I saw a short article on the Huffington Post today about reading programs where the students read to dogs. I guess it’s a growing trend that can be done with therapy dogs in programs like Paws to Read or just at home. Children said that they liked reading to dogs because they were less hesitant than in front of a human audience and read more confidently. Students acknowledged a fear of hearing laughter when they make reading mistakes. I think this is a good point to think about for people becoming teachers. Why do children feel so scared to read in class? Is it because we have proven laughter to be a possible reaction to their attempts or does the classroom not feel comfortable enough to them? I think as a teacher it is important to establish a level of comfort between you and the students and the students with each other.
When helping out in classrooms I have seen less confident students reading at a level lower than they should just so that they can race through the pages. This fear is holding some kids back from reading at a level that would be appropriately challenging for them, in order to improve. I think this shows that teachers really need to be conscious of book choices and maybe break students into smaller reading groups. Placing students in groups with kids at their same level sometimes falls into criticism because people will say they don’t have a chance to improve and aren’t being challenged but I think a group of similar readers can be challenged together. They can be pushed together at the same level to move to the next level and probably feel more comfortable if their peers are making similar reading errors.
I think that students are afraid to read aloud because we, as society in general, are so quick to criticize. Kids are put on the spot in front of their peers and if they aren't the best reader they fear they will be made fun of. I can remember being terrified of talking in front of my class when I was a kid, but I'm not sure if it was because I was afraid to mess up or just because I suffered from America's number one fear (public speaking).
ReplyDeleteI don't think there is much that can be done about a personal fear of speaking in front of people except to confront it and do it more often. However, I think that the practicing with a family member at home is very helpful. If a sibling or parent is unavailable, then why not read to a dog? People talk to their dogs as though they are human all the time, so why should reading to them be any different if it can serve an educational purpose and help a child feel better during their school day.
First seeing this post, I was surely skeptical. Reason being, my first thought was these people were reading to dogs for the dog's benefit. So the dog can better understand human language or better understand their master. I'm glad the post hadn't taken that route because a literature course for dogs only seems stupid and short lived venture. I digress to agreement with you and your statement of placing students into smaller reading groups being a solution for fearful reading. Within a smaller group of peers that are on the same level of reading can benefit each as long as the teacher thoroughly encourages the lower readers. Although, I don't think its a certain necessity to diversify the groups based on reading level because the smaller size of the group alone could encourage confidence and be less daunting.
ReplyDeleteI think placing students into groups based on reading level is a great idea. It makes students more comfortable and confident when they are in a smaller group of students that are all at similar levels. I previously spent 18 weeks in a classroom observing and helping out, and the teacher used this method. There were 5 different groups of students and each group would meet once a week (a different group each day). The group would get together and read a different book each week that was appropriate for their reading level. Not only would they get an opportunity to work with their group, but once a week they would have buddy read where they would pick a friend in the classroom to read with. I think this is also a great idea because some students would pair up with other students that may be more advanced than they were, so they could help each other out. The students that were not as good of readers would still feel comfortable with their buddy because it was often a friend and they were only reading to one person versus an entire class. Overall, I think reading groups is a great idea and I would definitely not be opposed to using in my classroom one day. Also, like Jessica said previously I think reading to a family member is also very helpful, and hey if you want to practice your reading to a dog, go for it! I think its a great way to get kids to practice reading aloud.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to add an idea from personal experience that relates to Hillary's comment: "I think this is also a great idea because some students would pair up with other students that may be more advanced than they were, so they could help each other out."
ReplyDeleteIn my experience, I have found when you are practicing an activity and trying to reach a certain goal that if you have someone who is able to push you as a partner, someone who perhaps is more advanced than you, that can challenge you to become even with them, then your own advancement is enlightened because you are always chasing that person. For example, I lift weights to stay in shape. My lifting partner is much larger than I am. His bench press is perhaps 70lbs more than my own and weights 20lbs more than I. So when I lift with him he is always putting up more weight than I am. I am always chasing his abilities. When I see him putting on the weight he does, I follow, and my desire to lift more is increased to become even with him. Same in the classroom, if the child has enough self-awareness, self-esteem, and confidence to chase his more advanced partner's reading then his reading abilities will chase along side.