Yes, still reading in the tub . . .
At school, we have 20 minutes twice a week devoted to BOB (Bring on the Books) which is basically silent reading. Usually, it’s 20 minutes of admonishing students to read rather than talk/fidget or listening to someone flip through a magazine or, heaven forbid, the dreaded sniffling of a runny nose! This year, I allowed the kids to read on their electronic devices with the fear of losing the device if I caught them texting on it. To my surprise and delight: success! While most students are still reading paperbacks and hardcover texts, there are a few who are reading from their iPhones, iTouch and someone even brought in their iPad. They were the envy of the class. Of course, it does help that their teacher is reading on her iPhone, too!
Interesting conversation came up after about what we were reading. Some of the students had purchased books and were reading them online. A couple were reading free classics but they liked the idea that they always had a book with them.
We have also just introduced kindles into our library for kids to read on. So far, we have seen kids read faster and more books. Although I still enjoy my paper books, I like the impetus ebooks have given to the young people and literacy. However, I’ve dropped a couple of books in the bathtub while reading. So far, so good with the reading in the tub with the electronic device 🙂
Posted in: Week 06: eBooks
kstooshnov 11:59 am on October 14, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Great to hear about eReaders being used during silent reading, and no doubt you are one of the cool teachers students talk about, even if they are running the risk of having their electronics confiscated for texting (who could resist?). I’ve asked a few elementary classes I have subbed for whether they are allowed to use electronics to read, and the response was a puzzled “no”, mostly due to teachers who see these devices as tempting distractions. However, yesterday i got to see grade three students quietly reading on iPads in the hall, no doubt so that other with their paperbacks would not be distracted from their reading.
Also, I heard a tip for how potentially to save a drowned electronic device: remove quickly from water and place in uncooked rice. The grains soak up most of the water, and once dried out the device should work. Of course, I’m not speaking from experience, and wouldn’t want to risk the damage or have to explain to my wife why so much rice was needed. 😉
Angela Novoa 12:31 pm on October 14, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I remembered that in Elementary School we had an hour for reading. Today schools are missing these activities (at least in my country). I think that it is a wonderful activity for enhancing writing skills (knowledge about vocabulary). Plus, your permission to read through electronic devices motivates them to read. Great reflections!
David William Price 1:58 pm on October 14, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
One of the problems I have with the concept of reading is you don’t know what “reading” is for someone. I can ask a client (when I was a lawyer) or a student (now I’m a teaching assistant) or a classmate if they read something. They say yes. But what did they get out of it? Sometimes nothing. I talked to classmates earlier this week about the trouble with reading large amounts of text. The point wasn’t to struggle through the text, but to identify concepts and be able to talk about them… reading becomes a productive activity that fuels interesting discussions, not just escapism for some or drudgery for others.
Perhaps one of the potentials for e-readers is to include ways to help students process what they are reading. “In the reading, highlight something you agree with, something you disagree with.” Project it on a screen and explain why.
Could projecting the text on a screen provide the student with a way to interact with the material with the class? Pointing at words, highlighting… perhaps even rewriting the text to show what it would look like in different styles, contexts, moods, etc. engaging with classmates in the process.
Consider vacations. If I think about writing a vacation blog, I actively go out to find exciting things to write about for my friends. If I didn’t think about communicating with others, I might just spend my time soaking up sun on a beach. The same difference may lay in reading class.
PS: Put your device into a Ziploc plastic bag for reading in the tub.
jenaca 2:06 pm on October 14, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hey David,
I really enjoyed reading your post, especially the first section. When I was student teaching, I remember everyday for half an hour students would read silently…however, when I think back to myself in elementary school and when we “had” reading time, i could never focus. Reading was the last thing on my mind and I always had a hard time understanding what I was reading. So I’m not necessarily sure if I agree with this time for students, but I’m not exactly sure how else to promote reading and get students excited about books….maybe do a fun book fair, discuss different books, peer read…
Thanks for the insight!
