When I first read this post on Mark Ahlness' blog it struck me as an odd idea... silent reading 2.0.Mark came up with an idea to revamp silent reading in his secondary classroom. He used his SSR time to get his kids reading BLOGS instead of books! Blogs written by kids... for kids! This was not a time for students to be "creating" or commenting on blogs, rather a time purely for reading them.
When I actually think about it, it's easy to see how my own personal reading habits have changed over the past months. I still consult "books" to get ideas for my teaching and units etc, but when was the last time I actually read a physical book?!! I believe I now read more than ever, but it's a different kind of reading, a kind that is constantly up to date and written by ordinary people.
This quote from Mark's blog also struck me... could this be the future for our kids?
"By the time they grow up, I bet their reading preferences will be worlds away from where they and I are now. My hunch is it will not be cuddling up with a chapter book."
Perhaps before then we'll need more computers in our classrooms!
Do you think we'll ever find cuddling up to our computer in bed to read as comforting as cuddling up to a good book?
Do you think we'll ever find cuddling up to our computer in bed to read as comforting as cuddling up to a good book?
Every day, as soon as the bell sounds at 3.15 pm, the vast majority of our upper primary kids pull out their mobile phones from their bags, turn them back on and start checking messages, contacting home or friends at other schools and basically reacquainting themselves with their "best friend". My niece will spend copious amounts of time gazing at the screen of her Nokia, totally engrossed with whatever she's looking at. That's what the next generation is going to use for bedtime reading, accessing the content and connections of their choice - books could well go the way of the Compact Disc - still available but a locked format - while modern digital content is accessible and disposable all at the same time.
ReplyDeletei cuddled up with my lap top in bed this morning. hmm perhaps i shouldn't say that out loud....
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