How Free Independent Reading Can Successfully Impact Student Reading Achievement

Dana Gioia calls out millennials and younger generations in america, to spark a conversation about the increasingly declining and destructive behavior of NOT reading! Gioia makes very many fantastic points and uses very many persuasive elements on why literacy actually is vital to to our society and the negative effects that come from this lack of literacy. She gives us factual evidence and credible sources to pull the reader into her side of the argument.

Reading is a means of language acquisition, of communication, and of sharing information which is essential in being a productive member of society. If and when a student missed an opportunity to learn the skills necessary for reading, it’s has a profound impact on their lives. As educators we realize that teaching all children to read requires that every child receive excellent reading instruction. We are also aware that children, who are struggling with reading must receive

Furthermore, children spend more time watching television rather than reading. “A 2007 study published by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reported that the average US household has a television set turned on an average of 8 hours and 11 minutes every single day. Much of that television watching is being done by children” (Preface to 'How Should Television Be Regulated?'). Most children have watched over three school years worth of television. In the article “TV Doesn’t teach,” it is pointed out that the decline in the ability to read in

Dana Gioia creates a theme of anxiousness as she doubts on our society. When polling members on skill deficiencies, poor reading skills was ranked as second, showing that many young adults also ar4e not and advances as they should be. She is truthful in her word hen she says that as b” more americans lose this capability, our nation becomes more informed, active and independent minded.” Gioia proves to us that unless we get back on track and start regenerating the thought of reading literature so that more people will begin to do so and think of in a way of which we think of our cell phones then we can begin to have a more strong , developed and smart nation that knows literature is a crucial part of our

S.P.I.R.E. (Specialized Program Individualizing Reading Excellence) is a comprehensive reading intervention program developed by Sheila Clark-Edmands, M.S.Ed., published by EPS Literacy and Intervention and is currently in its third edition (Clark-Edmands, 2012). While S.P.I.R.E. is most appropriate for Tier 2 and Tier 3 students with learning differences and struggling learners, the program has been used in a variety of settings, including classroom, small group and one-on-one. Based on the Orton-Gillingham approach, S.P.I.R.E. incorporates the most recent research regarding best practices in reading and language arts instruction as well as the professional standards published by professional organizations such as the International Reading Association and the International Dyslexia Association (Balajthy, 2014). The program is designed to build

As of late, the literacy rates in America have declined. In fact, over the past ten years “book reading [in] young women slipped from 63 percent to 59 percent, while young men plummeted from 55 percent to 43 percent” (why johnny won’t read pg. 575) Boys have a lower tendency to read than girls due to the fact that school forces them to read things that they are not interested in. Although in “I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read pg. 176,” Prose points out that

Taking into account of many Americans, the act of reading is not apart of our daily lives as it was many years ago. Instead, the media has taken over and leaves us at a disadvantage of developing our minds. The level of proficiency, “Fell significantly between 1992 and 2005, from 40 percent… to 35 percent (Chronicle).” In spite of that, reading gives us the opportunity to get different perspectives, learn valuable lessons, and engage emotions that might not be sparked otherwise. The list can go on and on, however, even with all of these great benefits, the literacy rate in America is continuing to drop.

The decline of reading by Americans isn´t by all Americans, Dana Gioia states that the “ declines have been most severe among younger adults ages 18-24.” (pg 1) Dana uses this fact from the 2002 survey to support her conclusion that the decline of reading will have a negative effect on society because it “ signifies deep transformations into a contemporary life.” (pg 1)

In this article from 2005, Dana Gioia is telling Americans how much the decline in reading among young Americans has gone. Gioia is encouraging Americans to read, and writes about the consequences of not having this literature reading skill.

This is because many schools believe that in today’s age of technology, teenagers prefer reading through a digital platform. However, Merga discovers that reading habits amongst adolescents are not homogenous, and they do not all prefer digital books. Rather, she finds that the individual reading preferences of adolescents vary and educators must take these varying preferences into account.

Young Americans who read, demonstrate a better civilize attitude and the necessity to learn new information. Gioia states, “One of the surprising findings of “Reading at Risk” was literary readers are markedly more civically engaged than nonreaders, scoring two to four times more likely to perform charity work, visit a museum, or attend a sporting event”. Literature’s positive effects are visible as people who tend to read more, become further intelligent. The young Americans who read know they should prepare themselves for the future. They become active in their communities and occupy their lives with productive activities rather than be indolent and negligent as someone who might not read.

In the essay “What’s the Matter With Kids Today?,” Amy Goldwasser argues that reading and writing text online is the same, or not very different, from reading or writing text on physical paper. This premise is simply not true. Comparing reading a physical book and reading on an E-Reader or on the Internet suggests that they use the same cognitive functions. The lighting on the computer changes the cognitive focus of the brain, as well as brain activation, reading speed, comprehension, and the contextual enviornment of the source material1.

It also misses that some people don’t like to read out of school so maybe the main portion of their reading does take place in school. A lot of people if not forced to read won’t ever pick up on topics they may actually like. In every young readers life it is hard just learning how to read. It also gets to a point in high school where a lot of students pick up interests in other things besides reading. This causes the amount of reading students might be doing to go down.

I recall a conversation had with a good friend of mine not too long ago; I asked her if she planned on reading The Kite Runner over the summer. She then responded with an uninterested no and attempted to steer the conversation towards the new Jordan’s coming out that weekend. I diverted her attention from the shoes long enough to question her response; she then hissed “I can watch the movie! Reading the book is a waste of my time!” Mr. Moe, that statement clearly shows why Laurel should start a reading program. Interest in reading is crashing among the youth, novels are now a “waste of time”. Since the children are our future, it is our responsibility to keep their minds sharp and alert. According to reneweveryday.com, “reading is the ultimate

In the article, Free Reading by Stephen Krashen the author tells how he believes that kids would be able to read better and be more literate. Krashen speaks of SSR which means, sustained silent reading. He believes that if you allow students the chance to read books they want to read during quiet time, instead of books that the teachers require you to read then you would have kids that enjoy reading and would be much more literate. Research shows that children that do not read for pleasure have a tough time succeeding in today’s world.