Chapter Nine

Growing up, my vocabulary lessons were exactly how Beers describes them: get words on Monday, study them throughout the week, and quiz on Friday, and to be honest, I do not think I could remember any of those words even if you paid me. I always figured using the context of a sentence would help students, but I never considered that they would only be getting the gist of the words; hence, not being able to use it in other situations. I like that Beers explains that while contextual clues may aid the student in understanding a passage or sentence, but more than that is difficult for the students and that he/she may not be able to use the word in conversation or writing (186). Beers goes on to explain an idea, which I considered to be the quintessential statement about vocabulary and our students. She basically says that because students need more than just definitions and context clues and because dependent readers may not understand these, we must teach how words work (188). This can be done through prefixes and roots, which would help students, understand how words are put together and how they can define a word by the letters within it (188).

I really enjoyed the suggestion about using a word hunts. I think Beers is correct when she says that we, as teachers, “must delight in the vocabulary that authors offer” (191). I think that by creating an environment with students where vocabulary cannot just be a word you do not know, but rather a word that you find funny, interesting, or cool to look at is something that would be greatly beneficial to students. This activity would help students to expand their vocabulary, in an environment that does not give them the stress of a quiz and is not focused on the students memorizing the words, but rather enjoying them, which seems as though it would be much more effective.  

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen I found to be a particularly important chapter because of the relevance to all students. I have found that both dependent and independent readers both struggle when it comes to picking out a book or actually being interested in reading to begin with. Most of my students usually pick a book based on length and what the front and back cover look like, but it’s hard when older books have not-so-modern covers. I think it’s important when introducing a book to students to make the books relevant to students. As teachers we stress that teachers get to know their students, but this fact also has to transfer through to the materials used for the students as well. Beers agrees stating that as teachers, we should ask our students what they look for when they want a book. I really enjoyed the idea Beers had when she discussed making a list for students. There are a lot of my students I found that would reply with the “I dunno” type of attitude; I feel that the list would be a great way to give students an outlet to start the discussion about what they want to read.

Furthermore, I thought it was smart that Beers suggests that the plot should start with a lot of action right away. Our students live in a world full of instant gratification so I think it is important to think that for them books should be no different. I think that when it comes to books students are quite reluctant to actually pick one up on their own, let alone while doing it for a class. When it comes to students books are their kryptonite and it is vital that we make as appealing as possible and I think that Beers gives good advice on how to make this possible.

Chapter Eight

After reading strategies appear to be the most important strategy when it comes to having students truly understand what they read. I liked the way that Beers explained that students are still thinking once the reading has stopped and that although they may not have done anything during the book and that they did not understand it, a teacher can still go back over it with the student so that they understand. My favorite after reading strategy was Text Reformulation. I thought that this strategy would be enjoyable for the students because it could harness their creative side, while still encouraging them to “identify main ideas, cause and effect, relationships, themes, and main characters while sequencing, generalizing and making inferences” (Beers, 2003, 160). As shown by the example in the classroom, this type of strategy really had students discussing critically the text as well as with one another. Another great thing about this strategy is that students are never bombarded with questions, but rather come up with the answers on their own and in their own way. This type of teaching I find particularly appealing because I think it is important for students to figure our ideas and concepts in a way that works for them, not just because it is the way that I tell them. Granted, if they are going about it completely wrong, it is my job and an educator to correct them, but for the most part I think it is vital for students to develop their own minds.

I also thought that the Save the Last Word for Me strategy would be one particularly great for a lower level class. I have found in my internship that when I am covering lower level classes there are only two or three students that actively participate in discussion. I think that the reason why is exactly like Beers states, that some students anticipate they are going to be wrong so they just choose not to speak. I think that this strategy is great for these students because it gives them a chance to participate and helps to establish confidence in them and their reading ability. It also is good for the teacher because it allows he/she to see what the student is struggling with in his/her reading.  

Chapter Seven

During-reading strategies I have found to be mostly driven by discussion of the book. Last week in my internship I had to teach a class of ninth graders, in which I was introducing them to Romeo and Juliet. While we began reading I noticed that the students had a lot of questions about the book. I was very nervous, especially since my supervisor was visiting the class, but I decided to explain the book as we read. I made sure to stop along the way and asked the students questions, giving them time to ask me questions as well. So while reading this chapter, I noticed the Say Something strategy, which I think would have been perfect for this situation. I like this strategy because it promotes discussion, while still having teacher influence. I do disagree with Beers though, when she says that sometimes students can pick their own partners. When I was in my Educational Psychology course, my professor made me consider those students who may not have anyone in the class and also how a class may have students who are always in a group and never get things done.

I made sure to pay special attention to Beers’ explanation of the Think Aloud strategy because it seemed that this strategy would be a great way to have dependent readers learn how to become a good readers. I think that when doing the think aloud strategy it is important to connect the reading and thinking to things that your students can relate to. This makes me think of when we did the exercise in class and Christine was able to bring in a lot of relatable topics in her think aloud and how doing something similar in my think alouds would create a real connection for the students.  

