March
is Reading Awareness Month. It sounds
great, on the one hand, that a whole month is dedicated to turning people onto
reading. Yet, on the other hand, it
sounds, pathetic that we need to call special attention to what should
naturally be taking place everywhere, for everyone. However, our nation still
has unmet challenges when it comes to reading.
ReadAloud.org
shares some sobering statistics:
- Some children begin kindergarten having been read to as few as 25 hours while their peers may have been read to as many as 1,000 hours.
- If a child is not reading at grade level by the end of the first grade, then there is an 88% probability the child will not be reading at grade level by the end of the fourth grade.
The
site encourages every child and parent to read aloud for 15 minutes a day.
National
Education Association (NEA) celebrates Read Across America Day on March 2, the
birthday of the beloved children’s book author Dr. Seuss. The NEA says:
“Motivating children to read is an important factor in student
achievement and creating lifelong successful readers. Research has shown that children who are
motivated and spend more time reading do better in school.”
According
to a 2013 study conducted by the U.S. Dept. of Education and the National
Institute of Literacy, 32 million adults – or 14% of the adult American
population read below a 5th grade level and 19% of high school
graduates can’t read.
No
doubt there are many reasons why we have tens of millions of reading-deficient adults, so what can be done about it?
What can be done to prevent others from growing up illiterate?
For
those of us who are literate, we have the obligation to contribute to the teaching of
others. If you don’t have time to
dedicate to help others read, support them with donations, books,
encouragement, and other resources or rewards.
You can be the difference in someone’s life.
For
those who can read or are learning to read, it’s important we teach them about
the following:
1.
Comprehension
2.
Genre
variety
3.
Length
variance
4.
Speed
5.
The
art of skimming
6.
Retention
7.
Applying
what was read
8.
How
to choose what to read
9.
How
to question and double-source our readings
10.
Becoming
better writers by reading
RIF.org
(Reading Is Fundamental) states “There is a significant literary crisis in
America today.” It says 43% of American adults are functionally illiterate and
that “93 million adults in the U.S. read at or below the basic level needed to
contribute successfully in society.”
They also say: “There are currently 16 million children living in poverty in the United States, two-thirds who don’t have a book to call their own. Since 1966, RIF has distributed more than 412 million books to more than 40 million children across the country, improving their ability to read, learn and grow.”
They also say: “There are currently 16 million children living in poverty in the United States, two-thirds who don’t have a book to call their own. Since 1966, RIF has distributed more than 412 million books to more than 40 million children across the country, improving their ability to read, learn and grow.”
RIF notes: "Helping
someone develop a passion for reading is as important as providing them with
the mechanical tools to become independent functional readers."
New readers should want to read and enjoy the many rewards it can bring Let's all celebrte by sharing the gift of reading..
New readers should want to read and enjoy the many rewards it can bring Let's all celebrte by sharing the gift of reading..
“When a writer dies, he becomes his books”
--Jorge Luis Borges, Labyrinths (1962)
“You can’t tell a book by its movie.”
--Louis A. Safian, The Book of Updated Proverbs (1967)
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