1. Why incorporate a Reading for Pleasure program into the curriculum?
a.
A Reading for Pleasure program:
- enhances world knowledge
- accounts for one third or more of vocabulary growth
- promotes reading as a lifelong activity
- builds vocabulary
- builds structural awareness
- improves comprehension skills
- promotes motivation
- encourages pupils to read fluently and so use all the strategies
associated with good readers
- encourages pupils to progress through different levels of text and
monitor their own progress
- provides pupils with an enjoyable reading experience and so breaks
the vicious circle:
THE VICIOUS CIRCLE OF THE WEAK READER
doesn't understand
doesn't read much
reads slowly
doesn't enjoy reading
THE VIRTUOUS CIRCLE OF THE GOOD READER
enjoys reading
understands better
reads faster
reads more
(Nuttal 1982:167-168)
b. It is important to see a Reading for Pleasure program as a process, and not
as an end-product on the day of the oral Bagrut exam. It is a process
that should start in elementary school and continue up through all grade
levels.
2. What are the guidelines for implementing a Reading for Pleasure program?
a. Pupils select their own books, according to individual interest and
appropriate level of difficulty.
b A Reading for Pleasure program requires pupils to read both at home and
in school. The school component consists of regular sustained silent
reading periods in class, at least once a week. Reading periods run about
20 minutes. They are scheduled for “prime time” and not, for example,
during the final hour on a Friday. Reading periods are uninterrupted.
Questions and comments are kept until the end of the period.
c. The role of the teacher is as a model reader, doing what the pupils are
doing - reading a book. You should NOT be correcting papers, preparing
lesson plans, taking attendance or answering questions during reading
sessions.
d. Administrators need to know that when teachers are reading to students,
and when teachers are relaxing with a good book during sustained silent
reading sessions, teachers are doing their job. Administrators need to
know that a print-rich environment is not a luxury but a necessity.
(Krashen 1993:85)
3. How can the teacher motivate pupils to read?
a.
Encourage individual choice for reading matter. Let your pupils select the
subject and level they want to read.
b.
Show interest in your pupils’ choice of reading materials by helping them
choose and by recommending books
c.
Show you value your pupils’ reading with praise, display of work,
certificates, extra credit, and so on.
d.
Encourage personal responses to reading .
e.
Reading is fun. Introduce a variety of associated tasks that are
unusual, stimulating and creative.
f.
Encourage pupils to recommend books to their classmates. Ask them,
for example, to rate the books they have read and display a Top Ten
poster in the classroom.
4. What level of books should pupils be reading?
The Advisory Committee and English Inspectorate have not defined the levels
of books that pupils are required to read. A key principle of the Reading for
Pleasure program is that pupils themselves select books most suitable to
them. Your responsibility as teacher is explaining the importance of choosing
an interesting book at the right language level, as explained in T.E.E.C.H.:
Prior to starting an extensive reading program, the teacher
needs to explain to the pupils the importance of reading for
pleasure in a foreign language. Not only does it help
improve the pupils' vocabulary and understanding of the
structure of the language, but it also gives a feeling of
satisfaction to be able to read a book in English. Books are
available from Stage One to Stage Six, Simplified, Easy
Unsimplified and Unsimplified. There is a wide variety of
books to choose from, with topics of interest for pupils at all
levels. Pupils should be advised to start off reading a book
which is interesting and not difficult for them, because if they
find that there are too many difficult words in the story, it
becomes too frustrating and does not encourage them to
want to read. (Steiner 1993:51)
The idea is for pupils to read what interests them. As to the length of books
chosen, use discretion . Five articles or three short stories can replace one
book per year. Longer books can be counted as two volumes.
Book lists are available from publishers, showing the wealth of graded readers
on the market, though as publishers use different grading systems, you should
evaluate each series for your pupils.
5. How can the teacher monitor a pupil's progress while the pupil is reading his/her book?
Monitoring progress is important both for pupil and teacher. Reading can be
monitored:
- by keeping a reading diary or journal, in which pupils note impressions and
reactions to their reading and the teacher briefly responds
- by having the pupils fill out a form to which the teacher adds comments:
LIBRARY BOOK JOURNAL
PUPIL’S NAME ______________________
TITLE
LEVEL
PAGE
DATE
6. What about pupils with learning disabilities?
CLASS __________________
COMMENTS
Learning-disabled pupils who can read should be encouraged to read at their
own pace and level as jointly decided by teacher and pupil. Pupils who cannot
read should be allowed to listen to recordings of books, short stories and
articles. Ideally, schools will share these tape libraries.
7. What about the possibility that some pupils will not read books in English, but in
Hebrew?
