Re: need information

[Sherri Neofotist <sneofotist@anamosa.k12.ia.us>]

On 2/5/08 1:13 PM, "Kruchma@aol.com" <Kruchma@aol.com> wrote:

> Robin and Sherri,
>  
> The expensive programs you have mentioned, along with prescriptive programs
> that are technology- based, have  poor track records for either improving
> students' reading  levels or interests in reading when applied to new
> contexts 
> (those beyond the programs used).
>  
> If you are lucky enough to have a school-wide SSR or at least have planned
> open reading time within your classroom on a regular basis, the next step is
> to 
>  allow multiple responses to what students have read, time to converse about
> their reading with peers, and then the opportunity to share with the class or
>  take part in larger discussion.  You can write a focus question for them to
> consider depending  upon genres, if you need or want a more structured
> response.  Also, read along with the class,  respond in writing,  through art
> or 
> other modes, and then share a viewpoint, new learning, or  your own answer to
> a 
> focus question, if that is the case.  You  will find that students' interests
> are piqued with this sharing, and texts  read by peers will often wind up on
> their reading  lists.  The teacher modeling along with taking the time for
> students  to converse are strong motivators for students to consider multiple
> viewpoints  while refining their own and also to read genres in addition to
> perhaps the  fiction or graphic novels they may usually choose.
>  
> Some great sources on the topic of reading responses and insights into
> students' interests and motivations are Louise Rosenblatt's Literature as
> Exploration  and The Reader, the Text, and the Poem , along  with Jeffrey D.
> Wilhem's 
> Going with the  Flow:  How to Engage Boys  and Girls in Their Literacy
> Learning and Engaging Readers and Writers  with Inquiry.  There are many
> exceptional 
> texts that will inspire you,  and perhaps others can add to this list.
>  
> Feel free to write to me off-list if you would like to explore some
> additional specific strategies.  It is worth the time you invest in  creating
> a 
> reading approach that works for your particular situation.  And  I am pretty
> sure 
> that your students will thank you.
>  
> Best wishes,
>  
> Mary Anna
>  
> Mary Anna Kruch, Ph.D.
> President-Elect,  Michigan Council of Teachers of English
> K-12 Writing & Literacy  Consultant
> 
> kruchma@aol.com
> 
> P.O. Box 561
> Williamston, MI  48895
> 517-655-1633
> 
>

I agree with you whole-heartedly, but the decision was not mine to make.
The powers that be have never listened to what I and others have said about
reading and literacy.  Instead a new "reading specialist" looked into the
program, presented to the board, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Sherri