來自學(xué)校老師關(guān)于閱讀的一封信

秋天的紐約很美，走到哪兒都是風(fēng)景。11月初來到小朋友的學(xué)校，與老師進行一對一會談，了解孩子在學(xué)校的情況。

雨后的早晨，漫步于他們小小的校園，沉浸在秋意漸濃的氣氛里，駐足很久。

娃的班級有16-18名孩子（并非所有孩子都上全日制），一位主課老師Ms. M, 三位生活/輔助老師。學(xué)校安排家長在今年的夏令營前，夏令營中，九月開學(xué)前，以及九月開學(xué)后與所有班級老師和班上其他家庭的孩子以及家長見面，聊天，了解學(xué)校相關(guān)事宜，對自家娃所在班級的孩子和他們的家長有初步印象。我們也通過小朋友的生日聚會進一步認識，了解更多情況。

我們學(xué)校不用任何電子方式（其他學(xué)校會發(fā)emails）與家長聯(lián)系，所有通知都通過傳統(tǒng)的紙張傳遞方式，利用信件或每天放在孩子文件夾里的單子。這與我個人喜歡用傳統(tǒng)方式的概念不謀而合，尤其體現(xiàn)在讀書，記錄，歸類整理。我是一個生活在現(xiàn)代而某些方面卻非常old-fashioned的人。

生活老師每天早晨會檢查孩子的文件夾，取出孩子完成的作業(yè)或者家長應(yīng)老師要求的反饋。放學(xué)前他們會把孩子當天的activity sheet放進文件夾 , 內(nèi)容包括孩子是否將飯吃完，孩子是選擇午睡還是午休，當天有否磕碰到哪里或被蚊蟲叮咬 （情況嚴重或孩子有發(fā)燒跡象時，學(xué)校才會打電話通知家長），老師如何處理等。老師也會將批改好的作業(yè)，孩子在學(xué)校完成的作品，學(xué)?；蛐Ｍ饣顒拥陌才牛?jié)假日安排，為社區(qū)捐贈食物（學(xué)校會明確寫明各個年級家長可捐贈什么樣的食品），學(xué)校圖書館事宜，以及學(xué)樂每月的書目宣傳小報（家長可通過學(xué)校每月從學(xué)樂購書一次，價格比市場上低，版本是經(jīng)濟實惠的paperback books. 家長的購書累積可為學(xué)校贏得免費書籍，用于學(xué)校的教育）。

學(xué)校安排有條有理，老師用心，這是我喜歡他們的理由。這次與Ms. M第三次會談，也是相當愉悅。上次家長會她送了我們一首詩，這次她遞了我們一封信。這是一封關(guān)于閱讀的信，其理念和我個人想法完全一致。

Five Things I Wish Parents Knew About Reading

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.

I learned exactly how important reading was from my parents. They showed me with frequent trips to the LIBRARY, always scrounging up money for books, and, most importantly, ignoring me when they were caught up in a good book. Their "just one more chapter, and then we'll go" or "let me finish this article before we start dinner" showed me that reading was a world that you could get wrapped in and not want to leave.

These days, the pressure of reading levels, words per minute, and standardized testing has put a tremendous pressure on not only teachers and students, but also parents. Here are five literacy tips for parents that I wish I could share with all families:

No. 1 - This book is not too easy for your child.

Reading is making meaning not word recognition. Because accuracy is easy for us to see happening, it's easy to assume that a reader that sounds good must be making meaning. After all, they are not doing any of the things we do as readers when we've confused. As adults when we read a confusing text, we back up, reread, slow down, look fore more information, or ask for help. Our students will spend years learning to do that. Sometimes the fluent reading we see is only surface deep or the result of multiple readings at school.

P.S. And so what if it is? I loved the Harry Potter series, and it's definitely below my reading level. It's okay to just love a story. That's kind of the whole point of reading.

No. 2 - Reading levels are not a race to the top.

