It is apparent that defining standards for children becomes harder every year. Kylene Beers was able to obtain one answer from a seventh grader who claimed that he loved to read, but didn't have the time to do it; however it only showed Beers that he wasn't struggling with reading.
The frustrating part of this "mystery" is determining who is struggling and why, and how to fix it. The author has activities suggested in this article that involve starting at birth and reading to children throughout the day, rather than at night. Also, finding out what kids want to read will help in focusing their attention to the reading and get them to want to read. Being surrounded by literacy exercises will tend to have a positive effect on children when they enter into school.
But that doesn't always work and there are many reasons for this. The author touches upon the "developmental lag" and how it is considered outdated. Parents need to be able to distinguish between the "developmental lag" and a "skill deficit." Since there is a wide variety of skills that revolve around reading, the author suggests on finding out the key areas that the child is struggling in. Reading involves more than looking at the text - one must be able to comprehend the meaning behind it and make sense of it as it fits into the whole picture.
One statistic mentioned in this article that alarmed me was "More food for thought: 90 percent of kids entering first grade as poor readers remain so." I find a few things wrong with this. One, though "struggling readers" has been redefined by the author as "a child who can’t manage the demands of reading independently," why are the children continuously being labeled as "poor readers?" Since there are many issues affecting a child's ability to read, such as poverty, mental incapacity, attention span deficits, or simply not enough time, sometimes it is difficult to pinpoint these factors and have a solution.
Another interesting point mentioned was summer break, and how "at-risk" kids tend to lose focus and obtain a large cumulative gap in the reading achievement category. I remember being in fourth or fifth grade, and the school held a program for students to take part in over the summer. The goal was to read six books (the exact number mentioned in this article) and read them during the summer, then come back with written summaries of the books. In return, students who succeeded received gift certificates and other neat accomodations. I participated and succeeded in this activity, and it makes me wonder what motivated me more; the certificates or the goal of staying on task and focused? Either way, I'm sure it never harmed my reading acheivement.
http://www.mspmag.com/education/raisingreaders/raisingreaderssept08/112808.asp?ht=
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What defines struggling reader starts off with how Kylene Beers found a seventh grader who loved reading but never had the time for it. I found this article very interesting because what really defines a struggling reader? Reading could be very difficult if what we are reading has no interest to us. It is so easy to lose focus when your reading. It's important for kids to read things that they have interest in because it makes reading fun. I love having a book that I'm hooked to and I can't put it down. That makes me want to keep reading. But when it's something I have no interest in, I dread it and it's hard for me to understand.
The author made a very good point when they wrote," Since there are many issues affecting a child's ability to read, such as poverty, mental incapacity, attention span deficits, or simply not enough time, sometimes it is difficult to pinpoint these factors and have a solution." This is very true. I also found it interesting at the end of the blog when the author talks about the summer and when he had to read six books. He wasn't sure what motivated him. If it was the rewards he received at the end of whether it was actually his goal on staying on task and staying focused. I think in order to get kids to read, we have to be creative and make it fun for them.
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