The Literacy Stampede

  Take out your notebook and a pen/pencil.  Everything else in backpack against a wall.  On your “What Should I Read” page, list at least six of the books you have enjoyed most: Right Now What should I read? 3 Best Books Lord of the Rings Hunger Games Divergent Fault in Our Stars Eragon Lion, Witch, & Wardrobe

... you hear rumbling in the distance. It sounds like thunder approaching, but as the rumbling grows louder, you see a dust cloud rising over the ridge in front of you. At that moment it dawns on you that hundreds of wild bulls are stampeding over the ridge, bearing down on you. They are faster than you and there is no time to escape. What should you do? You’re standing in a field, minding your own business, when suddenly...

 a)Lie down and curl up, covering your head. b)Run directly at the bulls, screaming and trying to scare them in another direction. c)Turn and run like heck in the same direction (even though you can’t outrun them). d)Stand completely still; they will see you and run around you. e)Scream bad words at your parents for insisting on a nature vacation in Wyoming. Survival experts recommend one of the following:

 The correct answer is C: Turn and run like heck in the same direction. When encountering a herd of bulls, you should “not try to distract them... If you cannot escape, your only option is to run alongside the stampede to avoid being trampled. Bulls are not like horses and will not avoid you if you lie down—so keep moving” (Piven & Borgenicht 1999, p. 49). According to the Worst-Case Survival Handbook

  More information was produced in the last 30 years than in the previous 5,000 years combined.  A weekday edition of The New York Times contains more information than the average person was likely to come across in a lifetime in 17 th -century England.  Information is doubling every four years.  The blogosphere is doubling in size every six months. The Literacy Stampede

  The Internet is the fastest-growing communications media in world history. To reach 50 million users,  radio took 38 years  personal computers took 16 years  television took 13 years  the Web took 4 years. The Literacy Stampede

  In 1984, the average SAT score (reading and math) for UF freshmen was It’s now around  The new SAT has close readings and on-demand writing, requiring a higher level of reading and writing than ever before.  Of the 31,820 students who applied to UCF last year, 17,392 – more than half – were turned down. Getting into college is more competitive than ever.

  Unskilled jobs are disappearing due to outsourcing or technology.  More than 80% of companies in service, finance, insurance, and real estate – the companies with the greatest growth potential – assess writing during hiring.  Half of all companies take writing into account when making promotion decisions. The job market is changing.

 “Among young adults who finish high school, 23 percent who seek to enlist cannot score highly enough on the military’s exam for math, literacy and problem-solving to join the military” (Robert Farley, Feb. 26, 2016). The military is no exception.

... The ability to read and write will determine how far you will go in this world. For the most part, people who read and write well will compete and prosper; people who read and write poorly will be left behind. There is a literacy stampede approaching, and it is bearing down on top of you. What should you do? You’re growing up in the Information Age. More than ever before...

 a)Curl up on the sofa, watch YouTube, and hope the literacy stampede goes away. b)Stare the Information Age in the face, screaming and hoping to scare it away. c)Elevate your reading and writing so you can run with the stampede. d)Stand completely still. Pray the Information Age will avoid you. e)Scream bad words at your parents for conceiving you during a literacy stampede. Survival experts recommend one of the following:

 Work hard at your literacy skills, or risk being trampled by the stampede. The Choice

 Academic success is correlated with the number of words a student reads in a year.  Students in the 60 th percentile read about ___________ words a year.  Students in the 98 th percentile read about ___________ words a year. The Numbers

 Academic success is correlated with the number of words a student reads in a year.  Students in the 60 th percentile read about one million words a year.  Students in the 98 th percentile read about ___________ words a year. The Numbers

 Academic success is correlated with the number of words a student reads in a year.  Students in the 60 th percentile read about one million words a year.  Students in the 98 th percentile read about five million words a year. The Numbers

 The Million-Word Challenge

 1.Use your phone or a class computer to put your favorite-book titles into WhatShouldIReadNext.com. 2.Read more about each book on Amazon. 3.Record titles of books you’d like to read on the “What Should I Read” page of your notebook. We’ll be going to the library tomorrow to check out books. If you are in the middle of a book, bring it with you and you may read in the library. WhatShouldIReadNext.com

 Kelly Gallagher, Teaching Adolescent Writers. military-eligibility-statistic/ Credits