Readicide - Chapter 5

In his final chapter of Readicide Mr. Gallagher discusses how the American educational system is moving away from its creative spirit which has made if an economic world leader for almost a century. Mr. Gallagher postulates that the overemphasis on standardized testing is leading to the decline of creativity among our youth. To bolster his argument he analyzes the educational systems of a number of emerging countries like: China, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea. These nations, Mr. Gallagher asserts, are moving away from the standardized testing model and, "started education reforms aimed at fostering more creativity and innovative thinking among their citizens." The chapter goes on to say that all is not yet lost. If schools concentrate on the 50/50 approach to teaching young readers, the tide of readicide can be curtailed before it overwhelms our educational system.

The assertion Mr. Gallagher presents in this chapter seems full of holes. He uses a lot of subjective reasoning without backing his claims up with any real facts or figures. I think it is incorrect to make a connection between American creative hegemony on the world stage to a decline in comprehensive reading skills among our youth. Culturally American has always prided itself on its innovative spirit and competitiveness. I do not think that this is any less true today that it was fifty years ago. American history is full of creative innovators who did not receive today what we would call a "formal education" (Henry Ford, Bill Gates, the Wright brothers etc.), and yet these individual's creative sprit was never curtailed by their lack of a formal education. They are and will forever remain among the most important innovators of our time. Having said this, I still agree with Mr. Gallagher original hypothesis that America's overemphasis on testing is contributing to the decline in comprehensive reading skills among our youth, and that this is a trend that must be reversed to save a generation of young readers.

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.

Readicide Chapter 3

In this chapter Gallagher discusses how Readicide is promoted through the over teaching of books. Mr. Gallagher contends that "in teaching academic texts students are drowning in a sea of sticky notes, worksheets, and quizzes. As a result, the trivial is often highlighted at the expense of the meaningful" (Gallagher p.76). This over analysis of books does not allows students to enter into the "reading flow" - a place where "people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost" (Gallagher p. 61). The "reading flow" is that point where the reader is fully immersed in the text, and it is in this state of mind that the reader truly understand the joy of reading.

But how do we, as educators, instill this joy of reading in our students? One way is to simply explain to our students how important reading is. We do this by showing them how reading impacts their lives. I had an English teacher in high school who did just that. He explained to us how reading was the only medium by which we can experience events that we may otherwise never be exposed to. When we read we are allowed an insight into the world that is truly unique, because we are taken out of our own psyche, and placed into the authors mind. Through these reading experiences we expand our knowledge about the world, and in doing so we become more well rounded individuals. However, when we chop books up we destroy the novel, and students are unable to glean any real significance. What we have to do is make reading relevant to our students lives. When they are able to connect what they are reading with their own lives they will discover the true joy of reading.

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.

Readicide - Chapter 1

In the first chapter of Readicide the author, Kelly Gallagher presents his theory as to why he thinks that schools today are ruining reading for America students. He believes that the over emphasis placed on standardized test taking is ruining today’s youth, because instead of teaching students to read for deeper understandings or developing independent readers they are focusing purely on teaching kids how to read only to pass standardized tests. Mr. Gallagher postulates that this over emphasis on test taking skills hurts our students in two ways. First, because “a curriculum steeped in multiple-choice test preparation drives shallow teaching and learning.” And Secondly, that the over emphasis on multiple-choice test preparation ensures that struggling readers will continue to struggle (p.8).

I agree with Mr. Gallagher on both points, but I would also have to add a third. That at the secondary level students are not given to opportunity to peruse pleasure reading both in and out of there schools. While I was at my placement this week at Warner Robbins Middle School I had the opportunity to talk to the head librarian, Dr. Little, about the plight of reading in America’s public schools. While she agreed that these tests did little to teach deeper understanding, and did very little to help struggling readers, she also suggested that one of the major problems is that students in High School are not exposed to reading like they are at the elementary and middle school levels. In the lower grades students are actually brought to the library on a weekly basis to look up and check out books for their pleasure. However, when you reach the High School level it is no longer mandatory that student go to their school library. They only go there by choice or if they have to do research for a class project. Dr. Little believes on of the problems is that they do not promote leisure reading at the high school level they way they do when students are younger. When a student reaches high school there are already a myriad of distractions, which take away from their education. We should be seeking to develop students who will be life long learners versus just standardized test takers or short-term learners. One way to do this would be to allow students the opportunity to pursue pleasure reading at the secondary level by allowing them the opportunity to visit their local or school libraries during there class periods. Libraries would then become a place where we can cultivate true learners.