True confessions, here...I sometimes fake read. It's true. When I am at the nail salon, having a pedicure and reading a magazine, I'm sometimes fake reading. When I'm at the airport, waiting for my flight and flipping through pages of SkyMall, I'm fake reading. I know I'm fake reading because I when I put down the magazine or book that I'm thumbing through, I cannot remember anything about it. My reading didn't matter. My "reading" was really just scanning words on a page.
But when I'm reading a book, especially a chapter book with great characters and interesting plot lines, I'm reading for real! My mentor, Lucy Calkins, likes to call this "Reading Alive!" Alive Reading is when you visualize what you read, you back-up and reread because something didn't make sense, you think about the characters. When I Read Alive, I feel like the characters are my friends, like the places in the book are places a can visit in my mind. Reading Alive brings me in and makes me part of the book. I know I my reading is real because I CAN remember it. Real reading stays with me even when I've put the book away.
My homeroom had a great debate the other day about when we are reading, and when we are thinking reading. Many of you argued that unless there was a lesson or assignment, a task along with the reading, that the reading didn't require thinking. Others of you argued that readers are always thinking, regardless of time, day, place. It's a Reading Alive vs. Fake Reading!
What do you think? Are you only Reading Alive when the teacher gives you a task to do or a lesson to think about? Or are you Reading Alive all the time? Explain what Alive Reading feels like to you. How is reading at home different from independent reading time at school? Do you feel less Alive at certain times?
Answer the questions in bold. You must edit your writing before submitting.
21 comments:
THIS IS MY ROUGH EXAMPLE TO SHOW YOU WHAT IS EXPECTED. DO NOT SIMPLY COPY MY EXAMPLE! USE YOUR OWN THINKING. BUT YOUR WORK SHOULD BE THE SAME QUALITY.
Mrs. Jenkins,
I completely relate to the feeling of fake reading. At times, I notice that I fake read when I...
When I am reading a book, I know that I am Reading Alive because...
Alive reading to me feels like...
Reading at home and school are very similar. I enjoy reading both places. I do notice that when I read at home I... and when I read at school...
Mrs. Jenkins,
I sometimes fake read when I am at a place like an OHS volleyball game. I think that is because there it's kind of distracting, and that can happen in different surroundings.
I read ALIVE, when it is a place where I can get into the zone easier than at a volleyball game.I feel more alive when I'm actually around other alive readers.
Also Alive reading feels like when I'm making connections in a just right book. Several thoughts go around in my head, and I feel like I am connected to every main character, as if I knew them personally.
When I read at home, I like to have a silent book nook. At school, I like to have a quiet book nook. The reason I like it silent, is because there is no other reader there, but at school, I'm less picky. It's very important for me to have Alive Reading space.
I sometimes fake read when I'm distracted or uncomfortable or I just don't like the book. When I'm in the reading zone I can't fake read because I'm inside and engaged in my book. We were arguing that you aren't thinking when you read in math because your focused on math. So when your in math independent reading is free reading, but your always thinking when you read.
Yours Truly,
Jude Maloy
Mrs. Jenkins,
I fake read when everybody in my house is screaming. Most of it is from my little brothers.
I read alive when everybody is quiet and my room door is shut, and it is eaiser getting in the zone. And I am reading a just right book. I also have to be in comfortable.
When I read at home it can be quiet and loud, and at school everything is quiet.
Mrs. Jenkins,
I fake read when I am sitting in front of the tv. I fake read when I am distracted by anything. I read alive when I am in a quiet room when nobody is talking. That way I can still think about the mini lesson we did that day. I never always read alive!!
Alive reading feels like I can think about any mini lesson we've had. I can also visualise what's happening in the book. I feel like I'm there.
Reading at home is different from school reading because at home I have to go read outside because it's noisy insde but it's also very comfy and quiet. At school I have to find a different book nook, but it doesn't bother me that much.At school sometimes I can;t read because people are moving around.
I feel less alive at some times. Like for an example, I feel less alive in the car. Or at my sister's sofball game because I just want to watch instead of read.
Mrs.Jenkins,
I totally can tell you what it is like to fake read or read without thinking. It seems like time goes by so muck more quickly and when I put my book up I can't remember a thing about it. If I had to write an eassy about it, i doubt I could even write a sentence about my book! I would just have to put a ?!
My book, Wednesday Wars is a little like Diary Of a Wimpy Kid exceped it is Holling Hoodhood's 7 th grade school year and insted of the auther putting specific dates, pretty much the chapters are each month of his school year. I am in March so it is Holling Hoodhood's third month of school.
When I read alive, my brain is really working and I am really looking for any connections I can really make. At home, if I find a really cool connection, I get my note book and find that lesson and write it down.
