Reading to Write

While I think the suggestions in the Brice article are all valid and feasible, I feel like what is missing from this discussion (not just this article, but the discussion of helping students read difficult texts) is the issue of the texts themselves.   The article does suggest ways to "awaken student interest" in readings, but what if readings were based on what is relevant and interesting to students?  Rather than starting with a dense, predetermined text, finding out what already interests students and letting that help guide text choice might be a better way to develop interest in denser texts (perhaps those related to the original interest, just deeper, or more academic).
I know this is not always feasible with predetermined texts (dictated by districts, departments, etc), but I do wonder how taking an approach of considering how students read and what they already do might decrease the sense of reading deficit.

I can NOT read graphic novels, nor do I use twitter.  If a student could model for me how they read and understand these things, I would find it very useful...or at least interesting.
Students likely already "adjust reading strategies for different purposes".  Perhaps they do not do this for academic texts, but maybe starting with what they can do would serve as a starting point to increase awareness of different ways of reading for different purposes.


Comments

  1. EleanorFebruary 27, 2018 at 12:10 PM

    Once I've clicked on the post, I don't see where it says who wrote it. On this one, I was like, is this Tamar? This sounds like Tamar!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tamar BernfeldFebruary 27, 2018 at 1:11 PM

    it is me.

    ReplyDelete

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