tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7719550.post3579890788011708342..comments2023-11-13T04:55:40.769-05:00Comments on Tuttle SVC: No High Performing Country Publishes K-12 ELA Standards as a Single DocumentTom Hoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08577165613934129833noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7719550.post-6317699420636122392013-10-30T06:03:23.750-04:002013-10-30T06:03:23.750-04:00Hi Eric,
Yes, I'm mostly using that as an ex...Hi Eric, <br /><br />Yes, I'm mostly using that as an example of something where even IF you accept the premise, it doesn't necessarily follow that thinking of it as one K-12 issue is helpful.<br /><br />From my perspective, I don't really know if the claims about the near omission of non-fiction text in early reading programs are valid. As someone who generally favors progressive approaches to reading instruction, I'd certainly want a lot of non-fiction *available* to kids. That's why we used to have school libraries!Tom Hoffmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08577165613934129833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7719550.post-38678071015107074642013-10-29T23:19:47.340-04:002013-10-29T23:19:47.340-04:00"At the elementary level, it may actually mak..."At the elementary level, it may actually make sense to just add more non-fiction to kids' reading selection, after all, they like dinosaurs and stuff"<br /><br />I agree with the main thrust of your smart post (and most of the aragument you've been making on this blog for a while now), but I have to say that pushing nonfiction in elementary school is pretty dubious. Yes, it MAY make sense, but it probably doesn't. The best plan is to encourage (by providing them with time and books) to read as much as possible of whatever interests them. As I love to point out, the bulk of Malcolm Gladwell's reading, both now and when he was a child, was probably trashy genre fiction (http://literacyinleafstrewn.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-talk-of-town-malcolm-gladwell-non.html).<br /><br />But if you really had to push children toward either fiction or non-fiction, there is some evidence suggesting that fiction might be better, even if the "expert" scholars on the topic, like Nell Duke and Tim Shanahan, are inexplicably pushing us toward non fiction on the basis of highly dubious armchair reasoning.<br />(http://literacyinleafstrewn.blogspot.com/2013/05/evidence-shows-that-reading.html)<br /><br />erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15459764573179565354noreply@blogger.com