Thanks for pointing out that students are also reading a lot of social media types of reading. Of course they certainly are, but despite our Ed Tech class, I hadn't been thinking of that when I answered my blog. This type of reading certainly has a big impact on students and should be considered!
Fiction is a great mental break. Many high schoolers are unhappy with their lives and read things like "The Hunger Games", "Harry Potter", and "Twilight" because it gives them a place to be someone else. Also, these books are not in the educational system. They know when they read them that they won't have to do an analysis or a book report and find hidden meaning in the plot. They can relax and read, which I think is something to encourage. These books may not be all that stimulating, but they are interesting and whether they like it or not, students are using their brains to read them. I personally love "The Hunger Games" trilogy and have read it a few times and each time I notice something else, something more in-depth and meaningful. So, if students begin to have the same process without a teacher guiding them and forcing them to regurgitate sentences, I think they have crossed over into actually reading.
One thought I had on your posting is related to what you said about first you will teach them to read words, then sentences, then paragraphs in Spanish. I hope that everyone can consider this idea in the concept of what we are learning about the reading process. One thing is about the meaning making process. When we break information down to its smallest bits, then it can become nonsense. When we start with the bigger picture and then work on the smaller parts, words, sounds, sentences, then the students have a context to frame the new information. Since you are teaching Spanish, you get to think about this concept a lot. Where, when, and with how much emphasis do you teach the small parts of language? A question to ponder throughout the course.
I also really appreciate you pointing out all of the social media reading students of this age group are doing. That can have such a huge impact on them as learners! Constant facebook updates, twitter posts, and text messages lead to a lot of "reading," and I find this a little troubling. Consider all of the acronyms, the poor grammar, the emoticons... (and I admit I am guilty of all of these things when texting people) and how this "writing" and "reading" may impact how students write and read academically.
I thought the same thing when I first read the question. I assumed it was talking about books. But as I thought about it I realized what it meant. Middle school and high school students aren't reading many books, but they are reading. They are reading facebook, twitter, and text messages. Like Shannon pointed out, there are some serious impacts on grammar and writing that are occurring because of this type of reading
Thanks for pointing out that students are also reading a lot of social media types of reading. Of course they certainly are, but despite our Ed Tech class, I hadn't been thinking of that when I answered my blog. This type of reading certainly has a big impact on students and should be considered!
ReplyDeleteFiction is a great mental break. Many high schoolers are unhappy with their lives and read things like "The Hunger Games", "Harry Potter", and "Twilight" because it gives them a place to be someone else. Also, these books are not in the educational system. They know when they read them that they won't have to do an analysis or a book report and find hidden meaning in the plot. They can relax and read, which I think is something to encourage. These books may not be all that stimulating, but they are interesting and whether they like it or not, students are using their brains to read them. I personally love "The Hunger Games" trilogy and have read it a few times and each time I notice something else, something more in-depth and meaningful. So, if students begin to have the same process without a teacher guiding them and forcing them to regurgitate sentences, I think they have crossed over into actually reading.
ReplyDeleteOne thought I had on your posting is related to what you said about first you will teach them to read words, then sentences, then paragraphs in Spanish. I hope that everyone can consider this idea in the concept of what we are learning about the reading process. One thing is about the meaning making process. When we break information down to its smallest bits, then it can become nonsense. When we start with the bigger picture and then work on the smaller parts, words, sounds, sentences, then the students have a context to frame the new information. Since you are teaching Spanish, you get to think about this concept a lot. Where, when, and with how much emphasis do you teach the small parts of language? A question to ponder throughout the course.
ReplyDeleteI also really appreciate you pointing out all of the social media reading students of this age group are doing. That can have such a huge impact on them as learners! Constant facebook updates, twitter posts, and text messages lead to a lot of "reading," and I find this a little troubling. Consider all of the acronyms, the poor grammar, the emoticons... (and I admit I am guilty of all of these things when texting people) and how this "writing" and "reading" may impact how students write and read academically.
ReplyDeleteI thought the same thing when I first read the question. I assumed it was talking about books. But as I thought about it I realized what it meant. Middle school and high school students aren't reading many books, but they are reading. They are reading facebook, twitter, and text messages. Like Shannon pointed out, there are some serious impacts on grammar and writing that are occurring because of this type of reading
ReplyDelete