Why Does David Coleman Dislike Fiction?
The answer to the question posed in the title of this blog is: I don’t know. I can’t imagine.
In fact, I don’t know how one develops imagination without reading fiction.
I have been told by several people who attended David Coleman’s lectures that he speaks disparagingly of fiction. That’s why the Common Core standards permit 50% fiction in the early grades but only 25% fiction in high school.
I don’t get it.
First, because teachers should make that decision.
Second, because I can’t imagine a well-developed mind that has not read novels, poems and short stories.
I love poetry. I compiled two anthologies–”The American Reader” and “The English Reader” (the latter with my son Michael)–in large part because I wanted to preserve and pass along the poems I love.
I love poems that rhyme and romantic poems. I love John Greenleaf Whittier’s “Barbara Frietchie” (“Shoot, if you
In fact, I don’t know how one develops imagination without reading fiction.
I have been told by several people who attended David Coleman’s lectures that he speaks disparagingly of fiction. That’s why the Common Core standards permit 50% fiction in the early grades but only 25% fiction in high school.
I don’t get it.
First, because teachers should make that decision.
Second, because I can’t imagine a well-developed mind that has not read novels, poems and short stories.
I love poetry. I compiled two anthologies–”The American Reader” and “The English Reader” (the latter with my son Michael)–in large part because I wanted to preserve and pass along the poems I love.
I love poems that rhyme and romantic poems. I love John Greenleaf Whittier’s “Barbara Frietchie” (“Shoot, if you