Readicide - Chapter 2

In chapter two of Readicide Gallagher, “argues that our students are in desperate need of large doses of authentic reading.” He says that this lack of reading in our schools is derived from three specific factors. First, there is a dearth of interesting reading materials in our schools. Second, many schools have removed novels and other longer challenging works to provide teachers and students with more test preparation time. Third, students are not doing enough reading in school. After addressing each of these issues he goes on to discuss how, as educators, we can correct these problems. He gives us some really good advice in this chapter as to how we can fight Readicide in our classrooms. Of some of the ideas proposed I specifically liked three (although all appear to be good ideas). First, augmenting books with real world text. This would especially be applicable in my filed (history). Gallagher proposes bringing in one article every week that each student can write about. This activity will both broaden my student view by giving them insight into what is going on around them, and connect what they are learning to the real world. This concept of making these larger connections is extremely important in a history classroom, because it is when you connect past to the present that history really comes alive for your students. The second concept I liked was having a library in your classroom. This brings reading directly to your students, and makes it easily assessable for them. The final idea I liked was the comprehensive summer reading program. In my high school we were given a huge list of book we could choose to read over the summer, and asked to read four of them. The list had both classic novels and more contemporary literature. Through this program I discovered some of my own favorite books. It both challenged me as a reader, and at the same time helped to develop my own personal joy for reading. If we can institute a summer reading program in our schools it would be a great tool we can use as educators to help fight Readicide.