Sunday, October 6, 2013

Why are we reading this?

"It dawns on me that Lisa is equating fast reading with good reading.  She doesn't see reading as thinking.  She views it as a race. Lisa doesn't understand that good readers adjust their pace when they read."

I really wish someone had explained this to me when I was in high school.  I'm just like Lisa.  I could read most anything quickly and get the gist of what was being said - enough to write that report or make a high grade on my ACT.  All that doesn't mean squat.  I come from a generation where late night commercials claimed they could teach you to speed read.  Teachers timed how many pages we could read in a certain time.  Reading fast was reading well.

That's just not the case anymore.  In a world moving forward technologically speaking, people need to read to comprehend, not necessarily to be fast *and* comprehend.  I read slower than ever, but I ***understand*** what I'm reading, and I ***comprehend*** and am able to internalize what I learn.

This week it is my goal to teach my students this important lesson.

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