Sunday 3 July 2011

Promoting Reading Habits as part of CCE in English Language


Inculcating  good  reading  habits  in  children  has  always  been  a  concern  for  all
stakeholders  in  education.  Now  with  the  introduction  of  CCE  and  grading  in
secondary  education  there  has  been  a  paradigm  shift  from  getting  marks  at  an
end of the term summative examination to the process of learning and acquiring
better language skills.

With  everything    information,  entertainment,  videos  and  even  books  within
reach through the internet, it is indeed a challenge to convince students to pick
up books and engage with the author, story, character and ideas presented in the
reading passage or book. It is not enough to offer children what is considered a
good selection of reading text as merely presenting a good selection of reading
texts  will  not  ensure  that  the  child  will  read  a  passage  and  become  a  good
reader.  A  conscious  attempt  needs  to  be  made  to  help children to relate to the
text in a meaningful way. Reading any text should be done with the purpose of:-

1.  reading silently at varying speeds depending on the purpose of reading:
2.  adopting  different  strategies  for  different  types  of  texts,  both  literary  and
non-literary:
3.  recognising the organisation of a text:
4.  identifying the main points of a text;
5.  understanding  relations  between  different  parts  of  a  text  through  lexical
and grammatical cohesion devices.
6.  anticipating and predicting what will come next.
7.  deducing the meaning of unfamiliar lexical items in a given context:
8.  consulting  a  dictionary  to  obtain  information  on  the  meaning  and  use  of
lexical items:
9.  analysing, interpreting, inferring (and evaluating) the ideas in the text:
10. selecting  and  extracting  from  text  information  required  for  a  specific
purpose.
11. retrieving and synthesising information from a range of reference material
using study skills such as skimming and scanning:


12. interpreting  texts  by  relating  them  to  other  material  on  the  same  theme
(and to their own experience and knowledge): and
13. reading extensively on their own for pleasure.

A  good  reader  is  most  often  an  independent  learner  and  consequently  an
independent  thinker  capable  of  taking  his/her  own  decisions  in  life  rationally.
Such  a  learner  will  most  assuredly  also  be  capable  of  critical thinking. To bring
books  and  children  together  is  indeed  a  challenge,  especially  in  today’s
environment of overexposure to media.

The  purpose  of  inculcating  the  habit  of  reading  among  children  is  to  create
independent  thinking  individuals  with  the  ability  to  not  only  create  their  own
knowledge but also critically interpret, analyze and evaluate it with objectivity and
fairness. 

Creating learners for the 21st century involves making them independent learners
who can ‘learn, unlearn and relearn’ and if our children are in the habit of reading
they will learn to reinvent themselves and deal with the many challenges that lie
ahead of them.  

Reading is not merely decoding information or pronouncing words correctly, it is
interactive dialogue between the author and the reader in which the reader and
author share their experiences and knowledge with each other which helps them
to understand the text and impart meaning to the text other than what the author
himself  may  have  implied.    Good  readers  are  critical  readers  with  an  ability  to
arrive at a deeper understanding of not only the world presented in the book but
also  of  the  real  world  around  them.  They  not  only  recall  what  they  read  but
comprehend it too. Their critical reading and understanding of the text helps them
create new understanding, solve problems, infer and make connections to other
texts and experiences. Reading does not mean reading for leisure only but also
reading  for  information.  The  child  may  be  encouraged  to  read  on  topics  as
diverse  as  science  and  technology,  politics  and  history.  This  will  improve  his
critical thinking skills and also help in improving his concentration. 

The  library  in  the  school  should  be  kept  updated  and  a  reasonable  sum  of  the
annual  budget  should  be  made  use  of  in  buying  books,  CDs  and  reference
material  for  the  library.  The  library,  by  strengthening  its  resources  should  be
developed  as  not  merely  a  repository  of  books  and  information  but  a  centre  of
knowledge  creation.  Children  should  be  encouraged  to  visit  the  library  as  and
when  they  wish  to,  a  number  of  notices  can  be  put  up  encouraging  children  to
read books, informing them of the various types of books available in the library,
even vocabulary building games can be a part of the library collection. In short a
welcoming  and  inviting  atmosphere  in  the  library  will  be  the  first  step  towards
motivating the children to visit the library and pick up a book to read. Children will
be  encouraged  to  read  if  they  see  their  role  model  i.e.  teachers  and  principals

reading themselves hence before a book is introduced in a classroom it ought to
have been read by the teachers. 

It  is  often  seen  that  reading  book  projects  are  assigned  to  children  in  which
children  are  expected  to  read  a book and write a report on it. Though the spirit
behind  the  assigning  of  the  project  is  commendable,  the  project  does not often
interest  the  students  nor  does  it  fulfill  the  objective  which  is  to  inculcate  in
students the habit of reading. 

Reading  a  book  should  lead  to  creative  and  individual  response  to the author’s
ideas presented in the book in the form of a:-
·    short review
·    dramatization of the story
·    commentary on the characters
·    critical evaluation of the plot, story line and characters
·    comparing  and  contrasting  the  characters  within  the  story  and  with  other
characters in stories by the same author or by the other authors
·    extrapolating about the story’s ending or life of characters after  the story
ends
·    defending characters’ actions in the story.
·    making  an  audio  story  out  of  the  novel/text  to  be  read  out  to  younger
children.
·    Interacting with the author
·    Holding a literature fest where various characters interact with each other
·    Acting like authors/poets/dramatists, to defend their works and characters.
·    Symposiums and seminars for introducing a book, an author, or a theme
·    Finding similar text in other languages, native or otherwise and looking at
differences and similarities.
·    Creating graphic novels out of novels/short stories read
·    Dramatising incidents from a novel or a story
·    Creating their own stories

Reading Project in schools

1.  The  CBSE  is  planning  to  introduce  a  Reading  Project  for  upper
Primary and Secondary classes. The list of books recommended for
the Project is enclosed at Annexure I.


2.  Schools  may  choose  to  use  some  of  these  books  or  others  of  their
own choice.


3.  Schools  can  vary  the  level  but  at  least  one  book  per  term  is  to  be
read by every child.


Teachers may opt for:-
·    One book;
·    Books by one author; or
·    Books of one genre; to be read by the whole class.


The  Project  should  lead  to  independent  learning/  reading  skills,  hence  the
chosen  book/selection  should  not  be  taught  in  class,  but  may  be  introduced
through activities and be left for the students to read at their own pace. Teachers
may,  however,  choose  to  assess  a  child’s  progress  or  success  in  reading  the
book by asking for verbal or written progress reports, looking at the diary entries
of  students,  engaging  in  a  discussion  about  the  book,  giving  a  short  quiz  or  a
worksheet about the book/ short story. The mode of intermittent assessment may
be decided by the teacher as she/he sees fit.

These may be used for Formative Assessment (F1, F2, F3 and F4) only. Various
modes  of  assessment  such  as  conducting  Reviews,  Scripts,  Reading,
Discussions,  Open  Houses,  Exchanges,  Interact  with  the  Author  can  be
considered.

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