Readicide

Kids are not reading. Grownups are not reading. And yet, more than ever, we need people who can read and think critically.

What are we as educators doing wrong?

Gallagher tells us that students are not reading enough at home and school and that we are overteaching reading. He quotes author Jon Scieszka about the reader's death spiral: “It's where kids aren't reading and then are worse at reading because they aren't reading, and then they read less because it is hard and they get worse, and then they see themselves as non-readers.”

Gallagher proposes ideas for teachers to put into practice to encourage reading, including providing interesting books, providing time to read in school, and providing a place to read in school.

I hope teachers and administrators are listening.

I couldn't put it down. It's a book every reading teacher should read and try to incorporate a little of out in their classroom.

In Readicide, Kelly Gallagher outlines the ways schools are killing reading today as well as offering some ways teachers can prevent the spread of readicide. The book is very readable though none of it is groundbreaking. It was all a reiteration of things I learned in grad school and even undergrad. One thing I did like that I had never received validation for in school was my thought that teachers routinely overteach books. There seems to be some kind of prohibition on reading books aloud to kids without stopping to discuss something. I have thought for a long time that we stop too much when we read to kids. Sometimes it's ok to just read the book for enjoyment's sake. This is one of Gallagher's main points in the book, although he applies it to older kids.