Posted on 07/27/2008 6:23:29 AM PDT by Amelia
...Children like Nadia lie at the heart of a passionate debate about just what it means to read in the digital age. The discussion is playing out among educational policy makers and reading experts around the world, and within groups like the National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association.
As teenagers’ scores on standardized reading tests have declined or stagnated, some argue that the hours spent prowling the Internet are the enemy of reading — diminishing literacy, wrecking attention spans and destroying a precious common culture that exists only through the reading of books.
But others say the Internet has created a new kind of reading, one that schools and society should not discount. The Web inspires a teenager like Nadia, who might otherwise spend most of her leisure time watching television, to read and write...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Being ever suspicious of the media, especially the Times, I see this as laying the groundwork for more government control - of the internet, of TV, and by implication Talk Radio. Throw in government run preschool and we see the evolution of what is going on.
And so do thousands of "accomplished book readers" (LOL!) on Free Republic.
Yes, I think that's true.
The part that worries me a bit is the education professors and writers who say that we now need to engage with students differently because they are used to text messaging, cell phones, etc.
I'm not yet ready to believe that we need to give up the system that created the inventors of computers & cell phones for something different, and I'm not yet ready to believe that all students are ready to educate themselves using new media.
Some people will say that's because I'm afraid for my job. I don't think it is, but if people want to believe that, I can't stop them.
HA! That was my exact thought when I read that line! GMTA!
Anyone out there have any suggestions of ways to get kids to read and enjoy longer works?
I didn't get that from it, but maybe I didn't pay enough attention to the right parts?
I don’t think there’s any place in education for text messaging and that other garbage. Use words, people.
On the other hand, literature and tv discussion and fan fiction sites can be great venues for students’ writing. My daughter has been using them since about the 8th grade, starting with “Redwall” sites, and she produces reams of writing - some quite good, some not, but I can see different skills developing over time. The sites she frequents require good composition skills - they’ve got the Spelling and Grammar Police, just like FR.
I haven’t had this problem. My kids devour novels as well as giant nonfiction texts. Maybe you’d find more engagement with nonfiction writing such as biographies or history? When I subjected my kids to a fiction moratorium one Lent, they picked up things like big-game hunting books, travel writing, space and undersea exploration, and lots and lots of military history.
But, there is SO MUCH to be gained from reading the long books in terms of plot and character development, themes, moral dilemmas that I feel I need to get them to engage. I have had some success with the novel "Nothing but the Truth" by Avi. I'd love suggestions of others that would help them watch how people can change from events presented to them
Of course, part of the problem is that these kids do NOT read at home. Most of my kids have NO books at home and a small percentage have fewer than 10 books. One of my kids from last year confided in me that he couldn't read at home because his dad disapproved of him 'wasting his time' in reading when he could be doing anything else. I asked him if he could read while others were watching TV and he shook his head no. I'm not sure why, but the look on his face told me not to press it any further. So, that's a problem I will need to work around again next year.
I am really conflicted about the ones trying to read when they should be doing something else...and as long as they are passing I'll usually mention it to the parents and follow their guidance on it...but I figure that a child who reads for pleasure will find a way to learn whatever s/he needs to know....
Isn't that the truth!! Every year I get (mostly girls) who turn in a paper with "U" and "R" and I refuse to grade it - it goes right back. They KNOW better, they just get lazy!
Oh, both my girls LOVED the Redwall series! Isn't that a great set? And they produced such good writings when they tried to do another adventure. That is exactly what I'd like for my students to be able to do. Love a book so much, they want to write another one that would fit into the series
My students get angry when I take off spelling points for using "text speak" in essay answers. "This is SCIENCE class, not ENGLISH class!"
I was a bit surprised last year to find out that I took off more for spelling than at least one of the English teachers did...
I sympathize. I drag my students through two or three novels per semester, but it's often a struggle. I teach one honors class (okay, that part isn't a struggle) and three lower-level classes, mostly 7th graders. Those lower level readers just LOATHE anything with words on it. We have to read the stories together, I have to spend a lot of time soliciting opinions on the characters, how they treat each other, what's going to happen...
And it's not popular to say this, but those lower-level readers have no imagination. I am convinced imagination is a major component of intelligence. They can't even get into The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I coaxed them through the first half of the novel, and then I brought in the movie. They can't even pay attention to the movie. All they want to do is talk to each other, throw things at each other, pick on each other... well, it is inner-city Los Angeles.
