Today I let one of my 5th grade classes spend library time just reading. They had completed a portion of the state achievement test earlier in the day and came to me at the end of the day. This class loves to read and begs for me to just let them read. Today I did that. They got my pillows, bean bags, and stuffed animals out and sat around the room and just dug into their books. When it was time to go one of the boys came to me and asked if we could do that every library visit. My reply was that my state of Tennessee evaluation rubric does not include reading for enjoyment so it is out of my hands. He asked, "If you could allow it, though, would you?" "In a heartbeat." Because when I was in 5th grade, my library visits were either reading for enjoyment, a film strip, particularly Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, or Mrs. Easley (my librarian) would read to us while she sat in her rocking chair. Of course he did not know what a film strip was. [Therefore, I have included an image of one just like we had back then!]
I think I turned out OK as did many of my elementary classmates. This got me thinking about "the good old days" and were they really better? Maybe, maybe not. However, the fact is clear that much has changed and reading continues to be a concern for employers and educators. Maybe we need to remember the simple pleasure of being read to or watching animals in countries that we have not encountered and may never visit or see. But our lives are enriched, and our vocabulary is enlarged by being exposed to something that has no "assessment" attached to it.
