PC R-3 middle school communication arts teachers read and discuss Nancie Atwell's book about reader's workshop. Nancie draws on evidence gathered through 20 years of teaching and makes a powerful case for the reading workshop. This book establishes the top ten conditions for making engaged classroom reading possible for students at all levels and provides practical support and structures for achieving them.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Chapter 8
Chapter 8 is interesting to me because I have had students, boys and girls, who believed that they did not like reading because they were not good readers. One of the survey questions I gave at the beginning of the school year asked how the student felt about reading. If the response was negative, we needed to figure out why. Our first conferences in reader's workshop revolved around that survey question. Common responses were "Reading is boring", "I don't like being told what to read", and "It's too hard". Atwell talks about getting to the root of the problem and putting aside myths and stereotypes. “Anyone’s achievement, male or female, is driven by interest.” (page 96) I think we do a really good job getting kids motivated by finding books that interest them. We do this by having conversations with kids about books, sharing through book talks, and constantly keeping our eyes and ears open for new books to recommend.
Also, this chapter reminded me that Ralph Fletcher has a book about boy WRITERS that is very interesting. If you are having trouble motivating your boy writers, this is an excellent resource. I have a copy that I would gladly loan!
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