Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Read A Book (or Two)!
Yesterday I read this in The Atlantic: Why Reading Books in High School Matters. The article/podcast examines the decline of high school novel reading and its implications. Namely, students are reading excerpts instead of whole novels (mimicing the standardized tests they are required to pass), leaving students less prepared for complex reading in college and resulting in college professors assigning fewer books in their courses. The article includes personal stories highlighting the transformative power of books read during adolescence. For a deeper dive, visit the full podcast here.
In Florida, where public schools (but not voucher schools) are “held accountable” for student scores on high-stakes standardized tests, pacing guides and scripted curriculums have elementary and middle school students only reading excerpts as well. When I am asked about the recent kerfuffle over so-called “inappropriate” books in school libraries, I always respond the same – “I am less concerned about the books they might read than I am that they aren’t reading any books at all.”
I have been warning about this and fighting against the unintended (?) consequences of Florida’s test-obsessed accountability system for more than a decade. The Atlantic article makes me want to shout “I Told You So” from the rooftops and, believe me, I will be writing about that AFTER the holidays. Today, I want to focus on the upcoming holidays.
I have two kids in expensive out of state colleges so we are having a “small Christmas” this year. Gifts will be mostly books, with a few gift cards (some to book stores) thrown in. I am looking forward to a truly wonderful little Christmas.
Of course, we have always included books in our gift giving and Christmas traditions. Each year, when we decorated our tree after Thanksgiving, we would bring out our collection of holiday books and keep them under the tree, so we could read them over and over again in preparation for Christmas. Each year, we would add a book, or two, to the collection. It is one of our best holiday traditions.
A few of our favorite Holiday Books:
and, of course:
May your holidays be full of books and simple pleasures. May you read excellent books in the New Year.
“And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if quality education, he thought, can’t be measured by test scores. What if quality education for our kids, perhaps, means a little bit more.” (With all apologies to the great Dr. Seuss.)