I am not in an AR school, but this thread has been fascinating. It
seems to me, a rather unfortunate misuse of Vygotsky's theories (but
that's neither here nor there when you are dealing with the result day
in and day out.
My thinking is that it would be helpful for people to generate a list of
reasons why students might benefit from checking a book out that is
outside their perceived ZPD. So, what are those benefits?
Those that come to mind for me:
1) Students' listening comprehension can be as much as 2 years ahead of
their reading comprehension so if they have that book read to them they
hear vocabulary and story structures that they might not get on their
own.
2) Since spelling vocabulary tends to lag behind reading vocabulary,
when students read books that are "easy" for them, they encounter words
in their "spelling ZPD" which should support acquisition of spelling
skill. (In the broader sense, doesn't the concept of a "zone of proximal
development" apply to lots of things besides reading?)
I'd really like to hear what others think of. I'll post a hit if there
is interest.
dave
Dave Wee, Librarian
Harvard-Westlake Middle School
700 North Faring Road
Los Angeles, California 90077
Phone -- (310) 288-3270
E-mail -- dwee @ hw dot com
"You see, I don't believe that libraries should be drab places where
people sit in silence, and that's been the main reason for our policy of
employing wild animals as librarians."
~~ Monty Python ~~
-----Original Message-----
From: School Library Media & Network Communications
[mailto:LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Kendra Molen
Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2007 10:40 AM
To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Re: [LM_NET] Target: (Elem) Teachers restricting books
I am feeling the same frustrations regarding AR and the reading level.
I'm the new librarian and the person that I replaced would check the
book's reading level against the student's ZPD before checking it out
to the student. They were only allowed to check out in their zone and
they were not allowed to check out a book if it was not AR. Unless
the student was in kindergarten. Kindergarten students were never
allowed to check out an AR book. I don't agree with this practice so
I let students check out books that they are interested in. I'm
feeling the wrath of this practice from teachers and some parents. I
let a first grader check out a cook book and the classroom teacher
yelled at the child and made him return the book. They are not
allowed to check out a book that isn't on their level or they get in
trouble in the classroom. I even heard one of the teachers say that a
kid keeps "wasting their time checking out books that aren't AR". I
almost cried when I heard this and I think it's a horrible message to
send to children. From the parents I get complaints because their
first or second grader can't read the book. I suggest that they read
it together, then they complain because their child knew the book but
didn't pass the quiz because they couldn't read it.
I get so frusterated when students say that they really want to read a
book but that they can't because it's not on their reading level!
Apparently some teachers will go into AR management and erase quizzes
if the book isn't on a student's level.
Kendra Molen
EHEMS
Baker, WV
kamolen@gmail.com
On 10/4/07, Becky Mosbacher <bmosbacher@hellgate.k12.mt.us> wrote:
> I love to ask adults what their reading level is. Of course, every
> teacher here would have a college reading level. I guess they should
> not read John Grisham, Tom Clancy or any other book that is not a
> college text book.
>
> Becky Mosbacher
> Teacher/Librarian
> Hellgate Middle School
> 2385 Flynn Lane
> Missoula, MT 59808
> bmosbacher@hellgate.k12.mt.us
> 406-721-2452
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: School Library Media & Network Communications
> [mailto:LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Cathy S. Hainstock
> Sent: Wednesday, October 03, 2007 4:45 PM
> To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
> Subject: Re: [LM_NET] Target: (Elem) Teachers restricting books
>
>
> <snip>
> The rights issue is a weak one in schools, unfortunately. However,
kids
> should be able to make their own reading choices because they are the
> ones doing the reading. A child checking out books far above their
> abilities will eventually tire of this and move to books they can
read.
>
> And what do they do when they leave the school and the rest of the
world
> is organized by AR colors?
>
> Bob Koreis
> Librarian
> Hockinson High School
> bob.koreis@hock.k12.wa.us
>
> <snip>
>
> I am so tired of teachers coming into the library and telling students
> that they cannot check out certain books because they are not on their
> reading level according to one test that was given. Am I wrong or is
> this censorship? My principal is strongly for AR and is big on
students
> reading only books in their ZPD. What can I say to her to convince
her
> that students need to be free in the library to make their own choices
> of what to read and that we are infringing on their rights?
>
> Janet L. McCoy, LMS
> McAuliffe Elementary, Tulsa, OK
> mccoymedia@yahoo.com
>
>
>
> Hi All,
> I'm fairly new to this list-serv but thought those of you experiencing
> restriction requests from staff might be interested in a book called
> "The Rights of the Reader" by Daniel Pennac. The quote on the inside
> cover is ... "You can't make someone read. Just like you can't make
them
> fall in love, or dream ...". In this book Pennac defends the right to
> read for pleasure, the power of the story and how we learn to read
(what
> helps and what gets in the way). You can also find a small poster
(free
> to download) of Pennac's Rights of the Reader at
> http://www.walkerbooks.co.uk/Downloads/The-Rights-of-the-Reader-poster
>
> Sometimes people worry so much about 'filling the bucket' that they
> forget to 'light the fire'. Hope this book is of some help.
>
> Cheers,
> Cathy Hainstock
> Teacher-in-the-library
> Village School Primary
> Croydon North, Victoria
> Australia
>
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