Sunday, February 3, 2013
Students of New York State should have the option to read whatever they want to. It would benefit them more, and make their reading experience more enjoyable. There shouldn't be a requirement on what students have to read. Forcing a genre down a child's throat doesn't help them. In fact, it could harm them. There are a couple reasons for this. First of all, students won't learn as much from something they don't want to read. They may not even care enough to pay attention to the content of the book. Plus, different students learn different ways, and develop differently. It's a teachers job to recognize that, and to educate them based on their specific needs. The ability to read different genres allows a lot of room for kids to learn according to their needs. It's also makes it a lot harder for teachers to do their jobs when they are forced to teach certain curriculum that may not benefit their students. Also, forcing a child to read a genre they don't want to may make reading appear to be a waste of time. Reading a book that doesn't suit a child could discourage them from reading, and may make it seem boring. Reading isn't the most popular entertainment option for students to begin with, so its important to make their reading experiences enjoyable so that they are encouraged to read more independently. It would be a shame to see kids shy away from reading all because they had the wrong book in their hands. So let the kids, parents, and teachers pick what a child should read. That's the opposite of what New York State is doing. They are taking the choice, and sometimes the enjoyment out of reading for students. Plus, they are making it harder for teachers to do their jobs. New York State should consider this, and revise their regulations. That way students learn more while maintaining a positive outlook on reading.
There is a new common core standard and it requires 9th grade students to read 70% nonfiction and 30% fiction material. This standard has many problems with it. If students are required to read what it put in front of them, nonfiction, then they may begin to dislike reading. This results from the dry and boring nature of nonfiction, in that it is not nearly as broad as fiction because it must be true. On the contrary, fiction can contain whatever the author pleases which can allow for a much more interesting and pleasant read. However, nonfiction is still an important part of literature. So, I think that in the lower grades, like 9th grade, students and teachers should have most of the control over what is read in the classroom. Then, as students progress in their high school career, there could be more nonfiction requirements for students. This would work because most students in the 9th grade know what type of fiction books they like but have not yet begun to find pleasure in nonfiction. Whereas many older students would be open to exposure to nonfiction and if they are open to it, then they would be more likely to see its benefits of it. Overall, the common core standards that are in place right now are detrimental to the students and should be revised.
New York State's rules regarding the amount of fiction and nonfiction that students are required to read hurts students. The regulation tries to implicate more nonfiction as students get older, and takes away not only their freedom of choice, but their interest in reading. The current regulation supporters claim that the lack of nonfiction doesn't allow students to learn how to gain information through literature. However, this is very untrue. Students still gain plenty of tactics and information through nonfiction, both by the reading itself, and the interpretations that students are required to do when they dissect a book. Doing this in the form of fiction helps them to enjoy reading though, which is crucial,especially for kids. Reading is not always the most popular pass-time for children and teenagers, so it's important that when kids read, they enjoy it, and want to do it more. The argument that students will learn more from nonfiction than fiction isn't necessarily true either. Just because the book has facts in it doesn't mean it benefits students more than fiction. Students can still learn a lot from fiction, more than just the "life lessons" that are usually put alongside fiction. Students can learn valuable information, and even learn about true topics such as history, culture, etc. Fiction just presents this information in a way that is more interesting to students, which catches and keeps their attention, benefiting them in the long run because they remember and enjoyed the read.