ompt /FPMA A
Write an argumentative essay in which you make a position on whether literature or informational text should be studied most in school. Use the information from the passages in your multi-paragraph essay.
Be sure to
Include a claim;
Address counterclaims;
Use evidence from multiple sources; and
Avoid overly relying on one source.
Manage your time carefully so that you can
Read the passages;
Plan your response;
Write your response; and
Revise and edit your response
December 2012/January 2013 | Volume 70 | Number 4
Common Core: Now What? Pages 80-82
Research Says / Nonfiction Reading Promotes Student Success
Bryan Goodwin and Kirsten Miller
The average child in the United States spends roughly 4 hours and 29 minutes a day watching TV, 2 hours and 31 minutes listening to music, and 1 hour and 13 minutes playing video games. And how much of their leisure time to do they spend reading nonfiction?
Less than 4 minutes a day.
That's the finding from a national study sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation (Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts, 2010). Sure, children are reading outside school—about 25 minutes a day, according to the study. But most of that reading appears to be fiction. Another study found that juvenile fiction outsells nonfiction by more than 4 to 1 (Milliot, 2012).
Even in classrooms, nonfiction appears to be in short supply. Duke (2000) conducted a study of 20 1st grade classrooms and found that informational texts constituted, on average, just 9.8 percent of texts in classroom libraries. The mean number of informational books per child was just 1.2 in low-income districts and a still relatively paltry 3.3 in high-income districts. On average, students spent just 3.6 minutes with informational text each day. Lower-income students fared worse, logging just 1.9 minutes of exposure to informational text (for example, during student reading, teacher read-alouds, or writing activities) during an average school day.
A New Emphasis on Nonfiction
The new Common Core language arts and literacy standards attempt to correct this imbalance by placing more emphasis on reading nonfiction—starting with an equal emphasis on literature and informational text in elementary school (Coleman & Pimental, 2012). At nearly all grade levels, students are expected to develop research skills across content areas with a strong focus on nonfiction, including literary nonfiction; essays; biographies and autobiographies; journals and technical manuals; and charts, graphs, and maps (Gewertz, 2012).
For many schools and districts, the Common Core standards' greater emphasis on text complexity, reading comprehension, and nonfiction likely represents a sea change. Porter, McMaken, Hwang, and Yang (2011) found low to moderate alignment—a range of 10 to 48 percent overlap—between states' existing language arts standards and the Common Core standards, with an average alignment of only 30 percent.
In light of this new emphasis, we should ask what the research says about the benefits of reading nonfiction. Is it really worth tearing kids away from The Hunger Games, the Harry Potter books, or Diary of a Wimpy Kid? After all, with multimedia consuming so much of students' time, shouldn't we be happy they're reading at all?
What Students Read Matters
For years, we've known that the amount of independent reading students do contributes to their reading skills. Students who read more tend to learn more vocabulary, become more proficient readers, find reading more enjoyable, and thus continue to read more and become ever better readers (Stanovich, 1986). Poor readers, on the other hand, tend to read less and lose ground. Over time, these differences create a widening gulf in learning. Students at the 90th percentile of reading volume (reading 21.1 minutes a day) encounter 1.8 million words a year, while students in the 10th percentile (reading less than one minute per day) read only 8,000 words a year (Cunningham & Stanovich, 2001).
Only in the past decade, however, have researchers begun to uncover that it's not just how much students read that matters, but also what they read. In particular, students need to read and comprehend informational texts as often—and as fluently—as they do narrative texts.
Traditional basal texts—which consist of largely narrative content—have come under increasing scrutiny. A comparison of an enrichment reading program and basal reading programs (Reis, Eckert, McCoach, Jacobs, & Coyne, 2008) found that the enrichment reading group scored significantly higher in oral reading fluency than did the basal reading group. Students in the enrichment reading group received instruction on thinking skills during teacher read-alouds; independently read self-selected books; participated in individualized reading conferences; and engaged in a variety of enrichment activities of their choice, including book discussion groups, creative writing, and other interest-based projects. The researchers concluded that providing "structured silent reading of self-selected challenging books, accompanied by supported, individualized reading instruction … may be a promising way to increase reading fluency" (p. 312).
In the Common Core State Standards, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers (2010) cite a compelling research base supporting the shift to more complex, nonfiction texts. They note, for example, that students who are able to answer questions related to complex text have a high probability of earning a C or better in an introductory-level college course in U.S. history or psychology.
One reason reading nonfiction may be so important is that it helps students develop their background knowledge, which itself accounts for as much as 33 percent of the variance in student achievement (Marzano, 2000). Background knowledge becomes more crucial in the later elementary grades, as students begin to read more content-specific textbooks (Young, Moss, & Cornwell, 2007) that often include headings, graphs, charts, and other text elements not often found in the narrative fiction they encountered in the lower grades (Sanacore & Palumbo, 2009).
