What Should Children Read?

Ringwood, Jessica

Mosle, Sara. (2012, November 25). What should children read? The New York Times, pp. 5, The Week in Review Section.

Summary: This article discusses the current debate happening in schools because of the upcoming integration of The Common Core Standards.  David Coleman, one of the architects of Common Core, argues that too much fiction is incorporated into English classrooms.  Teachers are expected to increasingly teach nonfiction because that is the kind of writing that students will be expected to interpret in college and the workplace.  According to Common Core, by their senior year in high school, 70% of the reading students do should be nonfiction.

Evaluation: The author does a good job of addressing opposition to Cole’s argument by bringing up these arguments: What’s wrong with fiction?  Does it require as much intelligence to interpret as nonfiction?  Mosle seems to agree with Cole’s argument but she argues that the task will be difficult for teachers until there is easier access to more quality nonfiction materials.  The best part of the article for teachers and librarians is that she gives some nonfiction suggestions that should be on every shelf that kids have access to.