What are the features of the ideal text, how do we achieve a text (serious high school level text) that is fun, and engaging, AND educational?
We started with reading strategies, drifted into purposes for reading, morphed into purposes for writing and finally writing style for purpose!
From Orion: I think that the only difference is in the format of the information. The reason that a text book is written is to educate, whereas the purpose of a storybook is to entertain. Hence, the differing styles. If, for example, a math text were written in a story style, it would be more conducive to "inactive" reading. The dry format makes it difficult to read for fun, making need for more than just what one was doing for distraction. However, if a story were written in a dry textbook style it would be vary ineffective as a distraction. This would be because the format and style could detract from the plot and the characters. I think that a history textbook, written as a story would be ideal, of course the course would also have to include a text book for a fuller knowledge. I know that this was a little of topic, however I think that it is important to think about what the book is designed for, not just how one reads it.
From Amanda: Of course, now we have to ask, "is it possible to write a math or science text book that is fun and engaging and all those other things?" I think the name hiSTORY certainly takes it in that direction all ready. The Oak Meadow Ancient Civs book combines the two well, (for the level it's written at), and we have a couple of others that work that way. Could you write a Biology text that would read more story like?
From Alex: I think that one could write certain aspects of a biology book in an engaging story manner, but other parts would be neigh on imposable to convey in that manner. Has anyone watched "What the Bleep do we Know"? This movie tries to do something like that. I think that to be able to truly connect which a story there must be characters for us to empathize with and know, even if these characters are not human they are anthropomorphized and caused to be human with human feelings that we can empathize with, thereby allowing us to connect with them. I think this would be difficult to do in a biology or math textbook. How would it be done?
From Amanda: So, now I'm picturing little math symbols chatting with each other about what happens when they are mixed up with numbers and other symbols. It's starting to look like a soap opera in my head... EEK!!!!!
From Orion: If a text (say Chemistry for example) was written in a style conducive to Evaluation and Connection (again examples), would this make it also easer to do all the other "active" things too? It would certainly be much more fun to read.
I think that the fun of all studying is connecting it all together, like a puzzle. So if a, perhaps, series of text of, say, all the core classes were built to take information from one another, this would necessitate reading "actively" to some extent, and would not stumble upon the problem of forced anthropomorphism. I think that this would be a way to write a text in an engaging manner. The connection between the topics more than in the the reader and the character would be the intriguing part. This interconnection of the information may not be interesting to others, but I think that this would be great. Also this is not strictly the form of connection that is used in "active" reading, but I thought that this was pertinent none the less. This has already been done to some extent with the Oak Meadow books and other books I have not used, if others know about some such books I would enjoy reading them at some point.