Oh, reading levels. Parents, I'm sorry we've done this to you. Understanding acquisition of literacy is difficult (it only takes a degree or two and lifelong professional development to get a handle on it), but understanding a progression of level is easy. Parents hold onto levels because that's all we really give them. But what does H mean to a parent? Nothing. I hope as teachers that we can replace reading levels with a discussion of reading behaviors. Fountas and Pinnell's Literacy Continuum has an in-depth overview of every guided reading level. If you want to learn more about this, they also have an excellent article: A Level Is a Teacher's Tool, NOT a Child's Label. We have to change our thinking on this one before we can grow alongside parents.

P.S. A great parent tool that doesn't cost anything is the intimate gauge you have about your child's engagement. If they like it and want to read it, it's the right book.

No. 3 - Pictures are there for a reason.

Please, please, please don't cover up the pictures when reading with your child. The pictures ARE the story. Beginning readers have very little test, and the meaning comes from the pictures. When you cover the pictures, the inadvertent message is that comprehension doesn't matter - only word accuracy has value. For our beginning readers, teaching them that they see a bunny but the word starts with "r" IS the lesson. We want them to match meaning with text, and covering up the picture takes that away.

P.S. Reading the pictures IS real reading. It helps children develop comprehension, story telling, and a love of books. Not sure about that? Read CHALK by Bill Thomson, a wordless picture book that will make you a believer.

No. 4 - You are showing your child exactly how important reading is (or is not)

Frustrated with your child's lack of interest in reading? How are you showing that reading is important? I love the saying, "Don't worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you." What message do we send our children when we schedule dance classes, soccer practices, and piano lessons that can't be missed, but  a trip to the library doesn't get the same treatment? Show your kids the value of reading by making it a priority in your time commitments.

P.S. One great way to do this is to set aside 15-30 minutes every day for a whole reading time. Everyone reads together as a read aloud or just in companionable silence.

No. 5 - Graphic novels ARE real books.

Yes, they are. In fact, the vocabulary is often more challenging in graphic novels because the story must be told succinctly. Let's throw in that picture books are for all ages and stop the glorification of chapter books. Most importantly, no matter what age kiddos are, they are never too old to curl up with their parents and read a good book.

我希望父母知道的五項關(guān)於關(guān)於閲讀的事

運動是對身體素質(zhì)的鍛煉；而閲讀是則對大腦思維的提煉。

我從我父母身上瞭解到閲讀的重要性。他們經(jīng)常帶我去圖書館，經(jīng)常爲我購書， 最重要的是，當他們遇到一本好書時，他們甚至可以忽略我。他們會說：“讓我再看一章，看完后我們就走”?；蛘邥h：“讓我在晚餐前看完這篇文章”。他們自身對閲讀的態(tài)度告訴我：你可以完全沉浸在閲讀帶給你的這方天地，不離開。

如今，分級閲讀，每分鐘讀的字數(shù)，以及閲讀測試帶給老師，學(xué)生和家長巨大壓力。以下，我想和各位家長分享五向我對閲讀要領(lǐng)的理解：

No.1 – 這本書對孩子來講并不會顯得太過容易

閲讀的意義并不在於識字。因爲我們比較容易看到準確性，所以會認爲聽起來不錯的讀者必須要創(chuàng)造某種意義。畢竟，當我們感到困惑時，他們不會像我們作爲讀者一樣做任何事。作爲成年人，當我們在讀比較難理解的文字時，我們會來回反復(fù)閲讀，慢慢琢磨，尋找更多信息，或?qū)で髱椭?。我們的學(xué)生需要花數(shù)年來達到這個程度。有時，我們所看見的流利閲讀衹是表象，或者衹是在學(xué)校進行各種閲讀訓(xùn)練后的結(jié)果。

