Assignment 3

The article by Barbara Moss was very interesting. I was setting next to my mother-in-law when I opened the article and I looked at her and said, "I have a hard time reading textbooks or other informational pieces of literature, I just can't get myself focused." She agreed that she has the same problem and through reading the article by Barbara Moss I realized why that may be. I cannot remember reading an expository text until my first year of college. I completely related to the part where Moss talked about teachers just reading the information or giving the information directly to students. I cannot remember using a textbook (other than a math book that was just for obtaining problems) in school other than to look up definitions. They were never used for "reading to learn".
This article really made me realize the importance of having students begin reading informational texts in the primary grades. Early exposure to informational material such as magazines, websites, textbooks, etc. allows the student to get used to reading material to learn. This is a really important skill since we spend most of our reading time as we get older reading to learn. I also agree that it is important to connect reading skills across all content areas. Now days with the emphasis on standardized testing, teachers do not have the classroom time to spend on content areas like social studies for example. By incorporating reading and writing instruction with material from subject areas like social studies, the students are practicing both learning to read and reading to learn.