What Your Kids Are Reading

[longknife]

Kinda sad, isn't it? Read @ How High School Reading Lists Have Changed | The Passive Voice | Writers, Writing, Self-Publishing, Disruptive Innovation and the Universe

 

[jasonnfree]

And? That Julius Caesar is more important than To kill a mockingbird or what? What's the complaint? Maybe the students in '07 would've read "To kill a mockingbird" if it had been written at that time.

 

[squeeze berry]

I don't see a problem with this

I read Julius Caesar too

i.e. Caesar's Commentaries in the 5th grade

Obsessed with JC

Iliad about the same time



just read baby

 

[psikeyhackr]

Computers everywhere, talk of mining asteroids and not a single science fiction book mentioned.

psik

 

[AmyNation]

What's sad?

 

[jasonnfree]

What's sad?

A lot of what's considered important to read is opinion. Students today probably don't read as much because of all the smart phones, electronic gadgets and games available.

 

[numan]

'

In a nation of illiterate, uneducated know-nothings like the USA, you should be grateful that there are any children left who are capable of reading anything!!

.

 

[AmyNation]

What's sad?

A lot of what's considered important to read is opinion. Students today probably don't read as much because of all the smart phones, electronic gadgets and games available.

I'm not sure what your 1st sentence means and as to your second, that is not represented in the graph. The only thing the graph shows is that the most common books schools require kids to read, has changed. Something I don't find particularly "sad".

 

[whitehall]

Kids just don't read. They look at electronic gizmos. My grandsons are smart kids but they would never read a novel on their own.

 

[Agit8r]

I love when people compare early 20th century curriculum for an exclusive few with today's system for all.
Secondary education in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Despite this obvious discrepancy in comparison, it is worth noting that the report also says:

"Finally, it is worth noting that just because the books students are being assigned to read are less complex than in prior years, this does not necessarily mean that they cannot read or comprehend books at higher levels, nor can we assume that assigning more complex texts would necessarily lead to improvements in achievement. Related, a book’s difficulty level is not an indication of quality. Our point in presenting this overview is not to imply that the books students are assigned today are less valuable than those assigned decades ago."

What Kids Are Reading

 

[longknife]

While many may disagree, I think the most influential individual of the 20th and 21st Century when it comes to getting kids to read is J.K. Rowling!!!

How many millions of kids in the English-speaking world turned to the Harry Potter books?

And then turned to others?

 

[Grandma]

Kids just don't read. They look at electronic gizmos. My grandsons are smart kids but they would never read a novel on their own.

Shut off the power and hide the lithium batteries, and have a stack of good reading material handy for the next time your power goes out in a storm. Or pick out a couple of good books and take the grandkids with you on your next doctor or dentist appointment.

 

[psikeyhackr]

While many may disagree, I think the most influential individual of the 20th and 21st Century when it comes to getting kids to read is J.K. Rowling!!!

That is really strange.

Andre Norton is better than J. K. Rowling

Star Born, by Andre Norton
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Star Born, by Andre Norton.
http://librivox.org/star-born-by-andre-norton/

The Defiant Agents, by Andre Alice Norton
The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Defiant Agents, by Andre Norton.
http://librivox.org/the-defiant-agents-by-andre-norton-2/

And Harry Harrison is better than Andre Norton

Deathworld I (1960) by Harry Harrison
Netfirms | This account has been suspended
LibriVox » Deathworld by Harry Harrison

Deathworld II (The Ethical Engineer) (1964) by Harry Harrison
Netfirms | This account has been suspended
LibriVox » The Ethical Engineer by Harry Harrison

psik

 

[psikeyhackr]

How appropriate

Deathworld I (1960) by Harry Harrison
Deathworld by Harry Harrison - Free eBook
LibriVox » Deathworld by Harry Harrison

Deathworld II (The Ethical Engineer) (1964) by Harry Harrison
The Ethical Engineer by Harry Harrison - Free eBook
LibriVox » The Ethical Engineer by Harry Harrison

 

[Luddly Neddite]

I don't see a problem with this

I read Julius Caesar too

i.e. Caesar's Commentaries in the 5th grade

Obsessed with JC

Iliad about the same time



just read baby

Agreed.

I recently read that just having books in one's home while kids are growing up, will encourage kids to read.

Whether or not that's true, we cannot let print books die out.

 

[whitehall]

Kids just don't read. They look at electronic gizmos. My grandsons are smart kids but they would never read a novel on their own.

Shut off the power and hide the lithium batteries, and have a stack of good reading material handy for the next time your power goes out in a storm. Or pick out a couple of good books and take the grandkids with you on your next doctor or dentist appointment.

Yeah right, try all the cliches. Let me put it this way, you can force a kid to read but you can't make him enjoy it. It's a generation thing and I'm afraid it's terminal.

 

[AmyNation]

Just because a child doesn't like to read doesn't mean that they won't learn to enjoy it as they get older. My best friend is an avid reader now, but hated it as a child. I didn't start to enjoy reading until the 7th grade.

This is starting to sound like the classic "back in my day.. Blah blah blah" line.

 

[psikeyhackr]

Just because a child doesn't like to read doesn't mean that they won't learn to enjoy it as they get older. My best friend is an avid reader now, but hated it as a child. I didn't start to enjoy reading until the 7th grade.

But is the issue finding the right type of works that you like reading?

I don't understand people who say they have to finish a book once they start or that a book doesn't get good until page 200. If a book can't "grab" me in 20 to 50 pages I quit. I don not have to finish a book.

But I talk too people who say they like to read SCIENCE fiction but then can't tell when the science is incorrect or really stupid in a book. I would think if kids read SF with good science at an early age they would absorb some of the science by osmosis. Some people thought so in the 50s.

Science fiction as a factor in science education - Gross - 2006 - Science Education - Wiley Online Library

I got hooked on SF in 4th grade. I never had any problem reading before then but I had just never encountered anything interesting enough. 4 years of English Lit in high school was just an easy bore.

psik