The 20 Biggest Reasons You Should Read...Great Article from Edudemic

Above is a poster I created two years ago. I hope it reminds students why it is vital for them to READ.

I was reading one of my favorite blogs put out by Ken Halla, and he recently wrote a post highlighting a fabulous website all about education and technology called Edudemic. It is a great site that explores various issues about infusing technology in the classroom.

After only spending a short amount of time perusing the website this morning, I stumbled across this great article about reading. Last year I decided to make a big effort to promote reading more in my social studies classes. Education philosophers can debate about the merits of making lessons rigorous and student centered (and whatever other popular buzzwords are currently popular), however, the bottom line is that children need to be able to read and understand what they are reading. In my experiences, students of all backgrounds struggle with reading and comprehending what they are reading. With Common Core coming down the pike, all content area teachers will be teaching reading whether they like it or not.

The article focuses on how reading literature can improve creativity, develop critical thinking skills, and help one become more adept concentrating, along with 17 other reasons why reading is important. In my experiences, the biggest obstacle deterring students from enjoying reading is the fact that they are often forced to read literature that means little to them. I can remember questioning the books I read as a teenager, though some I ended up enjoying even though I assumed they would be awful. Perhaps if we let students occasionally have the option to choose what to read, they would become intrinsically motivated to read.

You might be asking yourself why this blog is focusing so much on reading...where is the technology??? Well here you go...I highly suggest you try 60second Recap. I stumbled across this website a few years by accident. Purists might argue that using video clips to help review a novel gives students an easy way out of reading, however, I feel that using clips to help reinforce comprehension and analysis can sustain student interest and motivate students to keep reading to see how the novel progresses.