Friday, March 11, 2011

Reading, writing on the wall, who's the fairest subject of them all?

Reading and writing are important, no doubt about it.  And we’ve learned from Routman that a strong writing program makes for strong readers and writers.  But how much time is too much time to spend on both?  In my main placement, we read for about an hour every day.  We read for about 30 minutes first thing in the morning.  Then we head to specialist.  After specialist, we have reading for about an hour.  There is normally a mini-lesson and then they try to apply that to their “just right” book.  I say try not because the students don’t understand, but because the topic taught, might not be in their book or they could have just started their book and therefore haven’t spotted anything yet.  They read independently for about 30 minutes.  If they finish an activity early, they are to read quietly at their desks.  For some students, they could potentially read for an hour and a half.   In terms of writing, they write for about 15 minutes, depending on the lesson.  With lunch, recess and specialist, our 6.5 hr day is now cut down to 4.5 hrs of teaching time. 
I am not saying that this is bad (we all need to eat, the kids need to play and gym/music/library are all important), but what about the other subjects?  Social studies and science tend to get neglected.  Students can read and write in both of those subjects.  But for reading, how much time is too much time?  Or is there never enough time spent on reading?  I also know that some of my students aren’t reading at home, so this is a great way for them to have the opportunity.  Any thoughts?

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