Have you noticed kids aren't being require to read an entire book anymore?

[Anonymous]

An alarming discussion on a local listserv has me wondering. Posts are saying that in certain MCPS schools, middle and high schoolers aren't being asked to read entire books anymore, but rahter every other chapter. And one person even mentioned books on tape being played in class as an alternative to having the kids read the book.

I'm just wondering who's experienced this? So far I haven't seen it but would like to know how widespread it is.

[Anonymous]

Huh?

[Anonymous]

The new push in the CCSS is close reading of text which means that students basically dissect small portions of a text. It might be a page for older students or a paragraph or two for younger kids. I don't think it means they don't read the entire text but they sure will be spending a long time on one small section. Personally, I think this is ridiculous for students younger than 7th or 8th grade. I didn't dissect a text until high school and college. When kids are not reading on grade level and they are spending time doing this, something is wrong. If they want students to be "lifelong learners" who want to read on their own, this is not the way to go about it. Kids will think reading is a chore and will avoid it at all costs.

[Anonymous]

I'm trying to figure out what you can possibly mean by this.

I do know that, at times, my middle schooler has had books where they've read a section at home, where my kid is reading every word himself, and then read a section a school where the students are taking turns or different roles or even listening to the teacher read to allow for in depth discussion. For example, they read a Shakespeare play, and one kid reads Romeo, and one Juliet. There are also times when teachers read aloud (or they could use an audiobook, but I haven't seen it) so that kids can practice their oral comprehension and get a model of high quality fluency.

This is hardly a new fangled thing. In fact there's been a move in education towards doing less of this, and MCPS certainly does less round robin reading than I did as a kid.

[Anonymous]

Yeah ... huh? Reading "every other chapter" seems completely pointless, dumber than even just reading a carefully selected section of several chapters. And I have never heard of books on tape being used anywhere in MoCo.

So far my kids in MoCo have had to read every book from cover to cover, except for maybe the Odyssey where I think they only had to read a few of the tales about the sirens or whatnot. My kids have been specifically instructed not to watch any related movies, because the endings and themes are so different from the books.

OP, were people joking or exaggerating on your listserve? Do you have kids in MoCo yourself? If you're the spittle-flecked MoCo hater, you seem more ridiculous with every additional uninformed post like this one.

[Anonymous]

They all use Sparknotes anyway. When I was in school, and I'm 50, we used Cliff's Notes, skimmed, or whatever and avoided reading the whole thing. Kids do this still, and the teachers are just making it all legit.

[Anonymous]

One year the kids at Blair were told to read only "every other chapter" of "The Grapes of Wrath." Go figure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm trying to figure out what you can possibly mean by this.

I do know that, at times, my middle schooler has had books where they've read a section at home, where my kid is reading every word himself, and then read a section a school where the students are taking turns or different roles or even listening to the teacher read to allow for in depth discussion. For example, they read a Shakespeare play, and one kid reads Romeo, and one Juliet. There are also times when teachers read aloud (or they could use an audiobook, but I haven't seen it) so that kids can practice their oral comprehension and get a model of high quality fluency.

This is hardly a new fangled thing. In fact there's been a move in education towards doing less of this, and MCPS certainly does less round robin reading than I did as a kid.

According to the posts on this listserv, a couple of things were happening:

1. Teachers were instructing students only to read every other chapter on their own, at home, stating that this was a more reasonable expectation of independent reading.
2. Teachers were playing books on tape in class in lieu of reading the text.

My impression was that it was NOT what you've mentioned above, PP, but that's my question. This isn't my own child's experience but was stated by several listserv posters. I was curious to know if other parents had run across this with their MS/HS kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah ... huh? Reading "every other chapter" seems completely pointless, dumber than even just reading a carefully selected section of several chapters. And I have never heard of books on tape being used anywhere in MoCo.

So far my kids in MoCo have had to read every book from cover to cover, except for maybe the Odyssey where I think they only had to read a few of the tales about the sirens or whatnot. My kids have been specifically instructed not to watch any related movies, because the endings and themes are so different from the books.

OP, were people joking or exaggerating on your listserve? Do you have kids in MoCo yourself? If you're the spittle-flecked MoCo hater, you seem more ridiculous with every additional uninformed post like this one.

I do have kids in MCPS. I'm not the spittle flecked MoCo hater -- I've been pretty happy so far with what my kids are learning. But these were informed parents discussing what was going on their kids' classrooms and I believe what they said but was really surprised and curious to hear if this was happening elsewhere. So please calm down -- it's a legitimate question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm trying to figure out what you can possibly mean by this.

