What Really Matters: Kids Need to Read A Lot

(Page 35) “…volume (of reading) is linked to attaining the higher order literacy proficiencies.”
(Page 54) “…one of the greatest differences between college and high school was the sheer volume of reading and writing that was expected in college compared to what had been required in high school.”

I realize the voice of this chapter isn’t nearly as enjoyable as the other texts we have been reading, but I felt the information Allington provides is important for us all to know. I think this chapter would help anyone who doubts our school-wide SSR to understand the importance of the program. Many of our lower-income students have so many responsibilities outside of school that they don’t have time to read; I know I’ve taught those who have to work to help pay bills around the house or have to tend to younger siblings once they go home. But those same students will read if they’re given the time to do so at school. I know I’m guilty of not reading as much since having children (other than picture books, of course) because there’s just so much I’ve got to get done once I get home. I definitely used to be one of those people who thought that teachers who incorporated SSR in their classes were just trying to keep the students busy so they didn’t have to get up and teach something. Boy, was I ever wrong! When implemented correctly, SSR is invaluable; I can’t imagine not having it as part of my regular class routine. My only fear (okay, not my only one, but one of them) about the school-wide SSR is that some teachers will cut SSR out of their classes because they feel like the students have already done it for the day. I think we can see from this chapter that we can’t have students read too much! I remember last year a student coming back from his first year at college (I won’t reveal any names, but this was not one of my resource students—he was an honors/AP student) who said he didn’t feel like he had been prepared to college. Perhaps if as a school we increased our reading and writing expectations, our students will feel more than prepared when going to college. I remember my senior year in high school I had to turn in an extensive essay every two weeks to my English teacher. He told us we would hate him for it at the time but would appreciate it when we went off to college. Boy, was he ever right! (Nicole—did you have this same teacher at Northeast??? He’s still there.) I was extremely appreciative that I had him for a teacher and felt bad for those who didn’t. If only all of my high school teachers had been more demanding of reading I would have done much better my freshman year of college. I was pretty overwhelmed by all I had to do. I’ll save you the abysmal details, but on the bright side I wasn’t put on probation. :-) Do y’all have any ideas as to how you think we could raise the reading and writing requirements for our students throughout the school?

Subjects Matter: Chapter 6; NCTE Principles of Adolescent Literacy Reform

Subjects Matter
(Page 146) “…as we look at our textbook, we need to be asking: what are the really big ideas here, where are the places to slow down, dig in, and “uncover” ideas, not just cover them?”
As I listened to Erin Gruwell (the teacher behind the book and movie Freedom Writers) during the keynote this morning, she reminded us that any teacher that really made a difference with students didn’t just teach the content, she taught the student. One of the keys in teaching the student is relating the material his/her life. If we can take the big ideas from our textbook and relate them to the students’ lives and how they impact them, then the concepts will stick. On the other hand, if we just plow through the book for the sake of getting through it, have we really taught the students anything they’ll remember after leaving our classrooms? Think back to your high school classes…what are the lessons you most remember? Were they the ones where you had to answer the questions at the end of the chapter? Or were they the ones were the teacher made them relevant to you?

NCTE Principles of Adolescent Literacy Reform
(Page 8) “Traditionally teacher preparation programs include little (if any) course work in literacy, so it is possible for teachers to be identified as highly-qualified even though they were not prepared to address the challenges of adolescent literacy.”
I think we all had that one obligatory education course in reading in order to get our teaching certificates. Because I was in a K-12 special ed program, most of the content was geared toward elementary. There wasn’t much of a focus on the high school student, the kids I was planning to teach. I, in all of my ignorance, thought that if the student got to high school, he had to be able to say the words in front of him and if he could say the words, then he could understand what he was reading. After all, if I told him something, he could understand it, so what was the difference??? (Yes, you regular ed folks are reading correctly—most special ed programs only require that one reading course as well—there are no secrets that we were taught and you weren’t.) But the problem isn’t just with special education students. All of us are struggling readers at some point. Think about it: can you pick up ANY text and understand it? I can get through a young adult novel in a breeze, but I’m a struggling reader when it comes to tax documents and technical manuals. That’s because I’ve never had an expert in those fields teach me how to read the material. The skills I use in reading a novel are not the same ones I need when completing my tax return. Because we are the experts in our content areas, we are the experts in reading our particular contents. We just have to build our toolbox of strategies, so we know how to teach our students how to read our content.