teachers love to learn.
ohio is adopting the united states common core academic standards, and it was a treat to go learn about the new reading expectations.
there are six shifts in the reading and language arts area, and i'll cover each in a separate post.
the first shift is balancing informational and literary texts.
in short, by 4th grade, children will be expected to read 50 percent literary texts, and 50 percent nonfiction texts. as children go into higher grades, their reading tips more toward nonfiction. the long-term goal is to prepare children for all the informational texts they will read in college and as adults.
as a first, second, and third grade teacher in a multi-grade montessori classroom, we take children first through the foundational skills - print concepts, phonemic awareness, phonics, and word recognition - and then into fluent reading with comprehension. in learning-to-read, we use primarily fiction texts. however, the montessori science and cultural curriculum requires lots of nonfiction, too.
elementary classrooms are places where students access the world - science, social studies, the arts, and literature - through text.
for adult reading suggestions, you can check out miss bibliophile.
second common core shift - very soon.
happy reading!
Thanks for the link! The common core sounds interesting. Although my perspective is not one of a teacher, I hope it still allows for some fiction to be read in higher grades. When I was in high school, I often felt like I was one of the few kids who read novels for fun outside of class!
ReplyDeleteMiss Bibliophile echos my only concern about this curriculum. I mean A) who am I to judge and B) I totally get the importance of preparing for college reading and the use of primary texts, but I felt a little sad when I read this. I hope that we keep engaging our kids by encouraging reading for pleasure. And I'm not saying that reading nonfiction ISN'T reading for pleasure, but there's no greater joy than sinking deeply into a good novel.
ReplyDeleteCallum reads fiction throughout his English course during the school year, but oddly enough he chose three nonfiction books for his summer reading. Go figure!
This is interesting. I must admit with my daughter now in Year 10 here in Australia, I was thinking recently I haven't seen her reading the sort of books we used to read in English. I must check with her but certainly in high school we did To Kill A Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye, Shakespeare, 1984, Pride and Prejudice, Emma and heaps of others.
ReplyDeleteOn an unrelated issue check out this infographic on every single theory of learning, it's amazing. http://www.edudemic.com/2013/06/a-visual-guide-to-every-single-learning-theory/