Readicide

 Reading. The way many people find information, learn about events, and to be able to enjoy fiction. It is amazing and astonishing to me how unimportant reading has become in schools. I can remember reading so many different novels in schools that I would never run out of things to read. I read for class but also for fun during the school year. Reading is a great habit for kids to begin so that students will be more inclined to read information outside of the required texts. One of the quotes in the book says “students who do not develop the habit of reading books, newspapers, and magazines end up seniors in high school wondering why they never heard of a guy named Al Qaeda.” Students will stop reading and wondering with curiosity and what will they turn to?

I know that my master teacher, though hard to teach a novel with the new common core curriculum, still teaches at least one a year. Novels are very important to any students learning but now because of the new standards it is much harder to teach. Many teachers now are trying to pass their students by teaching to  a test and that limits what students do learn. I really enjoyed this book because it made me think about how I can still become an effective teacher even though I am having to teach to a test. There is no reason why students cannot or should not read longer novels. I am not saying that schools are cutting out reading all together but they are minimizing the importance. The only way I can see this improving is if teachers do all they can to pass their students as well as allowing them the opportunity to read.

Reading plays a key role in many aspects of education because it teaches new views and allows reinforcement of previously obtained knowledge.