I do know that, at times, my middle schooler has had books where they've read a section at home, where my kid is reading every word himself, and then read a section a school where the students are taking turns or different roles or even listening to the teacher read to allow for in depth discussion. For example, they read a Shakespeare play, and one kid reads Romeo, and one Juliet. There are also times when teachers read aloud (or they could use an audiobook, but I haven't seen it) so that kids can practice their oral comprehension and get a model of high quality fluency.

This is hardly a new fangled thing. In fact there's been a move in education towards doing less of this, and MCPS certainly does less round robin reading than I did as a kid.

According to the posts on this listserv, a couple of things were happening:

1. Teachers were instructing students only to read every other chapter on their own, at home, stating that this was a more reasonable expectation of independent reading.
2. Teachers were playing books on tape in class in lieu of reading the text.

My impression was that it was NOT what you've mentioned above, PP, but that's my question. This isn't my own child's experience but was stated by several listserv posters. I was curious to know if other parents had run across this with their MS/HS kids.

Which HS is this??? Have you met with the principal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The new push in the CCSS is close reading of text which means that students basically dissect small portions of a text. It might be a page for older students or a paragraph or two for younger kids. I don't think it means they don't read the entire text but they sure will be spending a long time on one small section. Personally, I think this is ridiculous for students younger than 7th or 8th grade. I didn't dissect a text until high school and college. When kids are not reading on grade level and they are spending time doing this, something is wrong. If they want students to be "lifelong learners" who want to read on their own, this is not the way to go about it. Kids will think reading is a chore and will avoid it at all costs.

I'd be interested to hear more about why you think that close reading isn't appropriate until 7th grade. It's something I've used informally as a parent (e.g. when reading bedtime stories with a 3 year old and rather than reading 2 or 3 books, spending the 20 minutes, talking in detail about one photo on one page of a backhoe, reading all the text, connecting it back to the picture, comparing what's in the book with the backhoe we saw when we walked to the zoo last week, OR listening to Harry Potter on audiobook in the car with a 9 year old, stopping it at a crucial point, and having a long conversation about a single moment in time, rewinding to listen to it again, taking and defending a point of view etc . . .). As a teacher of young kids, we use close reading techniques as well from a very young age.

I'm not sure how creating enjoyable experiences where kids delve into texts to ask and answer questions discourages them from being "lifelong learners"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm trying to figure out what you can possibly mean by this.

I do know that, at times, my middle schooler has had books where they've read a section at home, where my kid is reading every word himself, and then read a section a school where the students are taking turns or different roles or even listening to the teacher read to allow for in depth discussion. For example, they read a Shakespeare play, and one kid reads Romeo, and one Juliet. There are also times when teachers read aloud (or they could use an audiobook, but I haven't seen it) so that kids can practice their oral comprehension and get a model of high quality fluency.

This is hardly a new fangled thing. In fact there's been a move in education towards doing less of this, and MCPS certainly does less round robin reading than I did as a kid.

According to the posts on this listserv, a couple of things were happening:

1. Teachers were instructing students only to read every other chapter on their own, at home, stating that this was a more reasonable expectation of independent reading.
2. Teachers were playing books on tape in class in lieu of reading the text.

My impression was that it was NOT what you've mentioned above, PP, but that's my question. This isn't my own child's experience but was stated by several listserv posters. I was curious to know if other parents had run across this with their MS/HS kids.

Which HS is this??? Have you met with the principal?

Seems like we need a few reading skills in this thread as well!

To clarify again, this not my kid or my kid's school. It's something being reported by other parents on a listserv and I was wondering if others had run across it.

I don't know whether those parents met with the principal or not. That's not the point, really.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One year the kids at Blair were told to read only "every other chapter" of "The Grapes of Wrath." Go figure.

Everyone does this. The only chapters worth anything are the ones about the turtle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One year the kids at Blair were told to read only "every other chapter" of "The Grapes of Wrath." Go figure.

I have one kid who is at Blair now and one who graduated from Blair last spring. I have never heard of this. Would you mind naming the class (AP Lit, Honors English)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They all use Sparknotes anyway. When I was in school, and I'm 50, we used Cliff's Notes, skimmed, or whatever and avoided reading the whole thing. Kids do this still, and the teachers are just making it all legit.

Well yes. But that's not the teachers' fault, because they aren't encouraging this.