TEKS ELAR and other maddening matters

withProfessorNana

Could the doomsayers be right? Computers, they

maintain, are destroying literacy.

The signs -- students' declining reading scores, the drop in leisure

reading to just minutes a week, the fact that half the adult

population reads no books in a year -- are all pointing to the day when a literate American culture

becomes a distant memory.

By contract, optimists foresee the Internet

ushering in a new, vibrant participatory culture of

words. Will they carry the day?

Maybe neither. Let me suggest a third

possibility: Literacy -- or an ensemble of literacies -- will continue to thrive, but in forms and formats

we can't yet envision.

But whatever our digital future brings, we need to overcome the perils of dualistic thinking, the notion that what lies ahead is either a utopia or a dystopia.

If we're going to make sense of what's happening with literacy in our culture, we need to be able to triangulate: to bear in

mind our needs and desires, the media as they once were and

currently are, and the media as they're continually transforming.

It's not easy to do. But maybe there's a

technology, just waiting to be invented, that will help us acquire this invaluable

cognitive power.

So how are we doing?So how are we doing?

68% of 8th graders are below proficient level on NAEP

Fewer than 6% are identified as advanced readers on NAEP

Compare that to the scores on state exams and we have a disconnect…

People are so desperate to raise test People are so desperate to raise test scores that we could well end up with scores that we could well end up with

a nation of kids who can pass tests but a nation of kids who can pass tests but can neither read critically nor enjoy can neither read critically nor enjoy

the act of reading itself.the act of reading itself.

P. David PearsonNEA Today, 2004

In READING DOESN’T MATTER, David Booth says this…

We redefine literacy

ResponseRelevance

Rigor

Include a variety of TEXTS

Remember that the story is the heart of reading aloud

Help kids build strong reading muscles

Value the response of the reader

The 2007 Teens’ Top Ten is:

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2006).

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen (Viking Children’s Books, 2006)

How to Ruin a Summer Vacation by Simone Elkeles (Flux, 2006).

Maximum Ride: School’s Out – Forever by James Patterson (Hachette Book Group USA/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2006).

Firegirl by Tony Abbott (Hachette Book Group USA/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2006).

All Hallows Eve (13 Stories)by Vivian Vande Velde (Harcourt, 2006).

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (Harcourt, 2006).

River Secrets by Shannon Hale (Bloomsbury, 2006). Bad Kitty by Michele Jaffe (HarperCollins, 2006). Road of the Dead by Kevin Brooks (Chicken House, 2006).

Recognize the ages and stages

of readers

Unconscious delight

Reading autobiographically

Reading for vicarious experiences

Reading philosophically

Reading for aesthetic experiences

Focus on literacy in every subject/content area

Welcome kids into the culture of literacy

We need to make sure we are the ones constantly redefining the Canon Classroom Terminology Materials Techniques

Because if we do not…