame it by finding sources to provide the necessary foundation. Some students in my classes do fake read and fail to pay attention during discussions of reading material. You may be shocked to learn that not all students find reading a science textbook very interesting! However, it provides that base of knowledge that is essential to reading more interesting selections related to the science topics. I like the idea of providing reading strategies for all students. Even those who don't struggle may find them useful. By the way, I love The Poky Little Puppy too. :-)
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