Readicide by Kelly Gallagher
Testing sucks, I understand why we do it for math and science, to test if we know and understand the equations. I understand why we do reading tests too, but I don't think it needs to be that frequently. The Standard State Test that we had to take every year of Middle School and three years of High School caused teachers to ruin reading for the rest of us. I wasn't a reader until Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, and while I wouldn't consider it the best book I've ever read, it was the first book that got me into reading. I read for fun a lot, I can't read during the school year, unless I can finish it on a break. This is what students need to take interest in and I think that's Kelly Gallagher's point in Readicide. Teachers are too focused on testing in the classroom, students have to memorize what they're learning and it becomes automatic.
However, Gallagher mentions that students should learn how to read and remember what they've read. She even provided a few tools to do that, like annotating as we read. this I find super helpful as a student. I learned this in High School, but later in High School, when I needed it in Middle School, or even Elementary. I feel like this is important and coincides with I read it, but I don't get it, because it allows the reader to pause at a question or a thought and think it through. That strategy is how readers can go back and see what spoke to them the most, find evidence easier, and understand the text fully.
Something that I think would be a good idea is to have students read a book that they want to read, and see them come up with some project that explains to me or the class or both, what the book is about. And to have the students share what they enjoyed about it, why they chose it, and hope that they continue to find books that they enjoyed. I want to prepare my students for the real world/life, and they aren't going to take tests on reading, but they might need to know how to read something and need to translate it. So they need to meet the standard and learn how to enjoy reading as a whole. That's what I learned from Gallagher's Readicide.
However, Gallagher mentions that students should learn how to read and remember what they've read. She even provided a few tools to do that, like annotating as we read. this I find super helpful as a student. I learned this in High School, but later in High School, when I needed it in Middle School, or even Elementary. I feel like this is important and coincides with I read it, but I don't get it, because it allows the reader to pause at a question or a thought and think it through. That strategy is how readers can go back and see what spoke to them the most, find evidence easier, and understand the text fully.
Something that I think would be a good idea is to have students read a book that they want to read, and see them come up with some project that explains to me or the class or both, what the book is about. And to have the students share what they enjoyed about it, why they chose it, and hope that they continue to find books that they enjoyed. I want to prepare my students for the real world/life, and they aren't going to take tests on reading, but they might need to know how to read something and need to translate it. So they need to meet the standard and learn how to enjoy reading as a whole. That's what I learned from Gallagher's Readicide.
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