Re: Atwell's _The Reading Zone_

["Jenny Smithson" <judgejenny@hotmail.com>]

Just a couple of comments.  As far as the test driven portions of your 
curriculum, check out a book called "Writing on Demand" published by 
Heinemann.  I wrote a book review of this in our Indiana Writing Project 
Spring 2007 newsletter.  You can read it at the following link: 
http://iwp.iweb.bsu.edu/    (click on Spring 2007 Newsletter pdf).

I also keep in mind every time I read a book by Nancie Atwell that she only 
has 14 students in a private school where she is also the principal.  She 
lives in a reality of her own making.  Her students have been doing reading 
and writing workshop for years before she has them in 8th grade.  I don't in 
any way discount what she advocates because I find huge success in using her 
ideas with my college freshman, but for a more practical approach to reading 
and writing workshop in a public school, check out Linda Reif's books 
instead.  She does advocate shared and whole class reading, but agrees with 
Atwell in many other ways.  I myself use a whole class novel which we read 
like a reader first--all the way through without interruption except at 
natural breaks (chapter breaks) for questions and some thinking aloud.  Then 
we go back and read the novel again (reading like a writer) and talk about 
the author's craft in certain excerpts and the other skills kids need like 
skimming text for information and rereading for deeper analysis.

I found this link also: 
http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/scholasticprofessional/authors/talkabouts.htm
Many of you may be interesting in hearing what these authors have to say 
about their work.
Both Nancie Atwell and Linda Reif are on this page.  I highly recommend the 
Lester Lamanick book on this page as well.


Jenny Smithson





From: SommerWind410@aol.com
Reply-To: middle-lit@interversity.org
To: middle-lit@interversity.org
Subject: Re: [middle-lit] Atwell's _The Reading Zone_
Date: Thu, 5 Jul 2007 18:13:28 EDT


Thanks for the responses and the clarification regarding the grammar and
vocabulary study.  I do understand and appreciate the general concept of  
reading
and workshop, but it is the issue of practicality -- making it work! --  
that
I struggle with.  I feel time-crunched as it is, and after our  curriculum
sessions last week, it seems as though we are only adding MORE to our  to-do
list. And unfortunately, the curricullar decisions appear  to be more and 
more
test-driven.

As I read the Atwell book, I thought that a lot of what she  says makes
*sense* to me, but now I have to figure out where it all fits  and how to 
modify it
so that I'm still meeting what my district is  mandating...An example: I was
surprised to read that she no longer emphasizes  the Post-its and the
comprehension strategies.  That is *precisely* the  direction my district is 
taking.
Yet, I can see how we are taking the  joy out of reading by making our kids
notate or respond in writing  every night as I was doing with my weekly IR 
logs.
Prior to reading this  book, I'd decided I was going to do away with the 
logs
once and for all, and now  I'm convinced that's the right way to go.  I
really like the idea of the  essay-letters every three weeks.  Not sure 
about
assigning 30  minutes of reading seven days a week, though.

Yes, I thought the comments about not interrupting the reading were
interesting...I can see that interrupting TOO much *would* interrupt the 
flow of  a
reading, and I know that stopping does frustrate some kids...But I think 
with
shared reading, there *has* to be some interruption.  Aren't shared  texts
usually somewhat challenging so that the readers *need* a level of  support?
Curious to hear other thoughts as well.

Oh, and I found the chapter on HS English classrooms very
interesting...seems that we are on different pages!

Cathy :-)



In a message dated 7/5/2007 5:02:02 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
MMINNICK@fairfield.k12.ct.us writes:

I have  just finished reading the READING ZONE and love it.  It really
prioritizes giving kids the tools they need to become READERS.  I always  
feel
guilty when kids are reading in school ... like they should be doing  
something,
but this book really shifted that perspective.  I really like  it.  I'm
curious, as others read it, what you think about her criticism  of stopping 
during
reading as it breaks up kids' flow.  This is a section  of the book that was
debated in our district, as some teachers feel that  think-alouds do this 
and
they are good instruction.  Once you've read it,  I'd love to know what you
think.

Thanks,
Maureen






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