Rose Ferrero School
Week Of: March 22 - April 9, 2021
WEEKLY QUOTES FOR OUR TEACHERS
LCAP GOAL 5: SUPPORT FOR TEACHERS – A Book From the Shelf
In this book, Gallagher argues that American schools are actively (though unwittingly) furthering the decline of reading. Specifically, he contends that the standard instructional practices used in most schools are killing reading by ...
*valuing the development of test-takers over the development of lifelong readers; *mandating breadth over depth in instruction; *insisting that students focus solely on academic texts; *drowning great books with sticky notes, double-entry journals, and marginalia; *ignoring the importance of developing recreational reading …
In Readicide, Gallagher provides educators with specific steps to reverse the downward spiral in reading – steps that will help prevent the loss of another generation of readers.
For me, a couple of the big takeaways in this book were, first, Gallagher’s point about the over teaching of academic texts, and his “Kill-a-Reader Casserole” recipe makes this point loud and clear: “Take one large novel. Dice it into as many pieces as possible. Douse it with sticky notes. Remove book from oven every five minutes and insert worksheets. Add more sticky notes. Baste until novel is unrecognizable, far beyond well done. Serve in choppy, bite-sized chunks.” What he is referring to is the practice of taking a great book and spending months to get through it with a class because the teacher feels the need to do too much with it (and this was something I was totally guilty of in my earliest days of teaching, and thank god, I got this corrected right away with help from my mentor teacher). Gallagher correctly states, “… what students need is what all readers need when they read: access to great books and large doses of uninterrupted time to read them.”
Next is the research he cites regarding “packaged programs” that “reward” students with points for reading books, like Accelerated Reader (AR). Gallagher writes, “In AR, students are given mindless multiple-choice quizzes after they finish each book, and if they pass the quiz, they are awarded points.” He continues to explain that though students are reading, the negative part is that 1) Students can only read books found on the AR list, so if the book isn’t on the list, a student cannot read it; 2) students choose books for high point value rather than their level of interest; 3) the reward system sends the message that students should read for the wrong reasons (see Donalyn Miller’s, “The Book Whisperer” for more on this). More importantly, Gallagher points to multiple research studies that have shown that once students leave the program, they read, on average, ten hours per week less than students who were never in the program to start with. Without the points (and Alfie Kohn says as much in “Punished by Rewards”), the motivation of these students significantly decreased, which really sets these young readers back in the long run. And as educators, aren’t we interested in creating lifelong readers? Gallagher asks, “What will be more important twenty years from now, that we have produced adults who remain avid readers? Or that we have produced adults who were once able to climb from level 3 to level 4 in a reading program?” The most powerful motivator that schools can offer to build lifelong readers, that numerous studies have found, is to provide students with time in the school day for free and voluntary reading.
There is so much more Gallagher has to offer in 118 pages that make up this book, and if you would like a copy for yourself, just reach out to me and I will get one to you as soon as I can.
LCAP GOAL 2: PROFICIENCY FOR ALL – Teaching Students to Have a Critical Eye for Remote Reading
Online and hybrid learning experiences present unique challenges when helping students learn to read critically. In both classroom and distance learning environments, students interact with text in online spaces that require them to navigate digital tools and think critically about the content they come across. Never has reading critically been more important than in a world where anyone can instantly publish online. Strategic lessons and activities can help students evaluate text and question the accuracy and authenticity of the materials in front of them. But reading critically also means having opinions and taking a stance on one's reading perspective.
Just as writing benefits from the good counsel of teachers and fellow writers, a student's reading life is enriched by inquiry-based instruction that uses open-ended questions to foster deep discussions about texts and by seeking out others' interpretations of a book or other reading material in a safe learning environment where students can test new ideas and stretch their thinking. We can still model how to think critically about text at a distance. Through screen shares and think aloud and opportunities for breakout room discussions, students can dive into text with purpose.Thinking Critically When Reading Online: When students type a keyword or term into a search bar, the results will require them to think critically about which information may be helpful or irrelevant and which may be intentionally distorted depending on the motives of the creator. Teachers can model this process by thinking aloud after a search. They can walk students through their thought processes for picking and choosing between a list of websites in a set of search results. Students can see how teachers make a snap judgment to rule out certain search results and how they dig deeper into other search results to evaluate their authority. And when you model this process for your students, make sure to talk about how keywords are more effective than complete sentences.
Thinking Critically About an Image: Show students how a picture in a read-aloud book and pictures in an online encyclopedia both provide useful information to support their thinking. Encourage higher-order thinking by asking questions such as, What information can you learn from this image? What part of the text does this image connect to? Why do you think the author included this image? Where can you go to find more information on this topic?
Think Aloud, Open-Ended Questions As you work with students to think critically about what they encounter in online spaces, model how to ask questions as you read by thinking aloud to students. You might select one of the questions below and tailor it to the specific reading material you plan to share with students:
- Who is in charge of this website?
- What is the quality of the information?
- Do they have a bias or a strong opinion on this topic?
- I wonder why the author chose this word.
- I wonder what type of experience the reporter has with this topic.
- I wonder why the author wrote about this topic or chose to interview this person for the article.
As students think critically, modeling and supporting their note taking and annotations are essential. Ask students to think aloud with you as they explain what stood out for them in the text and provide feedback that highlights strategies like identifying the main idea and details. By periodically reviewing student note taking, you can provide support for their critical reading of a text, identify misconceptions, and recommend additional resources for them to explore.
Passcode: concert