Adam,
Your ideas about hooking kids on reading and SSR are on target. I developed
something I call Interactive Booktalking which I have briefly describe in
the article "Saving Kids From Despair" in the August issue of SLJ. The
article is also available online at
http://slj.reviewsnews.com/index.asp?publication=slj
If you read the literature about adolescent literacy, you will become
convinced that giving personal meaning to reading is important, especially
with reluctant readers. After I saw the video taped reactions of ESL
students to a traditional booktalk, I modified my delivery to make it much
more interactive. These kids needed to be put right smack in the middle of
the action and Interactive Booktalking does this. Interactive Booktalking
involves reading passages to students. Each student has a copy of the
passage and follows along silently. Then students are asked questions to
draw them into the story and encourage problem solving. Like booktalking,
the emphasis is on promoting reading and helping kids find books they want
to read.
As I was researching this approach for a chapter in my Helping Teens Cope
book which is being published by Linworth and will be out in the fall, I
found many sound reasons for adopting the Interactive Booktalking approach.
I found studies and articles that identify the techniques we can use to
"hook" teens. I also found some surveys in which teens were asked what
encourages them to read and what is a turn off.
You are certainly on the right track. Good luck with the in-service.
Jami Jones
Barron Collier HS
Naples, FL
---- Original Message -----
From: "NHS Webmaster" <nhswebmaster@COLLIER.K12.FL.US>
To: <LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, August 02, 2003 4:25 PM
Subject: TARGET->SEC->"Hooks" for the Reluctant Reader
> I am at a great, student-centered, high school, but our reading scores
> on state tests are abysmal.
>
> Our focus this year is on reading, reading, and reading. We are
> instituting a sustained, silent reading component, with 20 minutes per
> block for 4 blocks each Tuesday (in addition to other reading programs).
>
> I am doing an inservice for our faculty next week on reading ideas for
> this SSR. What I would like to suggest is a reading "hook". It actually
> is a result of talking to Walter Minkel of School Library Journal at the
> NECC convention in Seattle this summer. He suggested that the teacher
> read aloud to students. That got me thinking. What if the teacher read a
> paragraph that "hooked" students into reading a 20 minute passage--from
> a novel, short story, biography,true story, etc. We could easily copy a
> section for the class to read as a group.
>
> What I need from you are ideas. The first thing that sprang to my mind
> was some of the chapters from "Dog Stories" by Gary Paulsen. I need
> more. Cross-curricular, from art to home ec to world history to
> astronomy to drivers ed. Math is exempt as the math scores at our school
> are above the national norms (we are, at least, doing something right!).
>
> Think about it. What fiction or nonfiction selections, can I give to a
> teacher where they can read a paragraph and convince students to read
> silently for twenty minutes and then be able to discuss what they have
> read? And then, perhaps, to read more?
>
> I'll compile a hit if I get enough responses.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Adam
>
>
>
> Adam Janowski
> Library Media Specialist
> Naples High School
> 1100 Golden Eagle Circle
> Naples, FL 34102
> E-mail: NHSWebmaster@collier.k12.fl.us
> Phone: 239-430-6644 Ext. 390
> Fax: 239-430-6673
> Library web site: http://collier.k12.fl.us/nhs/lmc/
> School web site: http://collier.k12.fl.us/nhs/
>
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