But it baffles me how limited their interests are. Seriously, nothing outside of their immediate and constant need for peer-based stimulation can get through. Unless it's a PSP.
a) Entertainment Self explanatory
b) Research for teaching or writing article's Self explanatory
c) Learn a new skill- There is a tremendous amount of information to help you learn, but you need to have a foundation to build on. A person that want to do masonry needs similar skills to some one that decorates cakes. That is why problem solving and skill transfer are so important today
There is something to what you are saying and I use this with parents who ask me 'WHY' can't Johnny read.
Poor readers are unable to make pictures out of the words they read. When you and I read a novel, we are not reading the words as much as making pictures in our minds of the words. If we read "The Lion..." we form a mental picture of Prince Caspian, the lion, or the Witch and then the story unfolds much like a movie. When poor readers read, they see words, just words. It's like when you or I read a computer manual or instructions (with no illustrations) on how to install something. We have to read it over and over because we can't visualize it. We can certainly READ the words, we just can't connect them with what we already know and then build a scenario in our heads.
That is why both you and I struggle with poor readers and you are right, they don't have ability to form imaginations and sadly, they often don't have the desire. They connect no good feelings with books or stories. That is where our challenge lies and I'd love to find something that encourages that.
ping
Ping
When I tell them this is a fictional character, they sit back with a disgusted look on their face, like "then what's the point?"
I just don't get it. They like Batman well enough, they know he's fictional... but unless it's a comic book character and there's going to be lots of CGI and violence, they seem to have a prejudice against the very idea of fiction. It's like fiction is only for stories that are impossible in real life, usually due to the level of violence and action. The only part of LW&W that captured their attention was the battle scene. The minute a character paused to speak, they turned to each other and started talking again.
I used to have a great video/movie that was the life story of Dr. Ben Carson, a famous pediatric neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins.
It’s not reading, but it IS a true story, and I bet your students would love it.
Dr. Carson was raised in the ghettos by a single mother.
Yes, it’s excellent!
I’m not sure what to tell you. Our oldest daughter will read almost anything. She doesn’t care if it’s long or short. Our second daughter loves to read as well, and she’s been in classes that have required reading since she was in fourth grade. There have been times when the books chosen by the teacher were very engaging in her opinion. And then there have been books that she hated. She had to read “The Giver” in the sixth grade, and she hated it for some reason. (I haven’t read it, so I have no opinion.) I think it depressed her. Our son had to read it in the fifth grade in another state with another teacher, and he liked it. I cannot explain why he would like it at all. He’s a sports nut who would rather be outside playing ball. But if you give him a good book to read, no matter the length, he will sit down and read it.
Our second daughter had to read a number of novels this past year in school. She was a freshman, and they read books that were unfamiliar to me. She would occasionally complain about the book choices, but she was more interested in getting her work done for that class so that she could concentrate on other subjects. Anywho, she finds books in our bookshelves and reads them when she gets bored. She read “To Kill a Mockingbird” some time in the last few weeks. She mentioned this to me yesterday when I was perusing novels at Target and she saw a copy of “Mockingbird” on the shelf. Why would a 15-year-old read a classic on her own without any prodding from anyone? I don’t know, but she liked the book. She watched “The Man in the Iron Mask” several years ago, and it inspired her to read the book. She wore out the book. She then went on to read “The Three Musketeers” and a number of other such novels. We watched “Pride and Prejudice” one day, so daughter had to read the book. She has read it three or four times since. She’s also read “Emma” and “Sense and Sensibility.” Somewhere along the way in school or at home or both, daughter has decided that books are usually better than movies by the same titles. I think that of all of our children, she has been the most fortunate to have the most engaging teachers who have inspired her to read. (Our oldest daughter didn’t need any inspiration from teachers. She decided that reading was/is the greatest thing there is as soon as she learned to read. She devours books. When she was attending public schools, she would read everything she could find in each school library to the point that she would put off other school work . . .) Our third child hates to read. Our fourth son loves to read, but he is the opposite to daughter #2. If he sees the movie, he loses interest in reading the book because he already knows what’s going to happen. He has read one Harry Potter book. He doesn’t like them at all. But he likes the movies.
I’m rambling on here trying to come up with suggestions for you, but it’s not working. Our daughter is inspired to read classic novels when she sees the movies first. Our son loses interest in books if he sees the movies first. But our son loves to read and can lose himself in a good book for days.
Typing classes are probably superfluous.
I was always the one in school reading novels when I was supposed to be learning something else. Since I got good grades and had stratospheric standardized test scores, it didn’t really get me into trouble until college.
