Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Group 3-Taliah Gipson-Popcorn Reading
I thought the discussion over popcorn reading was interesting. My cooperating teacher uses this method in her classroom. She does not point out students and tell them to read, but students raise their hand if they want to read aloud. The students are ususally very eager to read aloud. I can see how popcorn reading can be seen as a negative method, but in my practicum class, the students seem to love it. I guess I am kind of torn on what I think of popcorn reading. I have only seen the positive side of it so far. My teacher's students love it. She has two ELL students in her class and they both raise their hand quickly whenever the class is asked to read aloud. Could it be a matter of opinion and teacher's judgement ? Honestly, I am not sure if I would use popcorn reading in my class or not. Some of the students in my practicum class were struggling readers. The ones who were struggling to read are now reading quite well. Whatever my practicum teacher is doing, seems to be working. I am curious to know what you all have seen in your classrooms. I haven't been completely convinced that popcorn reading shouldn't be done but I do understand the negatives. What are your thoughts?
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9 comments:
I feel the exact same way when it comes to popcorn reading. I am completely torn between it being effective. I think that it really depends on the students and the level of reading they are working on. I interviewed a student and she really liked to read but when it came to read out loud she did not like to at all. On the other hand another student I spoke to really enjoyed to read out loud.
I have taught lessons in the classroom where I myself had the students read a paragraph then chose another student to read the next. I didnt even stop to think about how they might feel about reading out loud. I know as a child I hated to read out loud and to this day I still hate to read out loud. I get really nervous and I forget words sometimes and I always think that people are talking about me..paranoia.
When it comes to popcorn reading it is hard to get around it somethimes but I have been trying other methods of reading with the students because I just try to remember how I feel and I would never want my students to feel that way.
I think the best way, if one does do individual reading, is to ask for volunteers. That way kids who love to read can have their chance in the limelight, and those who are shy about it do not have to go through anxiety pangs.
Reader's Theater pieces also sometimes help for shy readers, because they practice within their group several times before presenting. They should work on building their confidence, but they definitely should not be made to feel on the spot and "exposed" in front of their peers.
I remember reading somewhere along the line that the two most common fears are death and public speaking; and not in that order. So do we as teachers help fuel the fire and put kids on the spot with popcorn reading, exposing their biggest fear. Or, do we use the popcorn reading as a way to alleviate those fears and help them become comfortable speaking in front of a large group?
It was my understanding that popcorn reading was completly random, you never know who is going to be called on next. This causes the nervous and anxoius feelings in the students. Asking for voulnteers is a great way to "realx" those feelings in your students. Popcorn reading doesn't make shy readers better readers! I found that telling students you expect them to follow along is just as effective as telling them they may be called on.
Being a teacher and doing popcorn reading in my class, I found at the beginning of the year, I only chose students who wanted to read. Eventually as our classroom community built closer and stronger bonds, most of my students could not wait to read out lod during our Trophies story. I think as long as you do other types of reading instruction and assessment popcorn reading is okay to do. Popcorn reading was even done in my high school. I think having students become more confident as public speakers it will help them in the future endeavors. Many professions and even college courses expect you to do public speaking and sometimes it is prepared and sometimes it is on the spot. Give students encouragement that is what we are all about.
I teach 4th grade and I do use popcorn reading. Here are my thoughts: 1. No single reading method is going to be best. You must use a variety of strageties to develop readers, and popcorn reading can be one of them. 2. Popcorn reading can promote oral reading fluency, which all students are tested on throughout the year and need to practice. 3. Popcorn reading makes the students pay attention because they never know when they will be called on, and let’s face it, we all need the class engaged if we are to have any success teaching reading comprehension.
I personally do not see many draw backs to popcorn reading, but was also told it was ‘bad’ in previos educational classes. However, I mix popcorn reading with other things like pulling name sticks to read (just because I child doesn’t want to read does not mean they should aviod reading although, and we all need to practice), small group reading, reading centers, and partner reading. I think that using only one method it far worse than varying it and if you only use popcorn reading I can see how it could be bad.
If you are nervous about your student’s feeling about reading, consider a few things… How old are they? Can you tell they are paying attention if they do not actually read? Do they get oral reading practice in another way? Are you preparing them for other grades where they will be expected to give oral presentations? Are you preparing them for life where they could be called on without warning? School is more than just reading, writing, and arithmetic- we also need to prepare students for the future and for life outside of the classroom. Just something to consider.
I think the more effective thing is to have them read silently. Then they are all reading; they are all comprehending the text better; they can read faster and more accurately; and some of their fear is alleviated. In most popcorn reading cases all the students are either ahead of the reader or behind the reader because they all read at different speeds. Why hold some back and push others at a pace that could be frustrational?
If you are actually teaching a lesson on public speaking or oral presentation, popcorn reading wouldn't be the way to go about that either. Hardly anyone "performs" a piece during the first reading. If that type of fluency is the goal, give them the opportunity to practice and then perform. Doing a good job reading out loud is something they should be able to do, but they shouldn't be required to do a cold reading and risk embarrassment. Even if they like doing it, I think reading silently and faster would be a better use of time because you could cover more material with better comprehension.
I know that it is a little late but better late than never. As a student I have experienced going around the room and having student read a paragraph or two. When I was younger I do remember not wanting to read. But as I got older I counted how many student and figure out what I was to read. I did this because I wanted a large paragraph. I think this is because I have done things in my younger life where I was center of attention. I like it. I still am this way but not as much. I don’t know if I am going to use popcorn reading. If this way is used then it keeps the student on their toes. They don’t know who is going to read next. This way they pay attention. For what I did was look at the last work of the paragraph. After the student was done reading I know exactly where to begin again. Some students might do this. Some people have trouble speaking in public. Starting reading a loud at an early age might help with this phobia.
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