[etni] Fwd: re: read this! American h.s. students...
- From: ETNI list <etni.list@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: Etni <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 25 Mar 2012 22:53:48 +0200
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Marlene <marlenegay@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: read this! American h.s. students...
Well, my niece's Facebook is full of articles she's downloaded or
links to video clips and her thoughtful responses to them and
discussions with friends. Well, she's an educated adult. I'm now
hooked on these discussions on LinkedIn between editors, writers and
professors. We had this philosophical discussion going on about what
is literature. Another about omitting the adverb in writing and using
stronger verbs. A little comment of mine about dropping the whom got a
slew of angry emails. Another about regional slang expressions. So
much fun and very addictive.
We have to get the students interested on topics they like. If they're
writing to each other on-line, sharing articles of interest - that's
reading. And the best articles are in English. The problem is most
schools don't have the technology to support this, even though reading
electronically is the wave of the future.
If we're teaching a play - it should be dramatized. If we're arguing
an issue in writing - have a debate. All this involves reading. Make
writing real by corresponding with other students abroad. You only
learn a language if you own it, produce it and not passively listen to
the teacher and copy in your notebook. Even weaker students can
produce sentences of their own, modeled on the text or assisted by the
teacher. They should learn sentences by heart. Have a poetry
recitation. There are some great dramatic poems out there with a lot
of food for thought.
Sorry, got a bit carried away, as I'm still brainstorming for my
presentation at etai this Wednesday...just 2 schooldays away...
Good night!
Marlene
Esther wrote:
> I agree with Bari. Kids are reading MUCH less. Last year I subbed for
> a class that was about to begin a textbook unit on different genres of
> books. We brainstormed. The first question was obviously, 'Who likes
> to read?' Out of about 30 girls, 4 raised their hands. Within 2
> seconds several realized what a bad impression this gave about them,
> so another 10 raised their hands. But we all know that those 4 were
> the class readers!!
>
> And, how many brain cells are in action when using Facebook?????
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