Reading out loud in class
Did you ever have a teacher conduct reading assignments out loud in class? This actually was good because class typically bored me and the opportunity of reading out loud in front of my peers was my moment to shine. I was a good reader, and a fast one too. I would pay attention up to the time that it was my turn to read and I enjoyed it, but once my turn was over, I checked out.
However, I remember the day in elementary school, when the teacher moved this boy to the seat in front of me. The reading order usually meant this kid would read just prior to me and he wasn't the best reader. In fact, he was horrible. He may have been dyslexic, I don't know. I would never wish a learning disability on anyone, but for his sake, I hope he had one. He really struggled and I felt really sorry for him but that didn't make up for the fact that his turn to read out loud was going to slow us down considerably. We all knew that if we didn't get this chapter read in the allotted amount of time we were going to miss part of recess or we would have to finish it for homework. It...........wa.......was.............to.........tor...........torture.
When it came time for me to read, I would fly through my paragraph and then try to read another one before the teacher could stop me, just so we could finish faster. So what if I was a bit arrogant about my ability to read faster than most of the other fourth graders? Believe me, they all appreciated it when we didn't lose time for recess.
6 comments:
OK, since you are sharing stories about reading out loud, I'll share one that I never tell folks (and I still do this even now when I'm asked to read out loud).
In school, as I was reading out loud, I would memorize ahead so I could look at the teacher to read the last half of what I was supposed to read.
In my head, I was showing off that I could memorize really fast.
Kind of weird, huh?
That is hilarious! How long could you remember it?
It was usually a pretty short term thing. Like two or three sentences, just so I could finish the reading. And if I was the last person to read, I would make a point of closing the book before I was done and continuing to speak. What a nerd.
If it makes you feel better "round robin reading" is no longer an accepted practice in reading instruction:) For all the reasons that you mentioned. No one pays attention excpet to their part and it's embarrasing for struggling readers.
Yes...I do feel better. I didn't know it had a name. Thanks.
I was a good out-loud reader, too, but usually HATED the times we took turns reading out loud around the classroom. How in the world are elementary-aged kids supposed to understand anything their peers are reading when we're all sleeping at our desks because the kids read so slowly? And if we weren't asleep, we were practicing the paragraph we knew we'd each have to read aloud ... only to find out we had miscounted and ended up reading a different paragraph aloud to the class.
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