Chapter - 4

In chapter four of Readicide Mr. Gallagher “addresses another key contributor to readicide - the under teaching of books.” In the previous chapter Mr. Gallagher discussed the over teaching of books, a process that is typified by teachers who break cut books up into numerous small chunks, which disrupts the students’ reading flow. Mr. Gallagher asserts that as teachers me must find the “sweet spot” between these two extremes to ensure that our students are achieving the reading flow. The author gives us some examples of how, as teachers, we can achieve this goal. Mr. Gallagher reminds us that as teachers we must realize that when we are in the classroom we are the “experts” when it comes to reading. Therefore, it is useful to begin a reading by demonstrating for our students how we analyze texts. This can be done by a simple read aloud where we walk our students through our thought processes. You should also begin by framing the text for your students. This is accomplished by giving them some background knowledge about the text. Next, we should allow our students time to read over the text by themselves so the can familiarize themselves with it. Then as a class you should read over a portion of the text together so students can understand the deeper meaning of the reading. This technique is called second or third draft reading. We should also teach our students how to analyze text by showing them how to highlight and take notes while they are reading the text. If we do these things we are teaching both the reader and the reading. We are giving our students the tools they need to become analytical, and at the same time by not under teaching a book instilling in them a joy for reading, which is one of our main objectives as teachers.