四级六级阅读练习：为什么要教孩子学习手写、数学和词根_大学英语阅读

四级六级阅读练习：为什么要教孩子学习手写、数学和词根

　　When Suzanne Kail, an English teacher at a public high school in Magnolia, Ohio, was told that she would be required to teach her students Latin and Greek word roots, she groaned and rolled her eyes. Kail believes in a progressive approach to education, in which active engagement in meaningful learning is paramount. In an account of her experience in the English Journal, she wrote, asking students to do rote memorization was the antithesis of what I believed in most. Still, her department head insisted on it, so Kail went forward with the attitude, Ill do it, but I wont like it. She was sure her students wouldnt like it, either.

　　Kail was in for a surprise as is anyone who takes a look at a raft of recent studies supporting the effectiveness of old school methods like memorizing math facts, reading aloud, practicing handwriting and teaching argumentation (activities that once went by the names drill, recitation, penmanship and rhetoric). While the education world is all abuzz about so-called 21st century skills like collaboration, problem solving and critical thinking, this research suggests that we might do well to add a strong dose of the 19th century to our childrens schooling.

　　Kails experience is instructive. As soon as she began teaching her students the Greek and Latin origins of many English terms that the root sta means put in place or stand, for example, and that cess means to move or withdraw they eagerly began identifying familiar words that incorporated the roots, like statue and recess. Her three classes competed against one another to come up with the longest list of words derived from the roots they were learning. Kails students started using these terms in their writing, and many of them told her that their study of word roots helped them answer questions on the SAT and on Ohios state graduation exam. (Research confirms that instruction in word roots allows students to learn new vocabulary and figure out the meaning of words in context more easily.) For her part, Kail reports that she no longer sees rote memorization as inherently evil. Although committing the word roots to memory was a necessary first step, she notes, the key was taking that old-school method and encouraging students to use their knowledge to practice higher-level thinking skills.