The article focuses mainly on giving students the opportunity to read more informative text at a younger age. I agree with this to an extent. I feel that when children begin to learn how to read, they need to read something that sparks their interests. The students should be allowed to read whatever it is they like to read in the early years, whether it be a children's book or a baseball card. Before students begin to read for comprehension, they need to be fluent in their reading so I do not think it should matter what they are reading as long as they are reading. However, I do not object that the students should have more access to informative text. I feel that students should have a variety of text available to them. Once students are able to comprehend what they read, why would they not be able to comprehend informative text if they can comprehend narrative text?
The article also mentions that a majority of the time, teachers read informative textbooks to the students. For our lab today, we talked about this. Teachers read the textbook or a book to the students while the students follow along in their book, and then, the teacher ask questions. When the students reply with the correct answers to the questions, teachers think that the students are comprehending the text. When in reality, the teachers are only testing their listening comprehension. This practice does not ensure that the student could read the same text on their own and comprehend it. While discussing this, we tested the readability of some elementary textbooks. The textbook that I had was for a fourth grade science class. Its readability turned out to be on a ninth grade level. In fact, a majority of the text books turned out to be way over the grade level. How can you expect a fourth grader to read this information on his own when it is not even on his grade level?
Another thing that stood out to me in the article is it mentioned several strategies to test a student's comprehension. I substitute a lot, and I see that schools use Accelerated Reader to get students to read more. They read a book and then take a test to determine if the student is comprehending what they read. As they answer questions correctly, they gain points. Once the student has earned so many points, they get a prize. Each student has a goal, and if he doesn't meet his goal, he is penalized by not being able to participate in something fun. I am sure this started with good intentions; however, I see that students are merely picking up a book, not reading it, and taking a test on it to see if they can guess correctly enough to get points. I think they would be better off by using some of the strategies mentioned in the article like learning logs, fact books, alphabet books, etc.
Finally, the article made the comment that elementary children choose to read informational texts over narrative text almost half of the time. If informational text is what motivating students to read, then why not allow students access to it? In conclusion, I feel that students should be exposed to a variety of text throughout their reading experiences.
Ashley, your response to the article was both unexpected and brilliant. I like that you chose to challenge the writer rather than agree, mainly because I did not think to do it myself. Your point about accelerated reader was a good one. The only thing is, how else do you spark a childs interest if not give them some sort of incentive? If anyone can answer this, I think you can. After all, you are the smartest person I know.
ReplyDeleteI am not exactly sure of how to answer your question, but here it goes. I mentioned that it is important to provide a variety of texts for students to read. In the beginning, it does not matter what they are reading. If they want to read a cereal box or a baseball card, so be it. Allow them to get hooked on what they like to read. I feel that allowing the students to explore texts for themselves without the pressure of tests is important for beginning readers. This also why it is important for teachers to get to know their students. This way, they can provide texts that are appealing to their students. Then, when it is time to test their comprehension, do not simply rely on AR tests to do this. Give the students different options to show that they are comprehending what they are reading. For example, the student could make a story board, write about it, etc. Sometimes giving students freedom is enough to keep them motivated.
ReplyDeleteAshley, that first paragraph is so true. I totally agree with what you said. We need to get children to reading something. I also think to answer Makita's question, we just need to spark the students interest by allowing them to read something they are interested in. The students need to become fluent readers first and foremost before we push them to continuously read, read, read. Let them begin slow by reading fun stuff to get them actually interested in reading and their love for reading will grow. Great job Ashley!
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