Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter



CAT Tracks for May 7, 2006
IL LOOP RECOMMENDS AFT READING LIST

Strange to see a conservative education watch dog group recommend the reading of a union magazine...albeit the magazine of our competition...


Phonics is the first step in welcoming kids to the written word. But will they understand what they read? What about comprehension?

Now a special theme issue of American Educator magazine (from the American Federation of Teachers) comes down firmly and emphatically in arguing for background knowledge as the crucial precursor to comprehension. The series of articles in this AFT publication, with a powerful lead article by E. D. Hirsch, does a fine job in stressing how important it is for kids to be taught a rich, substantial body of knowledge, which will not only boost comprehension, but make it much easier to acquire further knowledge down the road.

(By the way, if you're not receiving American Educator's quarterly issues, you really should! It is consistently outstanding, and a fabulous bargain at $10/year. You don't even have to be an AFT member to get it.)

Below are capsule descriptions of these articles, which are all available online.

-- Kevin

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http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/issues/spring06/
American Educator
Spring 2006
American Federation of Teachers (AFT)


http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/issues/spring06/editorsintro.htm
Knowledge: The Next Frontier in Reading Comprehension

"[B]est-selling author and scholar E.D. Hirsch, Jr., says ... we're thinking about reading comprehension in the wrong way. ... And until all of us in education -- publishers, colleges of education, researchers, teachers, administrators, and policymakers -- begin to think about it differently and, therefore, go about improving it differently, reading comprehension won't improve ... Cognitive science research is making it increasingly clear that reading comprehension requires a student to possess a lot of vocabulary and a lot of background knowledge. Writers of materials aimed at general, educated audiences (i.e., newspapers, novels, entry-level college textbooks) assume background knowledge and vocabulary on the part of their readers. No amount of reading comprehension 'skills' instruction can compensate for that lack of knowledge.


http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/issues/spring06/tests.htm
What Do Reading Comprehension Tests Measure? Knowledge! by E. D. Hirsch

"Consider the predicament of schools and students under the current accountability arrangements. What are educators to do? It becomes logical to think like this: The tests are coming. ... The tests will probe reading comprehension skills, so we must teach those skills. How does one prepare students to take this kind of test? Logic has led schools, districts, states, and companies that provide test-prep materials to believe that they must train students in the kinds of procedures elicited by the test: Clarify what the passage means, question the author, find the main idea, make inferences about the passage, study the meanings of words, consider which event in the narrative comes first, and which next. But in fact, this preparation is not mainly what students need."


http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/issues/spring06/hirsch.htm
Building Knowledge: The Case for Bringing Content into the Language Arts Block and for a Knowledge-Rich Curriculum Core for All Children by E.D. Hirsch, Jr.

"The evidence is clear: Reading comprehension depends largely on knowledge. Further, children, especially poor children, depend on schools to impart that knowledge. It should certainly be imparted in reading classes, which now often take up to two hours per day in elementary school. And, it should be imparted systematically, from an early age, across subjects, guided by a knowledge-rich, grade-by-grade curriculum core that is shared across schools and, preferably, across districts."


http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/issues/spring06/Neuman.pdf
How We Neglect Knowledge -- and Why (PDF) by Susan B. Neuman


http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/issues/spring06/PoorChildren.pdf
Why This Matters Most for Poor Children (PDF)


http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/issues/spring06/TeacherIntrv.pdf
Engaging Kids with Content: "The Kids Love It" (PDF)

"Can all this content really be taught to kids? Would it be a bore for them, drudgery for teachers? The only way to know is to try it out. The Core Knowledge Foundation produced a Pre-K-8 curriculum sequence based on one central question: What knowledge do writers take for granted when they write for a general, educated audience? The sequence offers teachers grade-by-grade guidelines for teaching a rich contentpacked curriculum. It's now being used in hundreds of schools. What's the verdict? 'The kids love it.' ... "American Educator can't send you on a site visit, but we can bring the teachers' voices to you. Here, Rachel Pacheco, a first-grade teacher at Hawthorne Academy in San Antonio, Texas, and Gloria Farley, a third-grade teacher at Osmond A. Church School in New York City, explain how they use the Core Knowledge Sequence and what it has done for their students. ..."


http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/issues/spring06/willingham.htm
How Knowledge Helps: It Speeds and Strengthens Reading Comprehension, Learning, and Thinking by Daniel T. Willingham

"Acquiring knowledge does for the brain what exercise does for the body: The more you learn, the better your brain functions. Knowledge is not only cumulative, it grows exponentially. So, the more you know, the more easily you learn new things. Knowledge improves your ability to remember new things, and it actually improves the quality and speed of your thinking.


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