Better Reading Skills, Better Education When the pages of a book is open, the reader is transported into a different place and time. Reading a book is a chance for a person to get away and take a break from the stress of school or work. In some elementary and middle schools, children have a period in the day that is dedicated for reading. That time is called sustained silent reading, also known as SSR. The students choose a book, sit for a period of time, and enjoy the book in their hand. The chance to be a superhero, spy, royalty, and so many more different characters is an experience many do not forget. In high school, the students do not get the chance to dive into a book during a school day; that is due to the lack of an SSR period in high school. The day of a high school student consists of taking notes, cramming for tests, and writing essays. If there is a break for the students, the time is spent doing homework or being on social media. Generally, students do not have time to read at home either due to a job or homework. Sustained Silent Reading …show more content…
To help get the students involved in the reading programs, there needs to be a motivation from the parents and the teachers. Though there needs to be some motivational help to get the students involved, the benefits they gain are worth it. High school students would have the chance to improve their reading proficiency and comprehension as well as various other educational factors. In addition to the numerous sustained silent reading programs used, it helps improve the attitudes for reading at home and on students own time. Reading at home allows the students to take a break from the world of social media and televisions and just relax. Shouldn’t high school students be given the chance to read and improve their education as well as take a break from the stress of
In the article Reading Intervention Models: Reading Intervention Models: Challenges of Classroom Support and Separated Instruction by Melissa M. Woodward and Carolyn Talbert-Johnson discussed whether or not pull-out was necessary. Research was conducted by distributing a survey to teachers and reading specialist. They agreed that collaboration was necessary between reading specialist and teachers and that there was a considerable amount of positives in having a pull-out reading program some of which have been listed below.
My grandmother introduced me to reading before I’d even entered school. She babysat me while my parents were at work, and spent hours reading to me from picture books as my wide eyes drank in the colorful illustrations. As a result, I entered my first year of school with an early passion for reading. Throughout elementary and middle school, I was captivated by tales of fire-breathing dragons, mystical wizards, and spirited foreign gods. A book accompanied me nearly everywhere I went, smuggled into my backpack or tucked safely under my arm. I was often the child who sat alone at lunch, not because she didn’t have friends, but because she was more interested in a wizards’ duel than the petty dramas of middle school girls. I was the child who passed every history test because she was the only kid who didn’t mind reading the textbook in her spare time, and the child who the school librarian knew by name. Reading provided a
With such high numbers of adolescents falling below basic in reading, illiteracy is a battle that must be fought head on. The largest dilemma with the struggle is the number of variations that cause adolescents to become reluctant, unmotivated or struggling readers. Fortunately, a large number of strategies exist to encourage and strengthen readers of all ages, proving that adolescence is not a time to give up on faltering students. Rather, it is a time to evaluate and intervene in an effort to turn a reluctant reader into an avid one (or near enough). Ultimately, educators must learn to properly assess a student’s strengths and weaknesses (Curtis, 2009) and pair them with the proper intervention techniques. If one method does not work, countless others exist to take its place.
Reading is on the decline and our reading skills are declining right along with the amount of reading we do. This is happening right across the board through both genders, all age groups and education levels, people are busy and they just do not have time to read books that they are not required to read for school or work. There are serious consequences to this neglect of reading that will continue to worsen if ignored. We need to take notice of what is happening to our culture and stop this situation from continuing, we must act to correct these issues that we are faced with. These things are discussed in the essay “Staying Awake’’ by Ursula K. Le Guin who uses the NEA essays “To Read or Not to Read’’ and “Reading at Risk’’ to support her argument that there is a decline in the amount of time that we are spending on reading and our ability to understand what it is that we are reading.
“The importance of reading to children is their ability to grasp abstract concepts, apply logic in various scenarios recognize cause and effect, and utilize judgement.” (Stan, n.d.) Reading helps with concentration and discipline. Which not only helps them in school but allows them to make better choices in everyday situations. Pie Corbett did his own research and discovered that “children were at risk of being left behind at school and failing to develop the creative talents needed to lead happy and productive lives.” If parents were told this, they might make better parental
Communication and Collaborative among educators and parents can increase the child’s reading skills. It is the educators and parent’s job to find effective strategies that promote children’s reading. By working together, students will achieve more in educational life and it will be the greatest memories for teachers and parents to celebrate. Reading build up everything we write learn in other content areas such as science, math, and so forth. If children cannot read, their educational life will not succeed and reading performance fall below grade level. Providing reading skills in the early age of children will encourage them to read and succeed throughout their educational life.
