Saturday, August 20, 2011
picture book power
I was discussing our reading class with a math teacher, he rolled his eyes and sighed- yes we are having to stress reading in all of our lessons. He seemed frustrated as though it was not his place to teach reading in math. I was polite and questioned him about how much he expected his students to read and understand in order to pass his class. He understood the point of my question and gestured for me to understand a lot. Teaching older students the necessity of reading and comprehension is far more important to me than having them enjoy reading. I think we can work on the enjoyment aspect after they actually learn how to read. I say a prayer for elementary school teachers to have to will power to continue fighting the battle, for the middle school to reenforce the elementary teaching and for the entire high schoo staff to take on the challenge.
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This is a response to " cultural divide" and the above post. I experienced the inability to communicate in Greece last April. Being able to read and understand did give me a level of confidence, even though I couldn't read the language. In a sense reading is a science that must be studied in order to understand and teach it well. At times I wonder if content specialists are uncomfortable being asked to something they are not trained to do. What would be a possible way to begin to make reading in the content area comprehensible to content teachers? In one sense the ESOL student is a little less frustrated than the content teacher in that she understands even if she can't communicate. The math teacher can communicate well in that field, but doesn't comprehend what else is needed in terms of reading, and the Common Core.
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