Reading in the Wild Chapter 1
The first chapter in the book, Reading in the Wild was very informative on the basis of reading. One line really stuck out for me and stated “I cannot imagine a day without reading in it” (page 6). I have never been an avid reader, even in elementary school. We would read aloud in class and I would never volunteer to read to the class. Once I was not forced to read, I stopped reading books because I felt that my comprehension was not good. The importance of having a reading atmosphere really resonated with me because it is something that I have not thought about. I knew it was necessary to have a library but now I feel I should also have beanbags or a comfortable area for the students to get lost in a book. One challenge is parents. I am excited to be able to see progress in students and be able to determine if a student has been reading at home with their parents based on their ability to read. Parenting can be either an obstacle or a benefit and it is important as a teacher to push the parents to encourage their children to read at home. Fake reading will be another challenge as a teacher. It is very obvious to tell when a student is fake reading, but the book does not give ideas on how to fix or prevent this. One way to try and prevent fake reading could be to find a book that really interests the child. To do this, I really need to get to know my students and know their likes and dislikes. An example of this is Nathan on page 31 of the book. Over all the first chapter of this book has been very informative and interesting. It has left me with only one question; how do you show students how to incorporate daily reading into their lives?
One Reply to “Reading in the Wild Chapter 1”
This is really insightful, and it’s great how you made strong connections with your life. I think that getting to know each of your students is a splendid idea, but as Kim has said, it’s good to keep current on the reading material, especially focusing on the age groups you’ll be teaching. That way, sometimes you’ll just know that one book will work with many of your students, or with one particular demographic. I also think that mentioning the parents is important, but that you must remember, some people don’t have the home situation which can allow ample parental reading time, so remember when you’re a teacher to take that into consideration. I think that you as a teacher can be an example to your students by maybe talking about books you like, or liked when you were their age, and by carrying around something that you like to read and reading with them during reading time.