At the school that I work at reading classes are only required in sixth grade. In seventh and eighth grade reading classes can be taken as an elective class. I strongly feel that all students in middle school still need guidance and continuous practice with reading comprehension and critical thinking skills. Students who are beyond a sixth grade reading class are not getting these reading skills that can be applied in all other academic classes. As a teacher I can not change the fact that the school principal has decided that students in seventh and eighth grade are not required to take a reading class. However I can find other ways to make sure that all students know the reasons and benefits for understanding the source that they are reading, whether it is the sports section of the paper or a chapter in the history text book. It is also important that students know how to critically think before, during, and after reading.
In a world dominated by technology, reading novels has become dull. Instead of immersing into books, we choose to listen to Justin Bieber’s new songs and to scroll through Instagram posts. We have come to completely neglect the simple pleasures of flipping through pages and getting to finally finish a story. Sherman Alexie and Stephan King’s essays attempt to revive this interest in books that has long been lost. They remind us of the important role that reading plays in our daily lives. “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me,” for instance, demonstrates how being literate saved the narrator from the oppressive nature of society. The author explains that even though he was capable of reading complex books at an astonishingly young
I have seen this some in the classrooms that I have observed. However, recently I have just seen teachers reading a story aloud to the children after an activity that arouses the children’s interests, but there are no during-reading prompts and questions or after-reading questions. I believe this something that needs to remain in the classroom. When children are not given opportunities to actively participate, they start to focus on other things instead of the story being read to them. When children have something to focus on they are staying actively engages with the text being read and
It is literally a conflict of interest, more interest created more effort which generated greater achievement. In the elementary years, from first through third grades, children continue learning how to read. It is a complex process, difficult for some and easy for others. Care must be taken during these early years not to overemphasize the learning-to-read process. Tempt your kids to read by having a large supply of appealing books and magazines at their reading level with reading materials in cars, bathrooms, family rooms, and even by the TV. By encouraging and modeling leisure-time reading in the home, parents take the first and most important step in their child's reading development. Reading for pleasure and information develops reading interests and offers children the opportunity to practice their reading skills in meaningful ways. Parents of elementary-age children should provide reading materials in the home that arouse curiosity or extend their child's natural interest in the world around them. Next, parents should establish daily 15 to 30 minute times when everyone in the family reads together silently or out loud. Seeing you read will inspire your children to read. Just 15 minutes of daily practice is sufficient enough to increase the child’s
While I believe every child is a reader, I do not believe every child will be enthralled with reading all the time. All students have the capability to read and enjoy reading, but just like any other hobby, interest will vary from student to student. The students in my classroom will be encouraged in their reading, be provided with choice, taught how books can take you into another world but, my students will not be forced to read. This paper will illustrate my philosophy of reading through the theories I relate to, the way I want to implement reading and writing curriculum, and the methods I will use motivate my students to read and help them become literate.
Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) goes by a variety names, including DEAR (Drop Everything and Read), DIRT (Daily Individual Reading Time), and FVR (Free Voluntary Reading). Regardless of the term used, the purpose of the reading period has remained relatively constant: “to develop each student’s ability to read silently without interruption for a long period of time” (McCracken, 1971, p. 521). Essentially, SSR involves allocating a special time, usually every day, dedicated to uninterrupted, independent, silent reading of material of the readers’ choosing, according to his or her interests.
Decoding is the process in which the brain translates the strings of letters into meaningful sentences. Language Processing is the comprehension of everything that occurs in the novel. By the late years in elementary, decoding becomes a part of a person, so the brain does not have to do any additional work while reading a book(Science of Us). Growing up, reading a physical copy of a book becomes an easier task. Willingham states, “Some people enjoy curling up physically with a book” (Willingham). There is not a straightforward way to express the emotions and physical pleasure that comes when a book is physically read. All the time of the world is in the reader's hand, allowing them to read and re read until they are fully content. Daniel Willingham claims that “About 10 to 20 percent of the eye movements you make are actually regressions, where your eyes are moving backwards” (Willingham).
Every child deserves a positive, safe, nurturing, and stimulating learning environment where they will grow academically, socially, emotionally, and physically. My role as an educator is to provide my students with this type of environment as well as an education that will help them succeed academically and become life long learners. It is the responsibility of a literacy educator to provide students with this type of environment, but also to provide instruction that will help students become successful readers and writers. There are numerous programs and philosophies about literacy and reading. Through years of experience and research, one begins to develop their own creative approach on teaching these skills. After looking at different programs and seeing the positive and negatives of each, an integrated and balanced approach of literacy seems to be the best way to teach the differing needs of each student.
Taking a close look at a text takes much more than looking at words or fining word and phrases to answer questions. Close reading is define as the mindful, disciplined reading of an object with a view to deeper understanding of its meaning (Cummins, 2013). According to Fisher & Frey (2012), the practice of close reading is not a new one, and in fact has existed for many decades as the practice of reading a text for a level of detail not used in everyday reading. Therefore, teachers need to foster this skill on students in early stages of literacy skill to become proficient in comprehension. In order for students to examine complex text, teachers need to model and guide them through various strategies that would support their understanding