Reading Home

Febuary 8

In the News
Can All Kids Read?: http://www.nea.org/neatoday/0502/coverstory.html
With penalties looming under NCLB, educators are increasingly using 'scripted' reading programs to teach budding readers, but this newest trend in reading instruction has fast become a lightning rod for controversy.

Education World Job Newletter
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Edutopia is magazine by the George Lucas Foundation. It highlights many of the ways technology is used in the classroom. The latest issue can be found at: http://www.edutopia.org/magazine/index.php You can subscribe to it at: http://www.edutopia.org/products/edutopianews.php

A Fight Over Reading Instruction in a District Weary of Change: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/02/education/02education.html?oref=login&oref=login
The battle at a school district in Rockford, Ill., is a microcosm of the national debate over how to teach reading.

Schools making grades available online: http://www.newsobserver.com/24hour/technology/story/2079265p-10139473c.html
Real-time, online reports include pending assignments, written comments, class participation and disciplinary actions.

Setting Aside Time for Reading
One way of instilling a love of reading in children is to allow them to choose what they want to read, and to set aside time for them to read. Known as SSR (Sustained Silent Reading) or DEAR (Drop Everything and Read), periods of self-selected rading provide students with the time to enjoy reading without having to answer questions or write in response journals. Self-selected reading is most effective when it is well-organized and students are involved in setting the ground rules.
Ground rules might include: each students reads for the entire scheduled time, the session is timed, reading material should be chosen before the session starts, no book reports or other assignments will be required.

Student Reading Log: Example 1
This Student Reading Log is desgned to keep track of the amount of time students read and is filled in on a daily basis.

Student Reading Log: Example 2
This Student Reading Log is designed to keep track of the total number of books students have read, and is filled in whenever a book has been read.

References
Gunning, T.G. (2000). Best Books for Building Literacy for Elemenatry School Children. Allyn and Bacon: Boston.

This site began in March 1998 by Janet Luch.
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