Some teachers have expressed their concern about the possibility of
"cheating." We in the English Inspectorate do not believe in rejecting an
educational initiative because of the fear that some pupils might read a book in
Hebrew, see the video instead of reading the book and/or download book
reports via the MODEM. Based on current knowledge about foreign language
acquisition, reading books plays a major role in learning a language and
therefore the integration of a Reading for Pleasure program is a very important
part of the curriculum. In education, there are, of course no absolutes and our
expectations need to be realistic. The program should be implemented even if
there are pupils who decide not to read books in English. Teachers can help
offset a tendency to “cheat” by explaining to their pupils the value of reading in
English and by helping them develop a love for it. Overall, the benefits of a
Reading for Pleasure program outweigh its risks.
8. How is a Reading for Pleasure program integrated into the curriculum and the
Oral Bagrut exam?
a. Pupils read books, short stories and/or articles in English on their own, in the
classroom and at home.
b.
A record of each pupil’s reading progress is kept. (See suggestions above.).
c.
On completing a book, pupils choose a post-reading task that is then evaluated by
the teacher. (See Appendix One)
d. The reading task is added to the reading file once it is marked by the teacher.
e. The pupils' final grades on their report cards will include a grade for the Reading for
Pleasure program.
f.
During the oral exam, pupils will be evaluated on their competence in talking about
the books they have read. This is not a recall test of the content of the books.
g. Pupils should be asked a variety of questions. The purpose of the questions is to
encourage pupils to talk about what they have read, using the tasks they have done as
a trigger for oral interaction. The teacher’s questions should therefore be based on the
tasks in the pupil’s reading file. Some examples:
- Why did you choose the alternative ending you wrote to the book?
- Tell me more about the character to whom you wrote a letter.
- Tell me about a character you liked/disliked/identified with.
- Why did you choose to use a tape/video/picture to express your
feelings about the book as a task?
9. Is additional class time needed to integrate a Reading for Pleasure Program?
Teachers have expressed concern that they will need more time in order to
implement a Reading for Pleasure program. The program replaces other
kinds of home and class assignments. Once the central role of Reading for
Pleasure in foreign language acquisition is understood, teachers will
incorporate it as part of their planning of both class and homework.
Krashen (1994) claims that extensive reading will contribute more towards
pupils' learning than other learning activities. As proof, he describes an
experiment called “Hooked on Books” which was done on first language
acquisition with juvenile delinquents, aged 12-17. One group was encouraged
to read two-three books a week for two years. After two years, the reading
group had improved on everything that could be tested : reading
comprehension, writing fluency, writing complexity, attitudes towards school
and self-esteem. The other students remained at the same level or went down.
Krashen goes on to claim that the endless worksheets we hand out to drill
rules and vocabulary into the pupils' conscious learning - as opposed to the
unconscious acquisition of language - have limited effect, and any success is
short term only. This system fails, because language is just too complex in
thought and structure and too rich in vocabulary items for teachers to reduce it
all to “worksheet-type” exercises.
10. How is it possible to budget the buying of books?
Different possibilities include:
- working with the school principal to earmark part of the school's library budget for the
purchase of English books
- asking pupils to donate books to the school library
- having the pupils use the public library or that at the Community Center (Matnas) until
their school library is developed
Krashen cites research that shows that children who live closer to public libraries
read more. Moreover, having a school library results in the pupils reading even more
than if they had access to public libraries only (1993:34).
In conclusion, I would like to share with you a story about how reading books changed
the life of an individual:
The case of Ben Carson suggests that direct encouragement
to read can stimulate an interest in reading, and thus lead to
better literacy development. Carson, now a neurosurgeon,
was a poor student in the fifth grade when his mother
required him to check out two books per week from the
library and insisted that he report on his reading to her at the
end of each week. Carson was not enthusiastic but obeyed
his mother. What is crucial is that Carson's mother allowed
him to read whatever he wanted. At first, Carson chose
books on animals, nature, and science, reflecting his
interests. Carson reports that while he was a "horrible
student in the traditionally academic subjects, I excelled in
fifth-grade science" (Carson 1990
p. 37). As his science reading expanded, he "became the
fifth-grade expert in anything of a scientific nature" (p.37).
Carson credits reading with improving his reading
comprehension and vocabulary, which affected all his academic
work, reporting that he became "the best student in math when
we did story problems" (p. 38). Consistent with the research,
reading also improved his spelling: "I kept reading all through
the summer, and by the time I began sixth grade I had learned
to spell a lot of words without conscious memorization" (p.39).
The initial impetus his mother provided led to dramatic results:
"As I continued to read, my spelling, vocabulary, and
comprehension improved, improved so much that by the time I
entered seventh grade...I was at the top of the class" (p. 39).
Clearly, Carson's mother provided him with just the right
amount of direct encouragement; because his reading was selfselected, the intrinsic pleasure of reading soon took over, and
direct encouragement was no longer necessary. (Krashen
1993:43-44)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Carson, B. 1990. Gifted Hands. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Books.
Krashen, S. 1993. The Power of Reading Englewood, Col.: Libraries Unlimited, Inc
Krashen, S. 1994. Speech given at TESOL. Baltimore, Md.
Nuttal, C. 1982. Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language Heinemann 167-8.
Steiner, J. 1994 T.E.E.C.H. Jerusalem, Israel: Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport.