I think "fake reading" is using all your compensatory skills to gain information from written material. Since such students typically do not read for pleasure, they only use this "skill" when there is a required outcome from the reading assignment. They hold the book, turn the pages, make faces occasionally, so they know what reading looks like, but they don't know how to gain knowledge from reading. I am excited about this book study. So often student reach the middle grades and they have used all of their skills to hide the fact that they don't gain content from reading.
After reading Chapter 1, fake reading to me is just reading words on a page. Often times the students do not even do this. They often skip words or do not read the entire book, rather skipping around and only reading parts of the book. Sometimes when people read they are just reading words they are not comprehending what they are reading. They are not really concentrating on the meaning of the story, they are not visualizing the story as it is happening, and often times do not try to make connections to the story. The book lists several possibilities on why children do not understand what they read such as, listening to music when they are reading, fall asleep, lose their place, or daydream while they are reading. In order to understand what you are reading you have to concentrate and make connections while you are reading. You can not just read the words on the page and expect to comprehend what is going on in the book. This is also known as Fake reading.
Fake Reading is prevalent with special education students. I find that many students will sit with their book open and pretend to read not even really paying attention to the words or the meaning. The text gave an excellent example of fake reading; where the author picked books that looked like they had not been read in a long time and read the book cover to get the information for the book and then relocate the book to another section in the library. Student look for short cuts on reading for book reports. My students choose children's book they know by heart or are very easy to read. When a book is read in class, they think they can watch the movie or find a short synopsis about the book. Students often pick books that are too difficult for them and Fake read so that no knows that they can't read. They start books but never finish them.
Fake reading is not really reading. Whether you are reading words only with no meaning or not even reading at all but just pretending. I do think that fake reading is not just a learned compensatory skill but also an attitude. By the time students reach middle school it is very much an ingrained process in them that not only takes time but a change in how the student feels about reading, making it meaningful to them. I think that is what the author was trying to do in her class. There is so much to reading that students often feel overwhelmed and if you add learning difficulties to that it only compounds the problem. I have students who will pretend to read, read only a few words per chapter, or even read all the words but have no clue as to what the words meant! Time and direct reading instruction are the key but that is hard to get at the middle school level with all the other content teachers' are expected to get through!
I have to share a comment my daughter made when she saw the title of this book. She Said, "Mom I need that book." I am amazed at how many of the elementary teachers told me she reads beautifully. I wanted to scream in their faces and say have you really listened to her.
I think fake reading is looking at the text and and pretending to read, or reading bits and pieces of the text. When I started thinking about fake reading I realized that I have seen lots of examples of it but I will only share two. One of my students carried around the book "Twilight" for over 9 weeks and the bookmark never moved. She was able to talk about the book because she had seen the movie. Another one of my students checked out a book one day and returned it the next, because it was never "interesting". He managed to not read anything for about three weeks until a couple of us caught on to what he was doing.
How many students have you had that carry a book and the bookmark doesn't move, or as a teacher made the comment that they need to "pay attention." The kids have got a huge advantage over we adults with technology-don't read the book, watch the movie or don't read at all, have a program that reads the book aloud for you. The comment by Courtney that says some kids are just born readers and others aren'treminds me of one of my students (5th grader) who tries to get the Redwall books or Warriors books every week at library and we have to keep saying over and over, it's not in your reading level. That kiddo wants to match others in the class with thick books on their desks that they aren't reading either even tho the teacher lets them repeat the checking out scenario each week.
Does this ever make sense. I have several students who 'fake read'. One who checks out the book because it is the 'in' book (she reads on a 2nd gd lvl), another when reading aloud tries to use phonics because she knows she is supposed to (4th gd lvl), and then another whose mother says her son 'fake reads' (2nd gd lvl). I use News2You which uses rebus pictures to help kids read. It is an awesome program that ties reading with other curricular areas while uses rebus pictures. This same mom raved about how the program helped her son read other material at home that he hadn't tried before, bought News2You for home, and now says that he is good at 'fake reading'. (She saw the book we are using for this book study.) This week, I'm going to mix things up a bit. I'll start off with the rebus news page and end the week with the copy that doesn't have as many rebus pictures. We'll see how that works. It's interesting how the author used the strategy of a 'book study group' to get her older struggling readers to read. I like that idea.
Fake reading is reading with no comprehension. Students may be able to decode words, but have no idea what they mean. I often have to re-read text in order to understand what I just read, even though I am very good at reading, and can read quickly. It is hard for me to comprehend what I am reading if I am reading silently, especially if I am distracted by others around me, or even my own thoughts. Right now in the middle school, there is a class reading a book and doing study guides for each chapter. I have noticed that if they are expected to read the chapter individually, they do not answer the questions. They get the answers from others that have actually read the book. They can get the other students to summarize the chapters, and then they answer the questions. Often, I read the chapters aloud to them, and we discuss each chapter before they complete the study guides. This helps a lot. Also, I have noticed that students that are fake-reading in my class take AR test by guessing answers or by skimming through the book. A lot of students will sit in a class and pretend to be reading, but have no idea what the book is even about. I've watched students sit with a book and never turn a page during a whole class period. They aren't as sneaky as they may think.
