Sunday, September 26, 2010

To Kill-a-reader Casserole

I enjoyed reading Gallagher's insights on the chop-chop method that he believes is assisting in readicide. Now with my experience in the public school system only being in a science classroom, I have a difficult time relating this chapter to my current placement. I can however, relate this to my own personal experiences that I had in English classes throughout high school. I clearly remember the teachers constantly stopping and analyzing the book and completing papers along the way. This constant stopping really does ruin the "reading flow" that potentially could occur. I found Gallagher's analogies to stopping a movie twenty times to analyze comical. Almost anyone would loose interest in a movie that was stopped every few minutes, just as readers loose interest stopping every few pages. After reading this chapter and really thinking about how this is something so many teachers are guilty of, as a teacher I will now be more aware of my reading techniques with students. As a teacher, I do not want to fall in the trap of leading my students to hating reading.

2 comments:

  1. I do agree with stopping the flow can ruin a book or a movie. But some learners need the extra explination or help to comprehend what they have read. I personally felt the stopping helped me understand readings that didn't interest me. I think you have to pick and choice when to do this method and maybe only with certain students who need it.

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  2. Josh makes a good point. We have to consider the range of needs of students. I'm wondering what you think constitutes "readicide" in science classrooms? So, what would kills reading in science?

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