A teacher on Facebook commented on yesterday’s blog about the Fluency/Timed reading homework. She felt it necessary to insist students complete a timed reading homework assignment of 20 minutes or her students would never read. This particular teacher also recognized the argument against homework in general. But I don’t want to get into that right now. But as she put it, “I am damned if I do and damned if I don’t.” I’m glad she brought this up because I think a lot of teachers feel this way. I also admire her forthrightness, because others were arguing against timed reading.
When I asked this teacher how many of her students had trouble reading she claimed only a few. And she recognized that the vast majority of students, who read well, will be motivated to read at home if they have engaging material. But she brought up an excellent point that it is also true that students have a lot of distractions.
So how do you ensure students read when they go home without timing and getting parental signatures? How do you engage students who don’t like reading and/or just aren’t good at it? Helping this group read better is critical, of course. And encouraging them to read at home is important. But I still believe both kinds of students do not require timed reading assignments. Also, counting words per minute is especially cumbersome for students and parents.
Instead of timed reading and or fluency counts, I’d suggest encouraging students to read whatever they choose, no time specified, and then require them to write something about what they read the next day—perhaps in a daily journal. This teacher already did this. I’d even say to try not to bring parents in on it. Trust students and tell them you trust them to do it on their own. With the writing assignment the next day, teachers, who want to monitor whether a student reads at home, will know what the student read and how well they understood what they read.
Instead of tabulating parent signatures and words read per minute, I’d spend more time searching for material that might be exciting for reluctant readers. Find out the student’s interests. Scan the school library collection to find books that match those interests. This might also be the time to consider readability levels, although students interested in a topic could pick up more difficult vocabulary with a book they truly enjoy. Finding engaging books and even books with pictures makes sense.
Another teacher noted that they inquire the following day whether the student found the book they read the night before easy or difficult. That’s a good question. If the book is too difficult the student can back down to an easier level without feeling bad about it. Children don’t mind explaining about how they feel about reading if the situation is handled respectfully.
Timed reading, by its very nature, makes reading a chore. Most of us hate chores. It also assumes from the start that the student doesn’t want to read. Even if students don’t mind the timed reading assignment, I wonder if, when a timer rings, they quit reading. Would they have continued without the timed requirement?
In addition, there are a lot of complaints about Accelerated Reading. All of this reminds me how something so lovely can be messed-up when you emphasize programs and not simply reading for enjoyment. Reading is FUN! Help students learn that fact. Start early and don’t try to measure reading unless the student has difficulties—then leave that up to the teacher to deal with in school.
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