I think "fake reading" is using all your compensatory skills to gain information from written material. Since such students typically do not read for pleasure, they only use this "skill" when there is a required outcome from the reading assignment. They hold the book, turn the pages, make faces occasionally, so they know what reading looks like, but they don't know how to gain knowledge from reading. I am excited about this book study. So often student reach the middle grades and they have used all of their skills to hide the fact that they don't gain content from reading.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Chapter 1, fake reading to me is just reading words on a page. Often times the students do not even do this. They often skip words or do not read the entire book, rather skipping around and only reading parts of the book. Sometimes when people read they are just reading words they are not comprehending what they are reading. They are not really concentrating on the meaning of the story, they are not visualizing the story as it is happening, and often times do not try to make connections to the story. The book lists several possibilities on why children do not understand what they read such as, listening to music when they are reading, fall asleep, lose their place, or daydream while they are reading. In order to understand what you are reading you have to concentrate and make connections while you are reading. You can not just read the words on the page and expect to comprehend what is going on in the book. This is also known as Fake reading.
ReplyDeleteFake Reading is prevalent with special education students. I find that many students will sit with their book open and pretend to read not even really paying attention to the words or the meaning.
ReplyDeleteThe text gave an excellent example of fake reading; where the author picked books that looked like they had not been read in a long time and read the book cover to get the information for the book and then relocate the book to another section in the library.
Student look for short cuts on reading for book reports. My students choose children's book they know by heart or are very easy to read.
When a book is read in class, they think they can watch the movie or find a short synopsis about the book.
Students often pick books that are too difficult for them and Fake read so that no knows that they can't read. They start books but never finish them.
Fake reading is not really reading. Whether you are reading words only with no meaning or not even reading at all but just pretending. I do think that fake reading is not just a learned compensatory skill but also an attitude. By the time students reach middle school it is very much an ingrained process in them that not only takes time but a change in how the student feels about reading, making it meaningful to them. I think that is what the author was trying to do in her class. There is so much to reading that students often feel overwhelmed and if you add learning difficulties to that it only compounds the problem. I have students who will pretend to read, read only a few words per chapter, or even read all the words but have no clue as to what the words meant! Time and direct reading instruction are the key but that is hard to get at the middle school level with all the other content teachers' are expected to get through!
ReplyDeleteI have to share a comment my daughter made when she saw the title of this book. She Said, "Mom I need that book." I am amazed at how many of the elementary teachers told me she reads beautifully. I wanted to scream in their faces and say have you really listened to her.
ReplyDeleteI think fake reading is looking at the text and
ReplyDeleteand pretending to read, or reading bits and pieces of the text. When I started thinking about fake reading I realized that I have seen lots of examples of it but I will only share two. One of my students carried around the book "Twilight" for over 9 weeks and the bookmark never moved. She was able to talk about the book because she had seen the movie. Another one of my students checked out a book one day and returned it the next, because it was never "interesting". He managed to not read anything for about three weeks until a couple of us caught on to what he was doing.
How many students have you had that carry a book and the bookmark doesn't move, or as a teacher made the comment that they need to "pay attention." The kids have got a huge advantage over we adults with technology-don't read the book, watch the movie or don't read at all, have a program that reads the book aloud for you.
ReplyDeleteThe comment by Courtney that says some kids are just born readers and others aren'treminds me of one of my students (5th grader) who tries to get the Redwall books or Warriors books every week at library and we have to keep saying over and over, it's not in your reading level. That kiddo wants to match others in the class with thick books on their desks that they aren't reading either even tho the teacher lets them repeat the checking out scenario each week.
Does this ever make sense. I have several students who 'fake read'. One who checks out the book because it is the 'in' book (she reads on a 2nd gd lvl), another when reading aloud tries to use phonics because she knows she is supposed to (4th gd lvl), and then another whose mother says her son 'fake reads' (2nd gd lvl). I use News2You which uses rebus pictures to help kids read. It is an awesome program that ties reading with other curricular areas while uses rebus pictures. This same mom raved about how the program helped her son read other material at home that he hadn't tried before, bought News2You for home, and now says that he is good at 'fake reading'. (She saw the book we are using for this book study.) This week, I'm going to mix things up a bit. I'll start off with the rebus news page and end the week with the copy that doesn't have as many rebus pictures. We'll see how that works. It's interesting how the author used the strategy of a 'book study group' to get her older struggling readers to read. I like that idea.
ReplyDeleteFake reading is reading with no comprehension. Students may be able to decode words, but have no idea what they mean. I often have to re-read text in order to understand what I just read, even though I am very good at reading, and can read quickly. It is hard for me to comprehend what I am reading if I am reading silently, especially if I am distracted by others around me, or even my own thoughts.
ReplyDeleteRight now in the middle school, there is a class reading a book and doing study guides for each chapter. I have noticed that if they are expected to read the chapter individually, they do not answer the questions. They get the answers from others that have actually read the book. They can get the other students to summarize the chapters, and then they answer the questions. Often, I read the chapters aloud to them, and we discuss each chapter before they complete the study guides. This helps a lot.
Also, I have noticed that students that are fake-reading in my class take AR test by guessing answers or by skimming through the book. A lot of students will sit in a class and pretend to be reading, but have no idea what the book is even about. I've watched students sit with a book and never turn a page during a whole class period. They aren't as sneaky as they may think.