I have been thinking on my different options for how I will be delivering curriculum material when I get my first social studies teaching job. Obviously I have always planned on using a few different methods that past teachers have shown me in high school. One of the things that I planned on doing was assigning reading to my students each night. The readings would be assigned to their level, obviously younger/less advanced classes would be given smaller reading assignments. One of my social studies teachers in high school would assign a few paragraphs or pages each night and then quiz us on the material in class daily. I thought that was a good idea. This way students would be more prepared for the required amounts of reading we have in college.
I know that some students may have trouble learning this way so this would not be for them, but for others since the quizzes are in place it still might motivate them to read more.
What are your thoughts on the matter? Would it be too much to have high school students doing reading each night or do you think this would help in preparing them for college? I obviously don't know how other schools worked and if teachers assigned more reading then this at your high schools but I always felt that I was not as prepared to do so much required reading as is required of you in a college history course. Perhaps you have better ideas for preparing the students for college history courses?
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I agree that students should have to do some reading each night. I don't think that it should be a lot because this will just discourage high school students. A teacher that i had in high school would assign reading and then at least once a week have a pop quiz, but each of his classes would not have a pop quiz on the same day. I don't know yet what i want to do yet, but i do know that i want to have my students reading more then just the history book. I want them to read articles and documents as well
ReplyDeleteMy high school didn't have required chapter readings each night. I was in the honors track, and we were just expected to do it automatically. The thing is, I never read. I don't think I can remember any instance when I did read a history chapter. I still performed well in class, but when I got to college, I had to change my habits around a lot. So I think reading assignments will definitely be a good thing. The students might not be thrilled about it, but it will help them later.
ReplyDeleteIn my high school AP US History course my teacher basically required us to read roughly a chapter a night or every 2 nights. Also I know I had almost nightly assignments in English class as well. I think those reading assignments were big help. I didn't have a huge adjustment to college, I just had to learn to manage my time without all the restrictions.
ReplyDeleteI was more of a math / science guy in high school – I wasn’t a big fan of the History / Social Studies / English courses (sorry!). But I agree that developing good study habits (including reading) is a good idea. Maybe more of a balance (remember, the student has more than just YOUR class) like the expectation that the student will read two to three times a week. You could follow up with a pop quiz every now and then to enforce the reading requirement.
ReplyDeleteI’ll throw in some other thoughts. “Communication”, in any field, is REALLY important. Make sure to mix in writing (and oral) assignments so your student develops superior written and oral communication skills.
Thanks for the comments! I am glad to see that most of you think throwing reading in for HW during the week is a good way of preparing students for college.
ReplyDeleteKalyn, I agree, I will also use documents and articles for my students.
Doug, that's a good idea incorporating different forms of communication skills into the lesson plan.