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A review by edh
Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do about It by Kelly Gallagher
5.0
Anyone who works with youth should read this immediately, and everyone who works with adult readers can read this to better understand how these readers may have developed.
Kelly Gallagher has written a powerful indictment of contemporary educational strategies aimed at turning kids into literate, critically-thinking adults. Instead of producing lifelong readers with deep comprehension skills, a combination of testing and overteaching has created adults who are soured on the very act of reading itself. Through a dearth of adequate reading opportunities, drill-and-kill testing, and failing to link fictional situations to contemporary examples from real life, Gallagher asserts that the American educational system is committing readicide.
We are reminded that ample access to reading materials is something that must happen IN school - because too many youth live in print-poor environments - and that the library should come to the students when necessary to reduce the effort needed to get a "good read." Reading widely for pleasure not only helps students reach their point of flow (Csikszentmihalyi) but also greatly boosts their depth of background experience, which proves more crucial in testing than you may think. Effective direct instruction is also just as crucial as sustained silent reading, especially when the number of literary concepts taught per book/piece are limited and reading strategies are explicitly taught to students who are then allowed time to practice them during class time.
The real gem of this slim volume is the list of 101 books that the author's own reluctant readers frequently choose. It features outstanding YA and adult titles that every school and public library should own in quantity. Also helpful are teaching tips and sample student "one pagers" in the appendix, making this a must-buy for every school library and English department. Gallagher's own students at Magnolia High in Anaheim (CA) are lucky indeed for having a teacher who is not only dedicated to helping students succeed in the classroom, but to walk out of that classroom equipped to succeed in life.
Kelly Gallagher has written a powerful indictment of contemporary educational strategies aimed at turning kids into literate, critically-thinking adults. Instead of producing lifelong readers with deep comprehension skills, a combination of testing and overteaching has created adults who are soured on the very act of reading itself. Through a dearth of adequate reading opportunities, drill-and-kill testing, and failing to link fictional situations to contemporary examples from real life, Gallagher asserts that the American educational system is committing readicide.
We are reminded that ample access to reading materials is something that must happen IN school - because too many youth live in print-poor environments - and that the library should come to the students when necessary to reduce the effort needed to get a "good read." Reading widely for pleasure not only helps students reach their point of flow (Csikszentmihalyi) but also greatly boosts their depth of background experience, which proves more crucial in testing than you may think. Effective direct instruction is also just as crucial as sustained silent reading, especially when the number of literary concepts taught per book/piece are limited and reading strategies are explicitly taught to students who are then allowed time to practice them during class time.
The real gem of this slim volume is the list of 101 books that the author's own reluctant readers frequently choose. It features outstanding YA and adult titles that every school and public library should own in quantity. Also helpful are teaching tips and sample student "one pagers" in the appendix, making this a must-buy for every school library and English department. Gallagher's own students at Magnolia High in Anaheim (CA) are lucky indeed for having a teacher who is not only dedicated to helping students succeed in the classroom, but to walk out of that classroom equipped to succeed in life.