Let's Non Kill The Honey Of Reading

Kelly Gallagher via Pinterest

To all my beau educators, particularly those who are inwards leadership positions and/or the teachers of reading, literacy, ELA (or whatever it's called today), delight have got greenback that some of the practices nosotros are employing inwards our schools, specifically every bit they relate to pupil reading, are genuinely killing the honey of reading inwards our kids. It's truthful - inwards our endeavor to "educate" kids in addition to to brand certain they are "college in addition to career ready," nosotros may live on indirectly killing the honey of reading that many of our children come upwardly to schoolhouse having nurtured (with the assist of solid unit of measurement members, other readers, etc.) through their ain mass readings in addition to explorations. 

This post service is non directed at whatever specific teacher, schoolhouse or leader because I know everyone is working difficult in addition to that most are doing what they intend is best for kids. This post service is non an assault on ELA or reading teachers because I know they are trying to assist kids grow every bit readers. Instead, this post service is a plea from me, Tony the dad, who has watched his son's honey of reading live on pushed to the brink of extinction. I am non blaming whatever specific instructor or practise I am merely pleading my son's case. You see, Paul has e'er loved reading - from the fourth dimension he was xviii months onetime - in addition to he could literally larn lost inwards a mass for hours at a time. He would sit, curled upwardly on the couch, in addition to larn hence immersed inwards mass that all nosotros would take away heed is laughter, oooohhhs or aaaaahhhs based on what he was reading. He would zip through entire serial inwards a affair of days in addition to would beg for trips to Barnes in addition to Noble or the library. He would say us all nearly the characters in addition to their adventures. But every bit he progressed inwards school, that honey for reading started to change. Yes, at some betoken he did have his outset iPad in addition to iPhone in addition to those screens pulled him away from his books but the battle to read started when reading was associated amongst an activity/assignment/expectation that was beingness done to run across somebody else's reading expectations - non his own. Some of those activities included...

1. Reading logs... ugh... the dreadful reading logs that nosotros would eventually merely signed off on fifty-fifty if Paul hadn't read because they larn to a greater extent than of a project than anything else;

2. Written responses... that were never checked or responded to. Yes, I produce recognize that children should write nearly their reading but that writing should live on used to give us insight into their thinking every bit readers hence nosotros tin assist them grow.
3. Summaries... ugh... 5-8 sentences where Paul summarized a mass he had read merely hence a instructor could grip him accountable. It became such a project that Paul e'er wrote the minimum in addition to sometimes constitute a summary using Google that he could paraphrase because it didn't affair to him. 

4. Book reports... the dreaded mass reports that genuinely became to a greater extent than nearly drawing some amazing motion painting to conk on the encompass of the written report than anything else. They were besides hence formulaic that picayune idea went into completing them - it was similar mindlessly next a recipe.

5. Reading passages merely to reply multiple selection questions... why are nosotros doing this to our kids? Paul got to the betoken where he would merely read the questions in addition to the multiple selection answers in addition to and hence scan the passage for the right reply - no reading genuinely involved there.

6. Close readings have got turned into reading the same mass for months in addition to doing endless assignments unopen to that i book... that doesn't run for every kid.

The listing could conk on in addition to on but the betoken is that somewhere along the business the reading Paul was doing became to a greater extent than nearly coming together somebody else's expectations than they were nearly nurturing in addition to growing his honey for reading. I saw it terminal black when doing a homework assignment related to reading became a challenge that he merely wanted to complete in addition to motion on. Yet, when the fourth dimension came for him to read earlier bed (we agreed to xv minutes) he literally begged me to rest upwardly to read because he wanted to view what happened at the halt of the book. xv minutes speedily turned into 45 minutes in addition to inwards the halt I had to wrestle the mass out of his hands because he needed to sleep.

Why produce I percentage this? Not to shame whatever educators or schools (Paul has had some of the most amazing in addition to talented teachers I have got ever seen) but to merely betoken out that nosotros must rethink our practices every bit they relate to reading because they powerfulness live on having the contrary behavior on - non creating improve readers but instead creating resentful readers.

Yes, I recognize that some of our students don't honey to read similar Paul loves to read; in addition to yes, a handful of those children may have got non loved reading earlier they fifty-fifty walked into a schoolhouse building, but I produce believe that some of our instructional practices (many of which I was guilty of using every bit a instructor myself) are genuinely killing the honey of reading instead of nurturing it. When did nosotros halt reading for the joy of reading? Although I am non a literacy goodness or reading specialist myself I produce intend in that place are some things nosotros could produce to assist grow a honey of reading...

1) Let kids merely read what they desire to read; selection is a powerful incentive.

2) Let kids verbalise nearly what they are reading... mass talks are awesome ways to claw other readers in addition to spread mass love.

3) Don't attach an assignment to every reading activity.

4) Books don't have got to live on the solely thing kids read.

5) If an assignment has to live on attached to a reading activeness (for accountability purposes), give the kids choices nearly what they powerfulness do.

6) Confer amongst kids - verbalise to them nearly what they are reading in addition to utilization that information to assist our kids laid their ain reading goals hence they larn better.

7) Don't brand kids read i novel for months at a fourth dimension in addition to if y'all must produce this, larn inwards engaging!

Again, the listing tin conk on in addition to on in addition to in that place are educators who are much to a greater extent than skilled than I am who could offering much improve insight but this is merely a plea from a dad who wants his boy to conk on to honey to read. No, this is non a novel plea every bit it has been written nearly here by Mark Barnes, in addition to fifty-fifty here (there are dozens of pieces genuinely - merely see the Google). Educators have got been talking nearly killing the honey of reading for years yet nosotros are yet employing many of the questionable practices in addition to I intend nosotros are doing it all inwards the cite of accountability, exam training in addition to standards. While I recognize that those are our realities, in addition to nosotros must run inside them, I promise nosotros (all educators) tin interruption in addition to reverberate on the practices nosotros are employing to ensure nosotros are non indirectly killing the honey of reading inwards our kids in addition to instead nosotros are helping grow that honey of books in addition to reading!
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