I used to get in trouble in English class (or whatever it was called in elementary/junior high). We would read out loud and take turns going around the room, and the other kids read so slow - I would have a normal sized novel tucked inside my school literature book and try to hold it so the teacher couldn't see and I could read what I wanted at my own pace. But 8-year-olds aren't as sneaky as they think. I'm pretty sure now that the teacher always knew and only rarely scolded me.
I think as Oak was saying, the digitial use of the written word exposes gradients of literacy. Even for those who are very well-spoken, I notice lots of written errors that bookworms are less likely to make, such as the your/you're, they're/their/there, and (sorry to rehash) apostrophes to pluralize or even change verb tense ("she run's to the store"). Kids who read voraciously at younger ages seem to internalize those rules.
Sorry if this was brought up, didn't quite make it through all of the comments...and now I'm going to go back into my hole until the weekend. Already worked 40+ hours the last 3 days and now I'm getting sick (again).




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