P.S. 如果是這樣的話呢？我喜歡哈利波特系列，它們的難度係數(shù)完全在我的閲讀水準之下。僅僅因喜歡一個故事而閲讀，是沒有問題的。這個才是閲讀的重點。

No. 2 – 閲讀水平不是一場競爭或比賽

噢，閲讀水平。家長們，我很抱歉要對你們說這些。瞭解獲取讀寫能力很困難（這需要一兩年的時間和一身的專業(yè)發(fā)展來掌握），但是理解水平的進展很容易。父母保持相當水準，因爲這是我們真正給予他們的。但是字母H對父母來説意味著什麼呢？什麼都不是。我希望作爲教師，我們可以通過討論閲讀行爲來取代閲讀水平。Fountas 和 Pinnell 的 Literacy Continuum 對每個指導(dǎo)閲讀水平進行了深入的概述。如果你想瞭解更多相關(guān)信息，他們也有一篇很好的文章可以參考。A Level 是教師的工具，不是孩子的標簽。在我們一起成長之前，我麼必須改變對這點的看法。

P.S. 一個對父母來講不用花錢的方法是你對孩子參與的親密度。如果他們喜歡并希望閲讀一本書，那就是正確的書。

No. 3 – 圖片有它存在的理由

當你與孩子閲讀時，請千萬，千萬，千萬不要掩蓋圖片。圖片是故事。初讀者的測試渠道很少，故事的意義大都來自圖片。當你覆蓋圖片時，無意中傳遞的信息是：理解變得無關(guān)緊要，衹有識字的準確性才有價值。對於我們剛開始的讀著，告訴他們，當他們看到一個以 “r”開頭的詞匯叫 兔子時，是一種教學(xué)。我們希望他們能夠?qū)⒁饬x與文本內(nèi)容相匹配；而當你覆蓋圖片時，這點是無法做到的。

P.S. 閲讀圖片是真正的閲讀。它可以幫助孩子培養(yǎng)理解力，故事敘述以及對書本的熱愛。不確定嗎？建議閲讀一下比爾湯姆森的Chalk. 這是一本無字繪本，可以讓你相信圖片的意義。

No. 4 – 你正在向你的孩子展示閲讀的重要性 （或沒有）

你的孩子對閲讀缺乏興趣，感到沮喪嗎？你如何表明閲讀的重要性？我喜歡這樣的説法：“不要擔心孩子們從不聽你的話，而是擔心他們總在看著你。“ 當我們安排舞蹈課程，足球練習(xí)和不可錯過的鋼琴課程時，圖書館之行并沒有得到同樣的待遇，我們會給孩子發(fā)送什麼信息？當你在履行時間承諾，安排各種事項時，優(yōu)先閲讀事宜，向孩子展示閲讀的價值。

P.S. 一個很好的方法是每天留出15-30分鐘的時間來閲讀。大家一起大聲朗讀，或一起默讀。

No. 5 – 圖畫小説是真正的書籍

對，他們是。事實上，由於故事必須簡明扼要，詞匯在圖畫小説中往往更具挑戰(zhàn)性。不要一味追從章節(jié)書，圖畫書適合所有年齡段的人。最重要的是，無論什麼年齡階段的孩子，他們永遠不會因爲年齡的增長而不能與父母蜷縮在一起閲讀一本好書。

我對老師提出的以上五點不能同意更多！很開心能遇到一位與自己閱讀理念一致的老師。

Cheers~~

昨天將孩子的書稍作整理，家里放書的空間并不大，因為大部分都從圖書館借閱?，F(xiàn)用storage cubes在客廳做一排矮柜，用于存放今后學(xué)校的書籍。

活動室書柜 

活動室桌腳

臥室一角 

臥室推車 （定時更新）

圖書館借來的書，分門別類地放在客廳茶幾下層。我們平時去四五家不同的公共圖書館，主要集中于家附近的兩家社區(qū)圖書館（英文書); 另兩家離家較遠，我們主要去借中文書。不管去哪一間圖書館，都會帶孩子一起，且每周一次。娃只要學(xué)校放假，我就帶她去圖書館。在圖書館兩小時，我們看書，和孩子討論她感興趣的書/音樂CD/電影DVD，與別的小孩互動，或自己玩，或看別人玩。的確就像老師所說，不僅在家進行slow reading, 也將去圖書館之事優(yōu)先。