At a recent staff meeting we looked at reading level statistics of our students measured over time. It did highlight some need for change or improvement in the way some of us run our reading programmes.
For me, it seems apparent that I need a much more structured, almost junior-style reading programme. I am currently basing a lot on topic-related reading and information gathering. However, many of my students would benefit more from a systematic programme that strengthens reading comprehension which, for many of my readers, is not currently effective when using topic related texts that are often only suitable for higher level readers.
I have also tried this term to give some freedom of choice to students, which on one hand they appear to engage with, but on the other, gaps appear in their ability as independent learners. I am thinking that this may well be an age thing. In our quest to promote independent learning and thinking skills, some of the basic skills needed to underpin this type of thinking is being given less time. That is, the ability to effectively decode and then comprehend what we have just decoded.
Again, like in maths, I need to get back to some basics and follow some good structure. Topic can take a back-seat within my reading programme.
No comments:
Post a Comment