The Challenges of Adolescent Literacy:
learning to read vs. reading to learn
For me a big take away and learning point from the article was the shift in literacy during adolescences from learning to read (k-5) to reading to learn (6-12).
Personally I had never even thought of this shift as a transition much less a point that many students can struggle with. Obviously reading as the basis to how we learn becomes evident in middle school and above, but why is this shift necessary?To me both forms are just as important because first off, who is to say that all students reach 6th grade and are automatically expert readers, not to mention the fact that all students learn differently and at a different pace, and as educators we should strive to teach and have them learn in more ways than one. But more importantly what implications does this shift have on our students interaction and view on literacy?
The way I see it that is the moment/life stage where a person learns to love or grows to hate reading and schools play a big role in this. If we teach students that the only value in literacy is read this and find the answer to the questions then how are we creating life long readers who love and value literacy.
As I read this I could not help but think of standardized testing. Now more than ever with our educational systems increasing focus on standardized testing, it seems that reading to learn is becoming more prominent because sadly teachers are being forced to simply teach so that students test well and not teach so that students learn, grow, and are challenged. Is that what were setting our students up to be, good test takers?!
If we look at the reality of education the truth is that it is a continuos process I myself am at times still learning to read and reading to learn they both go hand in hand in the real world and if thats what we are setting our students up for the "real world" then why not emphasize both aspects of literacy?
I wanted to end my blog post with a quote from the article that really stuck with me, "supporting these readers...will help prepare them for citizenship, encourage personal growth and life-satisfaction on many levels, and open up opportunities for future education and employment". Crazy to think that, that is the power of not just literacy, but effective teaching and allowing our students freedom to express themselves.
Questions:
- What are your opinions on the educational shift from learning to read to reading to learn?
- How would you address this shift in your classroom?
- Do you think standardized testing has played a role in this shift of literacy instruction?
That is all!
Gracias! :)
p.s fingers crossed this made sense and that you guys comment back or not that's cool too...
p.p.s sorry for any grammatical errors or typos!
I totally agree. I think both are important and not every student is going to be at that transition at the same time. Students need to be taught according to where they are at. I think I would address the shift by teaching both so that all students can be supported. Standardized testing has played a role because thats the point of those tests. Hopefully, we shift away from that. And soon.
ReplyDelete:)
Hey Heidy!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post! I did not think it was confusing at all. Like you, I did not know that there was that transition. I think it is important as teachers to understand that not every student is going to be ready at the same time for that transition to occur. As for addressing the shift in my classroom, I would have to think about that. I do think that standardized testing played a role in the shift because the test is used to see what the students know. If they are not at the level that they are "supposed" to be, then their scores drop down.
Thank you!
Tina Skukan
Kim and Tina: Thanks for your responses!
ReplyDeleteI agree implementing it in the classroom can be difficult especially since their is already this notion of what literacy is supposed to be at each grade level.
I agree with you that both go hand in hand. I do believe that in order to become good with reading comprehension, you obviously have to be able to read what it is you need to comprehend. But I don't see why both can't be taught simultaneously. Maybe you are teaching more of one than the other at certain times, but I think they should be taught together. Then as students get older and they "know how to read", then they might just be focusing on reading comprehension and how to perfect it because standardized tests play such a big role.
ReplyDeleteGood post Heidy! I think my own thoughts on the learning to read and reading to learn is a shift that is known to all teachers that this is how it's done from the beginning to end. Because if a student doesn't know how to read, then how are they to comprehend everything that is being read to them or learn from any of that? I would address the shift by specifically emphasizing the importance of reading and understanding the concepts/comprehension in any of the other classes that we take as students in middle school or high school. I believe that standardized testing does take a role in this shift because it allows the students to be able to understand the concepts/comprehensions that come from the readings or even from their own prior knowledge.
ReplyDeleteI remember learning about this in our literacy course last semester. She made the point that this statement is not necessary true because as readers we are always learning how to read different types of information. I also do not agree with this shift because, I believe, reading is developmental and everyone learns how to read at different times.
ReplyDeleteHi Heidy!
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that both reading to learn and learning to read are equally important and that they both develop into adulthood. It drives me crazy when students are expected to be fluent readers by the time they're in 6th grade. That's just ridiculous. When I was in a 6th grade classroom last semester, the reading levels of the students ranged from 1st-8th grade. I know we talk about how we shouldn't label kids based off their scores, but this shows that expecting students to be at their grade level in reading is unfair. I do think a lot of it has to do with getting high test scores, which just puts more pressure on the students and teachers to achieve at the level they're expected to. I think it's good to challenge the students and push them to set their goals high, but for some those goals are too high and they'll just suffer even more because of it.
Great post Heidy!
ReplyDeleteI've always thought about the idea that at a certain point in school where you stopped learning to read and start reading to learn and how that begins to shape students' self-concept. I agree that students who reach this somewhat ambiguous transition point either decide that they love to read or hate it and for kids that decide they are "bad" readers it is hard for them to ever be enthusiastic about reading anything for school.
It reminds me of being in Rico's class when he asked us what age we were when we started to talk and he made that point that if some of us where talking when we were one and others didn't talk until they were two suggesting that you were behind if you didn't talk unti two seems ridiculous. We all know how to talk now (a lot f us in multiple languages) so what does it matter if it took someone more time. To me, it should be the same with reading. If you need reading support in 6th grade it shouldn't be looked at as you being "behind" because everyone is always learning to read. There are always new texts to engage with and when you need those skills you learn them. To expect everyone to learn those skills at the same rate is ridiculous.
Thanks for all your comments guys!
ReplyDeleteJoanna brought up a good point about what we learned with Kristine which I totally forgot about! We did discuss how this particular view on literacy and it's expected transition is subjective.
I guess it really does all depended on how your classroom and students develop in the end I think we all have to choose depending on our schools expectations how we want to teach literacy in our classrooms.
Great discussion! :)