I haven’t read the “Redwall” books, but all my kids like them. Anoreth (17, and did I mention she’s starting college next month?) does illustrations as well as writing stories. She puts her plots up on the Undead Thread, sometimes; several Undead are published fiction writers.
Do you think your students would like Star Wars or Star Trek novels? There are zillions of them! I think you’re probably facing the “cultural literacy” problem that whatsisface, Bloom?, wrote about in the 80’s. If the content is totally alien to the student’s experience, even someone who can decode words accurately isn’t going to assimilate much of the material. Nonfiction reading helps with this - puts facts in!
I wonder if it would work to watch the movie and read the book at the same time. As in read 2-3 chapters before/after watching the corresponding part in the movie? There's a lot I could do with that at that point. Thanks for the suggestions! Good luck
Actually, Star Wars novels are a pretty good idea - I have some at home too. What could be cool would be to have different kids pair read out loud and then. Hmmm.... that could be interesting
My daughter took the Complete Federalist Papers on a date, “in case I get bored.” Then she bought the Antifederalist Papers and Constitutional Debates and tortured us for weeks with the Deep Thought of Elbridge Gerry.
You can watch original Star Trek episodes on streaming video from (I think) ABC’s website, and there are also short-story versions of the screenplays out. That might be a useful comprehension exercise. I used to write essays about John Wayne movies, in high school. It drove my more left-leaning instructors bats, although not the Vietnam-era infantry officer who taught AP History. And my rhyming-couplets retelling of “Rio Bravo” was a cult favorite for several years.
I asked our children your question. Our oldest was not a part of the conversation, and she’s probably the best one to ask. She reads everything, and she relates to people of all shapes and sizes. But she was not around for the conversation.
Daughter #2 attended school last year at what some folks would say is the worst school in the area. Her classes were filled with students who were not in the least interested in the subject matter. She said that one thing teachers do that DOES NOT work is have the students read the books aloud. It is distracting because some students read aloud well. Some are horrible. I remember when I was in school, one of my teachers had another adult come in and read a Eudora Welty short story to us. That was entertaining. Daughter enjoyed watching movies in conjunction with studying the novels. But she’s not a good indicator of “normal” students.
Our son, who likes to read, corrected me about The Giver. He read it before his teacher assigned it. He always finished his work early, so his teacher kept a library of books for him to read rather than watch him throw paper/pencils at people who were trying to complete their work. He and Daughter #2 have opposite tastes in books from what they were telling us. One liked Johnny Tremain. The other one hated it.
Our soon-to-be fifth grader mentioned The Witch of Blackbird Pond and how she liked it. She didn’t elaborate on what made her like it. It is based on a true story, however. We lived in Virginia Beach and knew some of the history involved. That made it much more interesting to Daughter #2 who had to read it at some point in her schooling.
It’s funny because I credited Daughter #2’s teachers with inspiring her through the years. She said without knowing I thought this, “None of my teachers were any good at introducing books and making me want to read them.” lol I then listed off teachers and how they had engaged her and her classmates. Now she is rethinking her statement.
My ever evolving opinion at this moment is that if you can relate a book to something that the students know and understand, then they will be more apt to get into the book. One of the books Daughter #2 read last year was The Diary of Anne Frank. Her teacher introduced a number of related materials to the class in order to interest them further. They watched Schindler’s List, among other things. Of course, that inspired our daughter to read the book, AND she wrote a research paper for another class on the novel. So relating novels to real people and circumstances does help.
LOL - Witchduck Road! I lived in Virginia Beach, too - 1978 to 1986, but was at college in Texas most of the time from 1984.
It must have been reissued under a new name after the movie came out. The original was “The Rocket Boys.”
That’s a good one. That might interest our one non-reader.
Have you tried books on tape? My Dustin has always been a struggling reader, so anything he could comfortably read was just boring. I've been reading aloud to him for years so that he could see that books can be interesting, and we enjoy talking about them too. He's 10 now, and is starting to come around to reading more on his own.
We've really enjoyed the Alex Rider series (Anthony Horowitz). He's like a kid James Bond. Those are fairly substantial books, running 300+ pages. We recently found another author but I can't remember his name! He's written a 3 book series about kids climbing Mount Everest, another series about kids who were shipwrecked and a number of stand-alone books. Those are a fairly light read, maybe 100-150 pages. If I can come up with the author's name, I'll post it.
Dustin and I debated constantly over what might be true/false in the stories. Nearly everything involving what the kids faced on the mountain was true.
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