Are Our Students Reading Enough?
[719 words]
The framework for English/Language Arts sets out impressive reading goals for our students. I would posit that meeting these reading goals or making every attempt to with our students, will help accomplish other goals as well, especially the growth in vocabulary and academic language called for in the framework.
The introduction in the framework to grades 4-8 contains this challenge from the committee:
"Vocabulary knowledge, which typically doubles during grades four through eight, is a direct result of how much a student reads. The more a student reads, the more the vocabulary knowledge increases. For example, students who read one-half million to one million words of running text generally learn approximately 3,000 new words per year. [p. 98]"
I have observed many hours of language arts instruction where the weekly vocabulary list is presented to the students. It usually consists of 10-20 words, sometimes already defined for the students and sometimes even accompanied by sentences the teacher has written for them. For students to meet the above goal, of acquiring 3,000 new words per year, they would have to master a daily list of 16 words. No teacher I know would teach that way. At 16 words per week, the total of new words reaches just 600 words or so. The fact is, word lists are a deeply inferior way to acquire vocabulary. The much better approach, as stated in the framework, is to read deeply and broadly in all manner of text.
Most teachers have excellent vocabularies. I would speculate, though, that teachers have looked up less than 1% of the words they regularly use in oral or written discourse. Every time we encounter a new word, especially in our reading, we note the context, almost subconsciously, and adjust our sense of the word. Here’s a test you can try on yourself. Have you ever used a word properly in a sentence, yet someone stopped you and asked you what it mean? And you lamely replied that you can’t really define it. If you know what a word means, use it properly in context, but cannot define it, all that means is that you have never looked it up. The dictionary is a reference tool, and a great one, but written language predates the first dictionaries by thousands of years. Vocabulary is simply not acquired that way; nor is it acquired primarily through memorizing lists. It is primarily a result of deep and broad reading.
Are our students reading enough? The framework for grades 4-8 establishes a goal of reading 1 million words of running text by grade 8. Let’s do some math so we can understand this number. This is presented as text that students master independently and the implication is that it is largely a results of reading outside of class. However, I would recommend incorporating this reading goal into the class itself, knowing full well that upwards of ½ of the reading must be accomplished outside of class. One million words rounds off to approximately 3,000 words a day, but that is every day, Saturdays and Sundays, holidays, vacations and all summer long. Since teachers only have the students ½ the time, 180/365, the goal doubles for school days, to about 6,000 words a day. Figuring about 400 words per page, that is about 15 pages a day. 15 pages a day doesn’t sound so bad, does it: 7.5 pages in class and another 7.5 pages at home at night? But remember, this is the goal to be reached by grade 8. The framework calls for this goal to double by grade twelve, to 2 million words of running text. That is 1.25 million for grade 9, 1.5 million for grade 10 and 1.75 million for grade 11, to hit that target. Now, at 12th grade, we are looking at 30 pages of running text per school day, 15 in class and another 15 at home. If language arts teachers hit this target, students may gain 3,000-6,000 vocabulary words per year from the 4th to the 12th grade, certainly far more than any lists could provide.
Are our students reading enough? Let’s find out. Here’s a challenge. Count the words of running text your students read under your direction for one full week. Then e-mail me the answer. I would like to compile this information for my research.
The introduction in the framework to grades 4-8 contains this challenge from the committee:
"Vocabulary knowledge, which typically doubles during grades four through eight, is a direct result of how much a student reads. The more a student reads, the more the vocabulary knowledge increases. For example, students who read one-half million to one million words of running text generally learn approximately 3,000 new words per year. [p. 98]"
I have observed many hours of language arts instruction where the weekly vocabulary list is presented to the students. It usually consists of 10-20 words, sometimes already defined for the students and sometimes even accompanied by sentences the teacher has written for them. For students to meet the above goal, of acquiring 3,000 new words per year, they would have to master a daily list of 16 words. No teacher I know would teach that way. At 16 words per week, the total of new words reaches just 600 words or so. The fact is, word lists are a deeply inferior way to acquire vocabulary. The much better approach, as stated in the framework, is to read deeply and broadly in all manner of text.
Most teachers have excellent vocabularies. I would speculate, though, that teachers have looked up less than 1% of the words they regularly use in oral or written discourse. Every time we encounter a new word, especially in our reading, we note the context, almost subconsciously, and adjust our sense of the word. Here’s a test you can try on yourself. Have you ever used a word properly in a sentence, yet someone stopped you and asked you what it mean? And you lamely replied that you can’t really define it. If you know what a word means, use it properly in context, but cannot define it, all that means is that you have never looked it up. The dictionary is a reference tool, and a great one, but written language predates the first dictionaries by thousands of years. Vocabulary is simply not acquired that way; nor is it acquired primarily through memorizing lists. It is primarily a result of deep and broad reading.
Are our students reading enough? The framework for grades 4-8 establishes a goal of reading 1 million words of running text by grade 8. Let’s do some math so we can understand this number. This is presented as text that students master independently and the implication is that it is largely a results of reading outside of class. However, I would recommend incorporating this reading goal into the class itself, knowing full well that upwards of ½ of the reading must be accomplished outside of class. One million words rounds off to approximately 3,000 words a day, but that is every day, Saturdays and Sundays, holidays, vacations and all summer long. Since teachers only have the students ½ the time, 180/365, the goal doubles for school days, to about 6,000 words a day. Figuring about 400 words per page, that is about 15 pages a day. 15 pages a day doesn’t sound so bad, does it: 7.5 pages in class and another 7.5 pages at home at night? But remember, this is the goal to be reached by grade 8. The framework calls for this goal to double by grade twelve, to 2 million words of running text. That is 1.25 million for grade 9, 1.5 million for grade 10 and 1.75 million for grade 11, to hit that target. Now, at 12th grade, we are looking at 30 pages of running text per school day, 15 in class and another 15 at home. If language arts teachers hit this target, students may gain 3,000-6,000 vocabulary words per year from the 4th to the 12th grade, certainly far more than any lists could provide.
Are our students reading enough? Let’s find out. Here’s a challenge. Count the words of running text your students read under your direction for one full week. Then e-mail me the answer. I would like to compile this information for my research.