Previous by Date | Next by Date | Date Index
Previous by Thread | Next by Thread
| Thread Index
| LM_NET
Archive
| |
I spent an hour or so yesterday at a Borders book store wandering among the shelves and chatting about books with the eight-year-old son of a friend. He talked endlessly about reading levels, mentioning AR frequently, and citing 3.3s and 2.6s and the like, and invariably referring to the number of pages in books he was reading, or had read recently, or that classmates were reading, or in the books he picked up from the shelves in many sections of the store. In all of that, he said not one word about content. Nothing about characters, plot, ideas. Nothing. Just reading level. Nothing to suggest why books are worth reading. Is that typical of schools' approach to reading these days? Is that the message being conveyed? Or is that young man's view unusual? Feel free to reply off-list, to ken@umbachconsulting.com, rather than to the list. (FWIW, for those who wonder why I am here . . . for years I worked for the California State Library, and in that capacity I wrote some widely circulated policy reports that had a connection to school libraries, as some members of LM_NET might recall. Also, for a few years I had an occasional column in Knowledge Quest, about policy and data resources on the Web. I am also the author of the notorious parody about California's mythical Velcro crop, still widely used by teachers and librarians as a kid-friendly example of a deceptive Web page.) Regards, Ken Umbach ------------------------------------------------- Kenneth W. Umbach, Ph.D. Umbach Consulting & Publishing ken@umbachconsulting.com 6966 Sunrise Blvd., #263, Citrus Heights, CA 95610 (mailing address) 916-733-2159 (this is voice mail, NOT a fax number) www.umbachconsulting.com : Business home page http://theaccidentalpublisher.typepad.com : "The Accidental Publisher" blog http://stores.lulu.com/kenumbach : My Lulu.com storefront www.senior-spectrum.com/umbach/ : "Ken's Corner" column ------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------- Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting LM_NET postings by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail address book. To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL 3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation. * LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ * LM_NET Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/ * EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://lm-net.info/ * LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html * LM_NET Wiki: http://lmnet.wikispaces.com/ --------------------------------------------------------------------