[Reading-hall-of-fame] The Reading of Magic

[Ken Goodman]

Tom's interesting discussion of reading books on magic is a wonderful 
example of how the reading process is adapted to particular genre. I 
think one could develop a similar rationale for how any strong highly 
motivated interest in a particular genre can promote productive reading 
development. Readers learn to read by reading and all texts teach as 
Margaret Meek Spencer has written. Cook books offer a similar 
opportunity for reading development. So do the How-to self help books 
that many men who don't read much else learn to read with great success.

I can't resist adding my favorite magic joke: A magician is performing 
on a world war II troop ship. A talking parrot , part of another act 
keeps heckling the magician."Fake" Phoney" etc. Finally the magician 
gestures in anger at the parrot. Just then a German torpedo hits the 
ship. Half an hour later the parrot lands on the piece of floating 
debris that the magician is clinging to, "Ok, so you're pretty good. So 
where's the ship,"says the parrot
Ken Goodman

tsticht at znet.com wrote:
> September 15, 2009
>
>
> The Reading of Magic
>
>
> Tom Sticht
> International Consultant in Adult Education
>
>
> In 1946, my family moved into a new house in which there was a large walk-in
> closet. On one of the shelves I came across a small, brownish book entitled
> For Magicians Only by Robert Parrish published in 1944. This set me off on
> several years of reading, practicing, and performing as an amateur
> magician.
>
>
> Over half a century later, thinking about all the reading and studying of
> magic books that I did, I have come to think that that sort of reading is
> important in promoting literacy skills which were valuable then and are
> still valued today.
>
>
> Visualization and Imagination
>
>
> Magic books as a whole generally follow a plan in which the first thing that
> the reader is asked to do is to imagine the Effect. Here the author explains
> what the trick looks like from the point of view of the audience. The reader
> has to imagine the trick as it is being performed and visualize what the
> audience’s reaction might be. This sort of practice in visualization and
> imagination is valued as a strategy for improving reading comprehension in
> a number of programs, including those for helping those struggling with
> dyslexia or other learning disabilities.
>
>
> Reading to Follow Directions/ Multiple Literacies
>
>
> After the Effect has been explained, the reader of a magic book then goes to
> the explanation of how the trick works and a step-by-step explanation of how
> to do the trick. This promotes very accurate reading and careful thinking
> about what is being read to get the trick to work correctly.  It may also
> involve developing “multiple literacies” when accompanying illustrations
> are provided showing how to hold your hands, where to place your fingers,
> etc. in learning a sleight-of-hand manipulation.
>
>
> Metacognitive Processes
>
>
>
> The reading of magic books promotes a lot of thinking about thinking. For
> instance, one of the keys to success in performing magic tricks is to be
> able to control the attention of the audience using what is called
> “misdirection.” Here the student reading magic books is tutored in various
> ways to get the audience to focus attention one place while the magician is
> doing something in a covert manner. In this case, the magician has to think
> not only about his own thinking, but also that of the audience. This 
> “thinking about thinking” is often referred to in the field of reading
> instruction as metacognition.
>
>
> “Multitasking” With Oracy, Literacy, and Behavior
>
>
> A key part of any magician’s performance is controlling an audience’s
> attentional, perceptual, and conceptual processes by getting the audience
> to construct a particular thought sequence based on their prior knowledge
> of the world. This the magician does by means of his “patter”, which is the
> speech (oracy) made in setting up expectations for the trick and the talk
> that goes along with the performance of the trick. This promotes skills in
> taking the viewpoint of the audience in framing one’s spoken language, the
> enhancement of comprehension by reading by incorporating written language
> from the magic books into the spoken language, and memory control by
> “multitasking” with speaking and listening to guide audience attention
> while also thinking about and  performing covert actions to produce a
> magical effect.
>
>
> Persistence and Practice
>
>
> One of the cautions given to the new reader of magic books is the importance
> of practicing a lot before attempting to perform a given trick for an
> audience. That same advise is appropriate, too, for anyone aiming to
> develop high levels of reading ability. You need to persist in doing a
> large amount of reading in some area of interest.
>
>
> In this regard, in her seminal study of the lives of 60 dyslexic men and
> women who had made highly successful lives as well educated adults, Rosalie
> Fink reported that one of the most important factors in the success of these
> adults was their persistence in taking on arduous reading tasks.  She says, 
> “Driven by curiosity and a passion for knowledge, they read avidly (although
> slowly) to find out more about their topic of interest, engaging in what
> Jeanne Chall called “reading to learn”. (p. 2)
>
>
> The lesson is that persistence and practice, practice, practice is the trick
> to the development of expertise in any field, including the reading of magic
> to develop the magic of reading.
>
>
> Reference
>
>
> Fink, R. Successful Careers: The Secrets of Adults with Dyslexia. 
> (retrieved online August, 2009 at the web site of the Career Planning and
> Adult Development Network).
>
>
> Tom Sticht
> tsticht at aznet.net
>
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