Friday Focus
April 1, 2016
No More Summer-Reading Loss
When I first read this sentence last year in the book No More Summer-Reading Loss by Carrie Cahill, Kathy Horvath, Anne-McGill Franzen, and Richard Allington, I was a bit taken aback. "Who are they to place blame on our students that we work with daily?" I thought. The onus for developing lifelong readers cannot be solely on us. Can it?
The authors back up this provocative statement with evidence from research and their experiences as educators (p 3):
- Students may see reading only as a school-based activity.
- Students may view reading as an assignment or a chore.
- Students may become dependent on the literacy block to receive instruction, support, and time to share and reflect with other students.
Actually, we received similar feedback from some of our own students when we administered the long-form reading engagement survey with our intermediate learners. This is one reason why our school's learning objective is focused on increasing literacy engagement, measured through these surveys plus instructional walks, portfolio assessment, and growth over time via interim/benchmark assessments.
Knowing students' interests and providing choice of texts around those interests is critical (and I think we do an excellent job of this with our nice classroom libraries and flexible instruction). Giving students the access and opportunity to select books for independent reading shifts more of the ownership of regular reading to the learner.
Also of importance for building independent and engaged readers is reading aloud. This is especially useful when trying to get students hooked on a series or within a specific genre, such as historical fiction. The beliefs we have built with the reading-writing connection have revealed that reading aloud is a practice we value and apply on a regular basis.
Here are some additional ideas and strategies the authors offer to build independent readers and stem summer reading loss:
- Provide ample time for students to read independently daily (p 5).
- Offer students to choose the books to read during the summer months (p 16).
- Acknowledge graphic novels, pop culture texts, and magazines as real texts (p 26).
- Allow students to read beyond their "level" if motivated by the book (p 28).
- Teach authentic habits of real readers, such as abandoning books if we lose interest (p 38).
- Partner with community organizations (i.e. public library) to help students stay active as readers during the summer (p 51).
- Leverage digital tools, such as blogging, for students to post and share about their reading lives with peers (p 58).
As I reread some of the notes I took in the margins of No More Summer Reading Loss, I felt a sense of affirmation. Every classroom and educator at Howe is employing one or more of these strategies within our instruction. Our students have said as much in our fall reading engagement surveys.
As professionals, we are also expected to consistently look at ways to become better at what we do. What area(s) could each of us continue to grow in our instruction? How might this affect our students' dispositions toward reading as a lifelong activity? I look forward to observing this growth throughout the rest of the school year.
Best,
Matt
Makerspace Update
Student Showcase/ Portfolio Night
Digital Portfolios
Know Your Howe Staff
Brenda Simon is one of our classroom aides at Howe. Previously she was a noon aide and Howe's PTC president. Did you know:
- that she can do the splits?
- that she is currently a student at Mid-State Technical College?
- that she is the youngest of six children?
#quotable
“If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month.”
― Theodore Roosevelt
Staff Social @ Jennings
Friday, Apr 8, 2016, 04:00 PM
Jennings & Company, 1st Street North, Wisconsin Rapids, WI, United States
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
Howe Elementary School
Email: matthew.renwick@wrps.net
Website: http://www.wrps.org/schools/howe/index.cfm
Location: 221 8th Street North, Wisconsin Rapids, WI, United States
Phone: 715-424-6772
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/howeelementaryschool
Twitter: @HoweElementary