Day #2

Tuesday brought much progress for the program and insight to the students attitude towards reading.  I decide to complete a Garfield Elementary Reading Survey with each student. My intention is to see if their attitudes change over the time they are working with the Listening to Literacy Grow program.  This informal survey measures recreational reading and academic reading attitudes by having students circle either of 4 different garfield figures per question. They range from happy to unhappy and consists of 10 questions for each form of reading. I will have them fill out the same survey when we are finished working together and share with you the changes.

We decided to travel to the library where I hope to work with them daily. It is a great environment that is so rich with literature. We can also be sure to illuminate more of the distractions and keep the focus on the text and following along in the book. In discussing with a fellow educator, she notices that students have a hard time following along in the text while they are focused on the audio. I can understand this perspective and will closely monitor this facet in the initial days to assess.

I have noticed how excited they are to share what they like to read and why. This is going to be very important for our literature discussions after we read along to the audio daily.  On interesting answer I received is kinda of shocking but not at all abnormal.

ME:
Do you talk to your friends about your book you are reading? Maybe the characters? Or even if they should read it after you?
STUDENTS:
Not really.
No I never do.
Well, maybe if there is a funny part.

This simple conversation reinforced the whole basis for what I hope to accomplish with the Listening to Literacy Grow program. We can help by truly preparing these students for the future. Since when do we learn something and not share about it, hardly ever! I know that with the advancements in mobile technology and computers that most business people and professional are networking and collaborating in order to be successful. This life skill can have its foundation built in rich literature discussions.