Yesterday at reading council we had some great discussions. I talked too much as usual but that didn't keep everyone from taking part. We really took off on the required summer reading. The kids are required to read three books. That's not very many. In fact most research says reading more books is better. But here's problem: there are two required titles for each grade and only a few choices for the third. Then the required projects don't give enough choice either. On top of that many parents aren't able to help their children, some of the books are out of print, and the public library copies have been lost or stolen. Doesn't sound like a workable system, does it? The person who originally came up with this mess had a background in high school English. Probably hadn't read a lot of research about beginning readers.
What motivates elementary age kids to read? That was our next question. There are so many good ideas-book talks, read alouds, books on tape or CD or MP3, great readers reading the books on the school cable network, etc.
And what about the schools and teachers who strictly adher to the summer reading program. If projects aren't turned in, AR tests aren't taken, anchor writing not done-zero, zero, zero in the grade book. How does that help children become better readers?
We talked about April, Poetry Month. There is a blog: gottabook.blogspot.com, where 30 poets are posting 30 poems in 30 days. These are new poems just for this month. Today's poem was a funny one. Can't wait to read the rest.
Scholastic is sponsoring a contest to encourage summer reading. Barnes and Noble is offering free books to kids who read. Let's get reading!
Next year we want to do teacher book studies. We are looking for ideas for good books to study. I hope people will participate and enjoy sharing ideas with each other. If others don't treat us a professionals (see NCLB-testing), then we will have to rise above that and be professionals anyway.
Much thanks to JARC supporters-Vicki, Martha, Marilyn, Judy, and Nikki.
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