Manal Abraham June 19, 2013 ENC 3331 Analysis & Plan of Action Improving Student Reading Skills

Reading at any age is an important skill to possess, but it is most important for children to begin reading at a young age. The problem with this is that in school reading is forced on children for testing purposes and they see reading as a chore instead of something to enjoy, and a skill that can be applied to help with success in the future. This has been going on since the beginning of standardized testing and possibly before that. Teachers feel that the more they force reading on children the more the children will want to read. Well, this is very untrue, as many of you may know. Weve all been through it. Teachers force us to read book after book week after week, all in preparation for standardized testing. But in reality, the more that it is forced on us, the more we dont want to do it. I think the approach that teachers take should be modified to make reading seem like an enjoyable activity, rather than something that must be done and forced upon children. I feel that reading is being forced on students more and more, because of pressure from the state. They feel like they must force the curriculum on their students, because the state want to base teachers salary on the test scores of students. This is a statewide, as well as a nationwide, issue, but I would like to focus on the elementary in my local area, Manatee Elementary School in Viera, Florida. At Manatee, the school advocates reading through the students cataloging their time that they read on their own, and if they meet their reading goal, they are rewarded with some sort of prize for doing so. Also, students have a summer reading program where they log in their minutes on an online website and can pass a reading record for the years. And though this helps with getting students reading on their own, I think kids still need the one-on-one time to

appreciate reading and make it an enjoyable activity. And working with the teachers and librarians will help in completing this. My focus is on the younger children, first, second, and third graders. Mostly, because it is important to implement reading in children when they are at a young age, and before the pressures of standardized testing are being forced upon them. This way, when they get to the upper grade levels they will already have a focus on reading. My goal in this is to improve students reading skills in an engaging manner and help students to see that reading is not something that should be forced upon, but instead something that should be enjoyed. Teaching them the skills that it can provide for them in the future, for instance broadening vocabulary, writing skills, etc., will assist in opening the eyes of students in the form of reading. Plan of Action I believe that children dont get enough one-on-one time with teachers and librarians, so they are unable to see where the students stand on reading and their skills. Working with students individually and talking about where they stand on reading and their interests will help in improving their skills of reading. We will be able to help them find books that interest them, and that will help in improving their skills in writing and test taking. I plan to talk with teachers and librarians about the project and working with students individually to improve their reading. After getting their feedback I will gather a group of UCF students and parents interested in the cause of helping students. Most of the way to get attention to this cause will be through face-to-face encounters and emails. Working with a local elementary school will give us a chance to develop a program that others interested in can become a part of. Working with teachers and librarians will give us credibility and we can then discuss our plans with the principal, who can then help us approach the school board with our

plans to improve reading skills. Getting parents involved in helping is also an important part of my plan, and with the teachers permission, I will be sending out a letter with the students that details the purpose of the program and how they can get involved. I realize that approaching teachers with my idea will make them think that they are doing their job incorrectly and feel undermined, but that is not my intention. I want to help them in furthering the programs that are already set up and get students to have more time to work on their reading skills individually. To convince the teachers to allow me to help students I will inform them of my plan, and tell them that implementing reading at a young age and before they are susceptible to the pressures of standardized testing is important. Also, informing them that students do not get enough individual time to work on reading skills at a young age will further my argument. I want students at a young age to understand how they feel about reading and what they think reading can do for them, and then from there we can go further to improve their skills. This will entail finding them the right books and having small group readings, instead of the whole class. Sometimes when a whole class is reading, it is hard for each student to keep up, so smaller groups of students with the same interest in reading can be formed and each student will be able to relate to each other and read without being overwhelmed with the whole class. Another reading tip I found in the book Readicide by Kelly Gallagher was helpful. He focuses on a 50/50 approach to reading instruction. He states that 50% of the time students should focus on pleasure reading. This will help for students to establish, what he calls a reading flow, where they get so lost in the enjoyment of reading because the book is so good. The other 50% should be focused on academic reading. Giving students a big chunk of reading to read and then choosing an excerpt from the reading to discuss with a group. This will help with student involvement and in understanding the reading.

This is a perfect example of what will be incorporated into the improvement of student reading skills. From personal experience I know that it is difficult for each student to get individual attention when at the library and in class, so if a group were to come to the library or to a classroom once a week and help students in small groups and individually, then that alone will help improve reading skills. And that is exactly what I hope to accomplish. Working and speaking with parents at the school will also assist them in fun ways to engage in reading at home. The most helpful rhetorical concept that I believe applies to this project would be kairos. Addressing the school teachers at the right time and implementing a plan to focus on will help to make this project successful. I hope to speak with teachers in the start of the school year about my plan, and discuss sending a letter home with the students for their parents to read asking if any of them would like to take part in the program and telling them all of the details and benefits of the program. Upon having feedback from teachers, librarians, and parents I hope to begin working with students to improve their reading skills within the first few months of the school year.