Assignment Template: CA CCSS for ELA

I was struck by the clarity and specificity of this reading.  I am able to see me use this information with my future adult students, and I can also see that they would understand it.  As early as page three, I found helpful information in the sections marked, Prereading and Connecting Reading to Writing.  The steps that follow these headings can be helpful for GED students as they hone their skills for both the GED Reading and Writing tests. 

            Many of my students dreaded reading, always thinking it was a last-resort activity.  Often, these non-readers were the lower-functioning students.  But not always.  One 16-year-old student tested at a 12th-grade level in reading, but he claimed it had been five years since he’d read any novel, magazine, or newspaper.  That fact might be so, but he also might have been bragging about his high reading ability despite being a non-reader.

            I plan to use the steps listed under Prereading because they represent the beginning of reading.  Similar to when the Munchkins escorted Dorothy to the very beginning of the Yellow Brick Road on her way to the Land of Oz.  If students do not learn how to “[get] ready to read” or “[survey] the text,” they might never discover the wonder of reading (p. 3).  And that would be a shame.

            My brother Stuart lives with us.  He is developmentally disabled, functioning as about an eight-year-old.  He has difficulty with understanding some daily activities, such as determining how much dish soap to use.  However, he is a voracious reader who can talk about the novels of Sue Grafton, James Patterson, and John Grisham.  Just yesterday, he and I had a grand conversation about Grisham’s Camino Island.  His becoming an active reader opened up tremendous possibilities for him.  I want the same for my students even though they might not want to see value in reading.

            Teaching students to connect what they read to what they write can be a struggle but is valuable for them to learn.  GED students struggled with this skill because few prescribed readings and writings have real-life applications with an “invented audience and purpose” (p. 15).  Eventually, successful students learned how to “shift focus from being an audience for the writing of others to addressing their own audience as writers themselves” (p. 15).  It is at times a difficult battle, but I have to believe that they can and will reap the benefits of reading well.