Jenaca
Allie 3:48 pm on October 14, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Y’all’s responses have got me thinking… the larger pedagogical concern is communicating to students *why* they are engaged in some learning activity.
In post-sec, one of the most difficult tasks – as I’m sure many of you are aware from experience – is ensuring that our students do their readings. I read a blog by a UBC Philsophy prof in which she was discussing this issue, and she remarked that one of the major reasons students avoid their readings is because they don’t know *why* they’re reading what they are reading. I nodded in agreement, remembering my student days. She suggested providing reading questions for the students to help orient them to the passages that are most relevant/important (in addition to more open ended reflection or application questions). She also suggested doing a lecture relevant to the reading *before* the students were assigned the reading – therefore they approached the reading with something to build from.
I’ve employed these two strategies, and I think they work well; one semester, I had a TA whose role was to write these questions in advance, and we posted them on Vista. We called them guided reading questions. A fair number of the students downloaded them, and reported that it helped them identify the most relevant components of a reading for our class. In three hour classes that I’ve taught, I’ve re-jigged my lecture schedule so that I introduce a topic in the latter portion of a class, then the students go home and do the reading, and then we discuss it in the first part of the subsequent class. I think this has really helped students understand *why* they’re reading a given text, and the lecture gives them a jumping off point.
In another course – an upper level course on anthro theory – I wrote out guided reading questions in advance and I also provided answers later on in the term. Particularly in a theory course, I found that students were much more likely to do the readings, and got much more out of them, when these questions were developed that were intended to support their reading. (Particularly in a theory course, I was also able to guide them, through these questions, to not worry too much about the really confusing passages that aren’t necessarily super vital.) I also employed this technique – technology? – because one of my primary learning objectives in that course was to teach the students how to really read dense, theory-driven academic texts.
David William Price 4:39 pm on October 14, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Reading guide sheets are good when they’re done well. I like to see questions on the higher parts of Bloom’s taxonomy… the answers to those questions (evaluation, judgment, design) lead to interesting class discussions.
It seems to me e-readers could be providing this kind of function with the ability to capture notes. Perhaps even just highlighting sections and relating them to guide sheet questions for reference later…
Allie 1:55 pm on October 15, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Good point David – I think that the kinds of questions (as for where on Bloom’s taxonomy they land) really depend on the level of the class v the readings they are doing, the level of the class itself, and whereabouts in the semester you are. When I design my courses, I keep the taxonomy in mind – earlier activities, assignments and assessments are more directed towards the lower levels, while later in the term, my assignments are geared towards a more synthetic understanding and their abilities to apply what we’ve learned.
With readings, particularly early in term, I do like to lowball the guided questions a little bit, especially if we’re reading tough texts. I find that many of my undergraduates’ readings skills are lower than they may ideally be; they really need to be taught *how* to read academic texts, and that seldom seems to happen at the lower levels (1st and 2nd year). It’s a really tough skill to master – as your colleagues’ difficulty getting through large volumes of text indicates.
Everton Walker 5:42 pm on October 14, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
This is terrific stuff! I am here envying you :). Sadly, we do not have that privilege with ebooks in our local libraries and reading centers. We have a similar concept in Jamaica to your BOB; which is DEAR (Drop Everything And Read). During this time everyone on the school’s campus should be reading independently. However, we have to do it with paperbacks. I cant wait to see similar sessions with ebooks.
Everton
Deb Kim 9:53 am on October 15, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
We also have silent reading time in the second period. I suggest my students not to read any newspaper or magazine, because they are noisy and could be skimmed rather than read. Also, I don’t allow them to bring comics/manga for the same reason.
A few students wanted to read something on their iPhone, but I also didn’t let them use it for SR after I discovered that they were playing games rather than reading.
How could you monitor if they are doing SR rather than something else if they use electronic devices such as iPhone, iPad, laptop, computer, etc.?
Deb