Colloquium on English - Research Institute for Waldorf Education

continue. One teacher has students keep a 3x5 card in their books as a bookmark on which they write down
main characters, themes, or questions. Some teachers give short comprehension tests every day during a
reading block to make sure students are understanding what they read.
Another idea is to have the students ask questions while they are reading. To become an active
reader is a process, and part of the process toward teaching students how to read for themselves is leading
them to formulate questions and anticipate the next step in the plot. In reading, a good reader anticipates
what’s happening. Some teachers have students prepare questions for the next day’s discussion. Others ask
students to break into groups and focus on a paragraph from the previous night’s reading. The teacher
might ask them to find three factual statements about a character, for instance, and then ask interpretive
questions. They might be asked to make three observations about the setting, then to pose a question about
those observations. This can lead to a question that combines a fact about the character with a fact about
the setting. Often this becomes the basis for a discussion, but sometimes the resulting observations are
simply shared. Working in small groups help make all the students feel part of the larger discussion. Peer
Talk in the Classroom by Jeanne Paratore and Rachel McCormach has many ideas for getting students to
speak.
To encourage pleasure reading, we might ask who likes to read at home, and give an opportunity to
share with others what they are enjoying reading, without any judgment on the part of the teacher about
the quality of what they choose. Better Than Life: The Secrets of Reading, by Quebec author Daniel Pennac,
a high school teacher with many years experience, proposes the thesis that teachers and parents cause so
much anxiety about reading that students don’t want to read. He asks us to truly embrace his “Reader’s Bill
of Rights” for our students as well as for ourselves: the right not to read, the right to skip pages, the right to
not finish a book, the right to re-read, the right to read anything, the right to escapism, the right to read
anywhere, the right to browse, the right to read out loud, and the right to not defend your tastes. His book
is a highly readable account of how he arrived at a new way of teaching after years of frustration. Now, he
brings stacks of his favorite books into class, reads aloud even entire chapters, and passes specific books to
individual students.
Many of us remember Hooked on Books first introduced by Daniel Fader in 1966. Fader died in
June of this year; however, his ideas are still current. The New Hooked on Books (1976) is full of ideas to
promote reading in the classroom.
Do we split classes for reading, and, if so, on what basis? Some school do, some don’t, some by
ability, others not. Still others split classes on ability only in Grade 12. Many schools have tutors available
for particularly challenged students. Most of us use books on tape for students not yet reading to grade
level.
What do we ask students to get from the reading at each grade level? Over the years, Green Meadow
school has found that most students enjoy reading and get the mood but standardized tests show that
detailed reading comprehension is not as good as it could be. Students have a holistic picture of the piece,
but detailed comprehension suffers. As teachers, we can help students focus by asking for details. The Great
Books Foundation is based on shared enquiry. One suggestion from that program is to pick an important
paragraph and have groups come up with the three main points in the paragraph. All group responses are
written on the board, and the entire class discusses the choices. Older students can choose the paragraph
that will be discussed. Teachers need to know when to stop talking. We often do too much work, and don’t
make the students work hard enough.
In grade 9, they need to be led to specifics of detail. It helps if we recognize the text as phenomenon
and observe it as carefully as we would observe in a science class. One participant proposed that in Grade 9
“conflict is to short story as thesis is to essay.” Students can learn how to underline and notate, and how to
recognize patterns in the writing (and then use them in their own writing). Teachers need to demand
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