This past week found us completing our first shared novel, The Tiger Rising. Unlike a traditional read aloud, a shared text is one in which everyone has their own copy of the book. The kids follow along as I read. Over the past two weeks the purpose of this structure has been to: (1) help model reading fluency (smooth, rhythmic reading), (2) introduce new vocabulary/sight words, (3) practice thinking about the text with greater depth, and (4) learn to build conversations that help us to either come to new understandings or think about our reading in new ways.
Our reading instruction at CFI is vastly different from what you most likely remember during your own school days. It is certainly different from what I received. Back in elementary school I was expected to read one story from the textbook each week and then take a quiz on Friday proving that I "understood" it. However, the multiple choice questions I answered rarely spoke to my understanding of the text and did absolutely nothing to help me understand how I might read the next story any differently. What these quizzes did do was ask for trivial information that had little to do with the type of reading we do in the real world. They never asked me to make connections from the text to my own experiences, ask clarifying questions, interrogate the characters' actions, notice elements or themes in the text that are similar to the author's other works, etc. Reading is so much more than remembering minute details.
Furthermore, when young readers are taught that reading is all about remembering every detail for a quiz it changes the way they go about reading. Reading is no longer an aesthetic experience that brings joy, wonder, and sparks the imagination. Rather, these quizzes reduce reading to an efferent activity that concerns itself only with what information will "come out" of the reading. What's the problem with this? This approach produces test takers, not readers. I think back to other schooling experiences I have had where classroom teachers were expected to use computer programs such as Accelerated Reader or Reading Counts to monitor their students' growth. The kids would often refuse to begin a new book until they had taken their AR quiz for fear of forgetting any of the facts and doing poorly on the assessment. Some parents, very concerned about their child's grade, would have them read and reread books to ensure the best chances of a good score. Librarians refused to let kids check out books that were above their "reading level" because they feared they wouldn't score high enough on the quiz.
All these acts do little to make a kid want to read. This is often evidenced by the number of kids who, when removed from this system over the summer, avoid reading like the plague. They do not learn to love, or at the very least enjoy, reading. For some this is a slower process than others. Our classroom is a diverse group of readers - some read constantly, most read consistently, and a few still need a little nudge to help them learn to begin finding great books. It's a process, but one we believe in. We take the long view knowing what is to come.
This week we will begin book clubs. The kids have already selected their books and on Monday they will work with their partners to plan their daily and nightly reading. That's right, unlike last year I will ask the kids to read these books both at school and at home. The reason for this is to structure them into good practices for completing books. Look for these books to begin coming home on Monday.
Finally, I want to share a short video of a few of our kids discussing the book Tiger Rising. Left to discuss anything that struck them as interesting or confusing they engaged in a discussion about: (1) why there is only one African American character in the book, (2) creating mental images of characters, and (3) determining what time frame this novel took place. Enjoy!
Next Week:
Reading- Book Clubs, Reading for meaning, fluency
Writing- Types of poetry
Math - Parts of a multiplication number sentence, multiplication facts, building numbers/place value
Science/SS - Life cycles, adaptations, maps
Have a great week,
Chris
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