How Teaching Needs to Change
In response to the new standards, many teachers may need to shift how they approach both reading and writing. For example,
Book reports will ask students to analyze, not summarize. Presentations will be graded partly on how persuasively students express their ideas. History papers will require reading from multiple sources; the goal is to get students to see how beliefs and biases can influence the way different people describe the same events. (Santos, 2011)
One English teacher who taught a unit on the influence of media on teenagers said that she had previously had her students cite just one source for their papers; this year, she had them read multiple sources, including surveys, newspaper columns, and a 4,200-word magazine article by Nicholas Carr titled "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" (Santos, 2011).
Teachers may find that this shift pays off in terms of student enthusiasm. Researchers have noted one other benefit of nonfiction reading: the potential to motivate young children to read by tapping into their interests (Caswell & Duke, 1998). This may, in fact, be the most important insight to be gleaned from research. Although students may continue to find fiction appealing, nonfiction doesn't have to be boring. On the contrary, allowing students to explore and pursue their interests within a broad array of informational texts can help them to see that the real world can often be just as surprising and intriguing as make-believe.
References
Caswell, L. J., & Duke, N. K. (1998). Non-narrative as a catalyst for literacy development. Language Arts, 75, 108–117.
Coleman, D., & Pimental, S. (2012). Revised publishers' criteria for the Common Core State Standards in English language arts and literacy, grades 3–12. Washington, DC: Council of Chief State School Officers. Retrieved from http://groups.ascd.org/resource/documents/122463-PublishersCriteriaforLiteracyforGrades3-12.pdf
Cunningham, A. E., & Stanovich, K. E. (2001). What reading does for the mind. Journal of Direct Instruction, 1(2), 137–149.
Duke, N. K. (2000). 3.6 minutes per day: The scarcity of informational texts in first grade. Reading Research Quarterly, 35(2), 202–224.
Gewertz, C. (2012). Districts gird for added use of nonfiction. Education Week, 31(12), pp. 1, 14.
Marzano, R. J. (2000). A new era of school reform: Going where the research takes us. Aurora, CO: McREL.
Milliot, J. (2012, July 20). Industry sales pegged at $27.2 billion. Publishers Weekly. Retrieved from www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/financial-reporting/article/53112-industry-sales-pegged-at-27-2-billion.html
National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers. (2010). Common Core State Standards for English language arts and literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects, appendix A. Washington, DC: Authors. Retrieved from www.corestandards.org/assets/Appendix_A.pdf
Porter, A., McMaken, J., Hwang, J., & Yang, R. (2011). Common Core standards: The new U.S. intended curriculum. Educational Researcher, 40, 103–116.
Reis, S. M., Eckert, R. D., McCoach, D. B., Jacobs, J. K., & Coyne, M. (2008). Using enrichment reading practices to increase reading, fluency, comprehension, and attitudes. Journal of Educational Research, 101, 299–315.
Rideout, V. J., Foehr, U. G., & Roberts, D. F. (2010). Generation M2: Media in the lives of 8- to 18-year-olds. Menlo Park, CA: Kaiser Family Foundation. Retrieved from www.kff.org/entmedia/mh012010pkg.cfm
Sanacore, J., & Palumbo, A. (2009). Understanding the fourth-grade slump: Our point of view. The Educational Forum, 73, 67–74.
Santos, F. (2011, April 24). A trial run for school standards that encourages deeper thought. New York Times. Retrieved from www.nytimes.com/2011/04/25/nyregion/100-new-york-schools-try-common-core-approach.html
Stanovich, K. E. (1986). Matthew effects in reading: Some consequences of individual differences in the acquisition of literacy. Reading Research Quarterly, 21(4), 360–406.
Young, T. A., Moss, B., & Cornwell, L. (2007). The classroom library: A place for nonfiction, nonfiction in its place. Reading Horizons, 48(1), 1–18.
Bryan Goodwin is chief operating officer at McREL, Denver, Colorado. He is the author of Simply Better: Doing What Matters Most to Change the Odds for Student Success (ASCD, 2011). Kirsten Miller is a lead consultant at McREL.
Why Should Students Read Literature?
By: Jill Jenkins , A retired teacher who likes to share her insight.
POSTED 09/22/2014 8:42AM |
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. “ Albert Einstein
In education today, focus is teaching students to acquire a list of skills so they can successfully complete an end of the year test. Is that really all it takes be an educated person? In today’s Language Arts classes instead of reading entire pieces of literature, the students read excerpts from novels, excerpts from speeches, excerpts from articles and answer specific questions that require the child to review the piece and select specific information. It is called closed reading. I call it closing minds. The truth is you can teach that list of reading and writing skills and still use entire pieces of literature. Not only will student have a sense of accomplishment, but teachers will be giving your students the skills they need and so much more.
