[etni] Fw: re: English Literature and Extended Reading programs
- From: "Ask Etni" <ask@xxxxxxxx>
- To: <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2003 23:48:33 +0200
**** ETNI on the web http://www.etni.org.il http://www.etni.org ****
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steiner Family" <steiner1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ask@xxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, October 13, 2003 4:25 PM
Subject: Re: [etni] Fw: English Literature and Extended Reading programs
Dear Arye,
Thank you for your letter and your insights which display sincere concern.
The four-point level exam demands a relatively high level of English
proficiency and, as you know, is required for entrance into the
universities.
You asked if "the 4 point program be lightened appreciably in view of the
students most often found at the 4 point level, i.e. 'mabar' and 'mabat
classes. They should not have to do more than 3 book reports in addition to
the 2 'projects'."
In response to your query, the answer is no. First of all, the idea behind
having pupils read books is to improve their English. The present
requirement of reading four books is minimal and cannot be lowered.
Your assumption that most of the 4 pt. pupils are mabar or mabat pupils is
not correct. Whatever the four-point population is, there are standards
that must be reached.
Once again, thank you for input.
All the best,
Judy
Aryeh wrote:
> I have been an English teacher for 10 years, the last 6 in high school
where
> I have been preparing for the Bagrut at all levels though mainly 4 and 5
> points. I have always been very conscientious about making sure that my
> students not only learn English but also, hopefully, broaden their
horizens
> by trying to make the most of the extended reading and literature
programs.
> It is not always easy, most of them never read anything beyond the gossip
or
> sport pages of the newspaper.And yet I have perservered and made my
> expectations clear.
> Each year, in each class and with each student I encourage, entreat, beg,
> threaten and cajole in order to get them to read their books and hand in
> their book reports, if not on time, well better late than never and if it
is
> at the last moment, that too is good.
> And on the whole I have succeeded.I take their efforts in these fields
very
> seriously and very much into consideration when prior to the "bagrut" I
pour
> and ponder over the "tziun shnati" and all through high school I stress
this
> to the students; 3, 4 or 5 points so that they know that the grade, at the
> end of the day, depends on them and their hard work. Mostly they do what
is
> expected of them. I allow my students as much leeway as possible and over
> the years have been very satisfied with the results.
> However, for some time I have been bothered by the amount of work demanded
> of the 4 pointers which is only minutely less than that of their more
> successful peers, the 5 pointers. Yet they are 4 pointers because they are
> not able, for many and varied reasons, to do what the 5 pointers can. And
of
> course many of the 4 pointers are in "mabar" or "mabat" classes where
often
> just to get them to turn up is a battle.
> Somewhere along the line we must make allowances for their disabilities,
to
> lighten the burden by removing material which is usually done in class
under
> the guidance of the teacher is not that big a 'discount'.
> And now, at last, I reach the main point of this letter, the N.B.A. I have
> done the course with Avi and Gail (and as an aside let me say that it was
> probably the best presented 'hishtalmut' I have had since I started
> teaching) and while I am happy to try almost anything new which may help
the
> kids, I must at this stage reserve my judgement on its effectiveness until
> such time as we begin to see the results.
> The N.B.A. brings with it one really big problem as I see it, the 2
> projects, and although 1 book report has been removed from the students'
> work load, I feel that we are overburdening them with work and they will
not
> be able to fulfill the requirements in the manner we hope nor will we
> achieve the desired benefits. This, in the long run will cause more
problems
> than solutions.
> As I have said before, I believe that the workload is a heavy burden on th
e
> kids. We ask them to read 5 books and report on them knowing that most of
> them have never read 5 books in Hebrew and will probably never do so. Now
we
> are asking them to do yet more reading and writing . This I believe, is a
> mistake.
> I wish to reiterate that I have always expected and demanded of my
students
> to complete all the assignments knowing that in many schools around the
> country this is sometimes glossed over or even ignored completely. I
> sincerely believe that these assignments are important not only to their
> English studies but to their intellectual and social develpment as well.
> To sum up I would like to ask you to consider 2 points:
> 1. that the 4 point program be lightened appreciably in view of the
students
> most often found at the 4 point level, i.e. 'mabar'
> and 'mabat classes. They should not have to do more than 3 book reports in
> addition to the 2 'projects'.
> 2. That 1 more book report should be removed from the 5 point program
> leaving them with 4.
> I am sorry to have waffled on and am looking foward to your reaction to my
> missive
##### To send a message to the ETNI list email: etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx #####
##### Send queries and questions to: ask@xxxxxxxx #####
Other related posts:
