Upon first reading this article, my mind instantly sided with the schools who have strict curriculums and reading schedules. I fully believe that children should be able to read books they are interested in, but what about the classics? If I would not have been introduced to some of the classic pieces of literature in high school, I do not think I would have ever known about them, dumb as that sounds. I fully believe that students are in school to be educated on timeless works of art such as Shakespeare and the Romantics. Where else are they going to learn about that stuff? One part of the article that somewhat swayed my decision to letting the students pick their own books stated, "Letting students choose their own books, they say, can help to build a lifelong love of reading"(page 1). In addition to teaching students about the timeles world of literature, I feel that Engish class should instill in its students a deep love for reading. Could not there be a class that utilizes both methods?
Reading further into the article, I noticed the author attended a professional seminar led by Nancie Atwell, the author of one of our assigned books, about this same topic. What I liked about that seminar was according to the article, "She acknowledged that certain children needed to be nudged into books by allowing them to read popular titles like the “Twilight” series by Stephenie Meyer" (page 2). In her reading workshops, she allowed the students to pick the books they liked as long as they were not "crap," but she aknowledged that some students needed to be led into the harder titles. By introducing students to various titles, they became excited about reading the books on their own.
In my own English class, I hope to incorporate both types of learning, the traditional classical literature approach and the workshop approach. Students need to be introduced to the classics in a high school English class because they are timeless works of literature that need to be learned. In addition, they will have the opportunity to become lifelong readers by choosing their own books to discuss with the class. Overall, I like the idea of incorporating both into my future classroom.
On a different note, I recently finished reading The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. After hearing good reviews and finally seeing the movie trailer, I decided to finally read it, and was not disappointed. I could not put it down for two days until I finished it! The Lovely Bones enlivened me to a different perspective of murder and rape that one does not usually think about: the family's healing. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a fast, entertaining read! Now, I am excited to see the movie coming out December 11, 2009.
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The workshop approach sounds interesting! I think that it is important to get students to read. There are so many kids out there who hate reading. If we, as educators, allowed them to read what they wanted hopefully we would be able to instill in them a love for reading.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, I agree that we should teach them the classics. There are certain works of literature, like Shakespeare, that I think every student should be exposed to at least once.