Abstract When I was in primary school, I loved being uninterrupted in my little world filled with books, and wide reading has always made my writing a model for my peers. So, at that time, reading was fun and also had a big motivation behind, for me - a curious reader. When later, I became a high school student, the great pressure from Gaokao, Chinese College Entrance Examination, has extinguished my enthusiasm in reading. I don't know whether I still loved reading or not, but I just had no time and energy doing that. After I survived from Gaokao, and became a college student who had a large amount of time, I found it hard to regain the reading habit, as not many people around me are good readers. Later, when I became a teacher for Chinese high school students, I realized that few of my students regarded reading as something fun and meaningful. They even nicknamed those who loved reading as "nerd". While, most people are very clear that reading can make people as wise as an owl, by giving us a wider horizon in seeing the world, a better understanding of people around us, an inclusive but also critical mind in analyzing things, and also a confidence in connecting with others. Which step is wrong? Why is the recommended reading habit in my times being discarded or even despised in the contemporary society? Why do my students in high school, my people in contemporary society, and even me, are not motivated to read widely? Can we return to that Golden Age of Reading? In order to find a satisfactory answer to these questions, I decide to launch an action plan to support students in my ESL class to be lifelong readers. There are several perspectives to consider in this design. 1) How can teacher advocate the idea of having extra reading course in the current curriculum design? 2) How can teacher arouse students' reading interest? 3) How can teacher design the reading class? 4) How can reading be extended beyond classroom? 5) How can teacher integrate reading course into other curriculum? 6) How can teacher involve parents in this reading course? 7) How can teacher decide the assessment on students' progress? With such perspectives in mind, my action plan includes five parts, listed below. Step 1: The proposal of reading part in current ESL class. Step 2: The design of reading class within classroom. Step 3: The extension of reading beyond classroom. Step 4: The ideas of curriculum integration. Step 5: Reflection. Assisted by my learning experience in NC State, I hope my designed reading course can successfully solve the questions and build a new Golden Age of Reading for my students - the future of my nation The courses I have taken: Fall Semester 2016 ECI 620, Special Problems: Selected Topics in Chinese and American Education ECI 550, Foundations of Middle Years Education ECI 521, Teaching Literature for Young Adults ECI 546, New Literacies and Media Spring Semester 2017 ECI 508, Teachers as Leaders ECI 520, The Teaching of Composition ECI 546, Theory and Research in Global Learning |
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