When I read at school in Mrs. Ritter's room alot of the time even if my brain is not thinking vary hard if I see a connection my brain will tell my eyes,"Look there and oh!Look there too!
I like reading just for fun somtimes like at the airport but I think it is also fun to really look hard for anything you have tought us and really streching my mind and brain to really think about it.
Mrs. Jenkins,
I fake read when the tv is in front of me. I do if anything is distracting me. I fake read when I can't visualize what the book is about. I read alive when I have silence. When I read alive I visualize and I can feel that I am there. I don't read alive all the time because I get distracted.
Reading alive feels like I am sucked in to the book and that I am there. Reading at home feels different from school because at school I have to find a different book nook every time I read, and at home I read outside on the porch and I can be silent.
I feel less alive when I am at my sister's softball game and it makes me want to watch that more than read.
I sometimes fake read when I am on the airplane. Because I can not concentrate on the plane because I am so distracted. I always look around and I look the window most of the time. I do not usually fake read though because I do not really like to fake read. I like to get in the zone and visualize.
I read alive when I am reading a just right book. Because I can get in the zone better. And getting in the zone helps probably everyone concentrate and visualize what they read. Like today I felt like I was reading alive. because the whole time I was visualizing the book in my head.
I think I read alive every time I read. I read alive when the teacher tells me to and when it is a lesson. I also read alive when I am in math and science. I think I read alive wherever I am. I really like to read so I like to read alive.
Alive reading feels like I am in the book. It always feels like it is a just right book and I am in the zone. It also feels like I am always making predictions and connections. Reading alive feels good to me . I do feel less alive reading at times. I feel less alive when there are a little bit of distractions. but when I do feel less alive I am leaning more on the reading alive side more. I do not really feel a difference when I am at reading and when I am at home reading. I think I can read alive a little better when I have other readers around me. But most of the time I read alive.
I sometimes fake read in the morning while I am waiting for my carpool to pick me up. I am in a hurry to read because I only have a short time. Instead of really concentrating on the storyline, I scan the words and use the pictures to get a rough idea of what the story is about. Usually I end up with the wrong idea.
But when I am really alive and deep into my book, I have a good picture in my mind of the scenery, characters, and characters' voices. Sometimes, if I have a really good book that I don't want to put down, I have a hard time stopping reading when you end Independent (not free) Reading Time! I can tell that I am reading alive because I really understand what I read and am excited about it. I can make connections between things that happen to the characters and things that have happened to me.
For me, reading at home and at school are not to different. At home it is a quieter environment. It is a little bit easier to focus on my book, not having background noises everywhere. When I read at school, I will sometimes look up when I hear people talking, thinking they're in our classroom, but at home I don't have to check because the only voices I hear are my family's.
Mrs. Jenkins,
I sometimes fake read when I don't feel like reading, but when I really want to read I get into the zone and read alive. Even when it's loud like the construction outside my house I can still get in the zone because i'm reading a just right book. When i'm not reading a just right book I get out of the zone.
Mrs Jenkins,
I think i fake read when there is a lot of noise or some TV show that you really like is on or you are wathching something intertainting where you are really watching the TV more than reading your book.Also when you are reading you are reading fast because you want to be able to watch the show or whatever it is that is distracting.Then at the end of 20 minuets you didn't even remember any word you just said and that is when i know i am fake reading.
I know when i am reading-ALIVE when my eyes are glued to the book and everything else that is going on i am totaly not focusing on. When i read whith expresion and feel the emosion the character is feeling. Also when you re-read, read with expresion, and notice the punctuation.
I don't need to be told to read-Alive. i take the knowledge i have gotten from the mini-lessons and take it where ever i read and make sure i am reading-alive. So i think i read-alive when i am in my own book that i am focusing on.
It is different when you are reading something just for the fun of it like for instence... a magizine on the air-plane, a bedtime story to a little sibling or just waiting at the doctors office reading a book while you are just sitting there.
Even at home i read alive. i pay attention to where i sit down to read so i don't get distraced like on my bed or reading chair.At school i think it is the same as home because it is a quite area where all you are focused on is your book.
I am always thinking about what i read and i do it anywhere i go. I vote for READING-ALIVE!!!!!!!!
