The article I read was about regaining the interest of reading within the classroom. Because it seems as though the scores of high school assessments are decreasing in the area of reading, I think that it is evident that as teachers we establish new methods of reading that will enhance the students' eagerness to read. As one teacher suggested, she starts every new book off with a question, in order to provoke controversy and make the students eager to read the book. I feel that that is one method that could work, but I also feel however that the material that we are having our students read is slowly becoming outdated. Maybe students are not performing as well as they should be on their assessment tests because they material that they are reading does not interest them, is perceived as boring or is simply old fashioned. Though the books that are being read in the high school classroom are well known classics such as "The Adventures of huckleberry Fin", "Mice and Men", "Romeo and Juliet", we need to find a way to relate those books to the students life and with what is currently occurring throughout the world.
It is important that throughout the English classroom, students are not only learning the basic comprehension skills and mechanics, but learning to love reading. Reading should not be perceived as a chore, however within the classroom I feel that oftentimes students do not read the material with a willing and happy go lucky attitude. We need to come up with something new and fresh that will capture students into reading, make them interact in a way that makes them never want to forget a specific book, scene, or character. We need to spice up the English department and curriculum so that students will love English as much as we do.
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I feel that in order to engage students not only in reading but to voice their opinions in class discussions, books that students find interesting but will also enhance their knowledge and should be integrated into the curriculum. There are many other options besides the "classic reads" that can convey important messages and themes but are more relate able to students today. Classic books should not be dismissed all together because they are important, but the list of reading for students to do in school should be balanced in order to increase interest and create a diversity of texts that will extend to all students. Any way to get a student involved in reading is important, despite what the text may be it is a step towards more literate students.
Our society jams all kinds of information into peoples heads all day. We live in a fast pace society that makes it had to sit down and read. I think teachers should bring about interesting reading in small doses. Small doses will help the class stay together. However, it is important to keep the reading interesting with discussion and argument or else the slow pace may cause students to lose interest. I also like the idea of starting a reading with a controversial question. That is a great way to bring interest to a reading.
I agree. I think that teachers need to assign readings that have a lot of action, which most likely would keep the student's attention to details in the story. I believe that students should be left wondering what is going to take place next within each chapter of the book.
Kristen's blog on incorporating such books as Harry Potter into school curriculum is, perhaps, a temporary answer to this growing problem.
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