The Dance and the Joy of Reading Instruction

Dance has much to teach us about five areas of reading instruction:

1. Motivation. 

2. Practice. 

3. Dance dyslexia

4. Whole dancing.

5. Context. 

Whenever a new SoR reading law is passed, the SoR zealots gather a bunch of children together for a picture, and they’re told to smile.  And you get pictures of happy smiling children with happy parents all smiling and being happy.  Wonderful.  It’s a joy façade.

Behind the façade is an unwritten narrative.  These children were once unhappy and oppressed because of reading instruction.  But then a reading law was passed.  Now look at them.  Glory hallelujah, they’ve got SoR in their heart.  They’ve been saved by orthographic mapping.  Their lives are better because of decodable texts.  Now just look at how happy they are.  How can you possibly argue with happiness?  And why would you balanced-literacy devils make these happy children unhappy with your hell-based 3 cueing systems?