Saturday, July 22, 2006

Reading Harvey Daniels

I experimented with Literature Circles at the end of last year and while they went pretty well, I was interested in learning more effective ways of handling things. So I'm reading Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in Book Clubs & Reading Groups, by Harvey Daniels. It's a great book, and it has sparked many ideas for how I'm going to do this next year. I'm only in the 5th chapter, so I may have more to post about it when I'm further on.

Here's a quote from the first chapter: "For the schools with the lowest test scores, the test results ensure that the kids will never get what they need, which is books, experiences, conversations, ideas, interaction, and learning."

Thankfully we aren't driven by test scores in the same way as US schools, but I was struck by the list of things kids need. "Books, experiences, conversations, ideas, interaction, and learning." That's what I need to grow as a person and a reader and a thinker, and of course those are the things my kids need too.

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