SINCERILY,
YOUR STUDENT
Winslow Huth
I think that I read alive all the time, no matter what. Reading alive to me feels like your totally you are in the zone. It also feels like you are the main character and you are doing all the action. For instince I was reading The Red Pyramid and Sadie said, "I was changed into a bird and I started to fly." I felt like I was the bird and I was the one flying, instead of Sadie. I think it is only different part about reading at home is one: because you are at home not in Mrs. Jenkins class, and two: because my house hold can be just a half inch voice louder. I can feel a little less alive when I'm in a boreing part in my book but useually I am deffinantly reading alive.
by,
Gracey
I somtimes fake read when I am wiggly and figity with somthing or if my family is talking outside my door. Then I just can't get in the zone because it is to noisy or I keep moving in my spot where I was reading. I never always read alive! The times I do read alive is when the house is quiet and I am still.Also when the book grabs me and I do not want to stop reading. Reading Alive to me feels like I am actuly in the story, I can feel what each character is feeling and see what they see. Reading at school during independent reading is different from at school because there you have a time limit to how long you read and at home you can read for as long as you want. Also it's different because you are alone A LOT of the time and at school you are around your class. I feel less when there is no assinment because It is just reading for fun, but I still am thinking about what I read. Chloe
Dear. Mrs. Jenkins,
I fake read, too! I do it when a TV is on nearby or if anything is distracting me. I some times have vague memories of what I read after I fake read, but never quite as much as when I am in the zone.
Most of the time, I am in the zone, or reading alive. I love to read, and when I am in the zone it is one of my very favorite things to do. When I am in the zone it is hard to get me out of it and even harder to get me to put the book down. It is most easy for me to read alive when I am relaxed, happy, and enjoying the book, which is almost all the time.
I also personally think when you have a mini-lesson you think more about the lesson, but other places I still think about it.
-Kiley H.
Mostly when I read I'am reading alive, and sometimes I'am fake reading. When ever it is reading time in school I always read alive, but if the book is not just right I have trouble reading alive.
If I'am in a spot where someone else or something is speaking it's hard to read alive. For me I can't read where other people are doing things unless they are quiet. Sometimes I read so fast when I fake read I don't understand anything.
The places that I can really read alive in are my bedroom or in a quiet room. When ever I read alive it feels like I'am right there in the book, I can vizulize what I read, and I use context clues. It also feels like nothing can stop me as I read!
Mrs. Jenkins,
I definitely fake read when I am at a place like the beach, where the waves crash, and you can hear the laughs and screams of children, distract me from my book. I read less alive at these times. But, if I am in a place like a classroom, I can definitely be alive when I am reading, whether we are in your room, where there is a task, or Mrs. Ritter's room where it is free read. I think our discussion a few days ago had a lot of meaning. I think that it shows how many different ways people's brains work. It really could be either one really because maybe for some people when we are in math and science, maybe their brains ARE focussed on math and science, and some read alive all the time wherever they are. Mine in particular works beside the side that can read alive wherever they are!
Reading alive to me feels like when you, Mrs. Ritter, my mom, or anyone who tells me to stop reading, I want to say, "OH! No, just five more minutes!" to them. It's like when you wake up in the morning, "No mom, just five more minutes!"
Now reading at home is no different than reading at school. It's comfortable, I'm in the reading zone, and I'm reading ALIVE!
I conclude with saying that I am in the middle of both sides of the argument and I am glad we had it.
Yours
Truly,
Ingram
Mrs.Jenkins,
I sometimes fake read when I go to the book store and fake read to see what they're like or just flip through favorite baby books and other things like that. Also I fake read when I'm in the hair salon flipping through the pages of magazines and clippings.
When I'm reading alive, I know it because I can relate to the character, and I can relate and see myself being where the person is and what their situation is. I may also know I'm reading alive when I can picture the place or setting.
When I'm reading alive I feel as though I'm watching a movie in my mind,and it's like being in a fantasy dream where you can have your own ideas that no one else can tell you are wrong.It also can feel calm ,concentrated, and just right.
I KNOW that I am thinking so much all of the time but I just don't realize it.When I read at school I tend to notice when I'm thinking about reading, but when I'm at home I never really notice when I'm thinking about reading.Though they are alike, sometimes we think that we don't think so little but we actually think a lot.
Dear Mrs. Jenkins,
I fake read when I am not in the zone. When I am thinking about something else I loose my focus and fake read then I don't know what is going on. I end up going back and end up reading it all over again.
I know when I am reading alive because I can visualize the book inside of my head. I feel like I am in the book and I am one of the main characters. I can get into the zone easer than other places because of background noise. I feel really alive when I am around other readers.
Reading at home is a lot different than school. At my house there is a lot of background noise. I get in to the zone then one of my siblings runs into the room and I am no longer in the zone. I can no longer visualize the book.
At school it is the oppisote of at home. I feel like I am in the zone. I am in a comfortable position and my eyes are on the book the whole time. I think about the reading lesson I learned that day then I start reading. I feel like my eyes are glued to the book.
From ,
Reid
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