Remember back to your youth, the lessons that you learned from great pieces of literature were more encompassing and life important than an end of the year test. I still remember reading James Hurst’s, “The Scarlet Ibis,” a beautiful short story about a brother’s guilt over his younger brother’s, Doodle’s, death. Although the story is packed with vivid descriptions and imagery, its message is one that a child can carry with him for life. First, the story helps the reader develop empathy for the struggles of the disabled brother. Second, the major theme is whether pride is a positive force or a negative force:
”I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death. “
This lends itself to discussions about whether pride is a good quality to have or a bad one. The teacher can have the student select specific examples of how the narrator’s pride in Doodle helped Doodle and how it eventually led to his death. This is a subject that they can relate to since many parents push their children out of pride. The students should be able to personalize the story and develop a greater understanding of their own life. Third, the conclusion of the story of the narrator collapsing across Doodle to protect his “fallen scarlet Ibis from the heresy of the rain,” always makes the class cry. I remember crying when I read it as a junior high student and every year I have taught it (almost 40 years) I have the same emotional response. Literature allows us to feel. Feeling and showing that emotion helps student become more emotionally mature. There is research that people who are emotionally mature are more likely to succeed in life. Literature emotionally engages students like no “closed reading” assignment can. With a little effort there are so many of the reading, writing and speaking skills that can be taught with this story.
Reading entire pieces of literature can help students deal with problems in their personal life. A quality education should prepare people for more than a career. To be perfectly honest, most of the careers that exist today didn’t exist when I was in middle school. This means we are preparing students in our class today for a world that we cannot even imagine. We do know that they students will live in a world with other people and we know that there are some fundamental lessons on how to deal with betrayal that they might learn from reading The Once and Future King by T. H. White. The book explores what it means to act civilized even when one is betrayed by the people loved most. I know this book was my anchor during my divorce. I drew strength from the words of Langston Hughes, “I, Too, Sing America.” Literature can help us overcome our darkest days.
Students learn ethics from literature. For example, To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee teaches students that one must always do the right thing even if it costs your family dearly. Atticus Finch, a Southern Lawyer, who represents a poor black man accused of raping a poor white woman suffers ridicule and harassment, but with dignity he carries on honorably. He is not only a great role model for his children, Jem and Scout, but for the reader as well. The Help by Kathryn Stockett is a more contemporary novel that discusses discrimination in our society and the main character overcome the problems with honor and dignity. Teaching students how our society has changed because of the noble, honorable actions of its citizens is an important lesson. I love to share with my students that Charles Dickens changed the laws on child labor with his book, Oliver Twist. Writing is powerful tool and so is literature.
Giving students a sense of history is another important role of teaching literature. Books like Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier can teach students how the Civil War affected real people. History classes can seem like a dusty text-book full of unfamiliar places and dates to a middle school student. Novels can help students understand that the events were real and they had both positive and negative effects on the people who lived through them. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque is another book to teach about World War I or The Red Badge of Courage by Stephan Crane is another depiction of the Civil War. Poems like Wilfred Owen’s poem, “Dulce et Decorum Est” creates a vivid image of a soldier’s death from mustard gas during World War I. Students might be horrified, but war is never pretty and it can help them understand the sacrifice soldiers have made throughout our history.
Literature can give students insight into other cultures and other human suffering. For example if you want students to understand some of the current struggles in Afganistan, Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Kite Runner can help students understand its political, culture and historical and social problems. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver can help student understand how the geography, politics and culture affects lives in the Congo. Literature can open new worlds and people to students that textbook excerpts cannot.
Teaching literature can give students not only a connection to that past, but show students that we are not all that different. Which teenager students has not fallen desperately in love, which teenage student has not disregarded their parents’ wants and advice to behave dangerously, which teenager doesn’t’ have a friend who is always joking and one who is always fighting? They all need to read William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. How can we call students culturally literate without a little Shakespeare in their lives? Since the new Common Core requires that ninth and tenth grade students understand the literary device “allusion”, teaching a broad-base of different literary genres and examples seems important. Without a being culturally literate that literary device is rather useless. Students would have no base of literary knowledge.
Literature weaves a rich tapestry in our lives. It sparks our imagination by showing us people and places both familiar to us and unfamiliar. It teaches us that all of human kind is connected in our hopes, our joys, our sorrows, our needs and our troubles. It teaches us where we have been and where we might be going. It teaches us what it means to be human and values that we should uphold. Literature allows us to feel, and to have empathy for others and maybe even for ourselves. Literature gives us the lessons to hold us together during difficult trials in our lives and tools to handle those problems. An education should be more than a list of reading skills; an education should teach us how to behave as human being in a complex society
