From: 4joyces at mchsi.com <4joyces>
Date: Fri, 09 Jul 2004 13:09:21 +0000

My contact with public schools is localized to the Twin Cities, MN area. However, when I go into classrooms to teach poetry residencies, I see teachers reading aloud ALOT. I'll often walk into a class of students sitting rapt, listening. It is like a magic spell, enhanced by a teacher who is obviously enjoying him/herself with dramatic reading. In fact, in these schools, the kids like this oral reading period so much that it is used as a "carrot" to reward other good behavior.

At the recent ALA meetings, I had a fascinating discussion with my publishers
(Houghton Mifflin) about the notion of popular culture enhancing/detracting from reading. In this case, we were discussing movies made from books: the upcoming "Polar Express" movie, and the recent "Lord of the Rings" movies
(both of which they publish). They said that the LOR movies had generated incredible sales of the book, and we all agreed that there are cases in which movies can spur more reading.

All of this is not to say that I think reading is entirely alive and well. My own children read literature far less than I would like. But there are reasons for hope!

Joyce Sidman
Received on Fri 09 Jul 2004 08:09:21 AM CDT