Chapter Six

Chapter six introduces different reading strategies that are key elements of a good reading classroom that creates independent readers. One of the elements that seemed to be brought up again and again within the strategies is that it is imperative for students to revisit the information after they are done reading.  I found this to be helpful because it allows students to fully reflect on what they have read and whether or not their opinions about the theme or characters have changed throughout the book. I also thought that by doing this with the students it would help develop their independent reading skills because they could perhaps apply the same thought process to another book, or by reflecting on the book expand their minds when it comes to controversial topics, as seen in when the teacher was introducing his students to The Diary of Anne Frank. When reading this section I liked that the teacher’s questions seemed uncensored, not that they were inappropriate, but I feel as though teachers today have to be so careful about what they ask students, especially relating to controversial topics, For example, when reading books pertaining to the Holocaust it is important to ask the students controversial questions in order for them to understand the severity of the situation, as well as to gain a deeper meaning into the lives of people such as Anne Frank.

I think that the probable passage is the reading strategy that I would most likely implement the most into my classroom. I think that it really draws upon students’ creativity and allows them to develop growth in things such as vocabulary. I appreciated that Beers put her worksheet for probable passage exercises into the book because it breaks down the way she wants her students to think. I think by doing a worksheet such as this, it helps the students to know what is expected of them and in which direction they should be focusing their thinking.

Chapter Five

When it comes to inferences, it is important to realize what they are.  Through these chapters it has become obvious to me that in order to become an effective teacher it is important for us to reflect on our own learning and realize what we do. This will in turn aid our students on what we expect them to do when it comes to reading. Some of the suggestions that Beers uses for how to help make inferences section, I found to be helpful, such as doing think aloud exercises with the students. However, when she discusses using a comic strip or cartoon as an aid I found this to be something that I think would be focused for younger children. Granted Beers states that when students do not understand a cartoon, “Most often, students bring in political cartoons” (71). While I do think having the students challenge themselves would be beneficial; it would definitely take some time to get to that point, making sure to establish a strong sense of inference first. As I do my readings, I try to think about and consider the students that I intern for at Bristol Central and what would work for them.  

I think that for these students, using more literature that appealed to them, such as music lyrics, would help them greatly. I believe that using this type of reading would get them engaged and then would get them to create their own inferences and meaning of the words. Furthermore, I think it is important to remember when it comes to students making inferences that they will create those implications based on their own background knowledge and things that they can relate to and have seen before. I make it a point to stress to my students that the beautiful thing about reading is that everyone interprets and infers meaning differently and that as long as there is evidence supporting that point, it is possible.

Chapter Four

It is always important to remember that when it comes to teaching students, one has to be specific. I learned this fact the first day of my internship when I was asked why the student had to do the work. A simple “because I said so” does not suffice with students and it should not. This same attitude should be applied when teaching students comprehension and understanding of reading. I enjoyed that Kylene Beers discussed how vital it is to be specific when asking students questions such as, “what is the main idea of the story?” Granted, it was kind of hard to follow her during the paragraph of questioning and re-questioning, but there was value in the advice she was giving. When it comes to the student mind, it is crucial that we, as teachers, model what we want the students to do as well as using different strategies, such as the think aloud, to demonstrate to the students what it is that they are looking for and what it is we want them to say.

I was pleased when Beers brought up the constructivist teaching theory; it reminded me of my Current Instructional Trends class.  In that class we focused on the different teaching theories and how as a teacher you must pick one to abide by, but at the same time you can incorporate other strategies if it fits the lesson that you are teaching. I found that Beers touched upon this when discussing her take on the constructivist theory and how she also adopted the teaching strategy of being direct and explicit in her modeling of the reading strategies. Also, the discussion she had with Kate hinted toward the fact that lecturing the students, the rote instructional theory, although easier, is boring for both the teacher and the student. I enjoyed that this difference was brought to light through the very specific discussions that were written between Kate and her students and Kate and Kylene Beers.

Culture of Reading

In my classroom I hope to create a safe environment for my students in which they feel comfortable reading. In order to accomplish this I plan on putting up quotes on the wall of different poetry and music so that way the students feel connected to reading and also so that they realize the impact of words and language on their everyday lives. In addition to this, I hope to create a library of different books for the students that will be dived into section by author and genre so that way the students, if they find a type of book that they enjoy, can pick another book to read that maybe they would not have thought to read. I believe that it is important to establish a sense of community and comfort for the students so that they will feel good about reading. I think that perhaps by having a couch or pillows or some kind of reading corner will help to create this type of comfort and community that I want.

I have also found in my internship that it is necessary now to explain to students why they have to do things and why things are important in their lives. To do this I plan on explaining to students why reading is so important and incorporating other media and forms of reading into my classroom so that they will realize why knowing how to read and enjoying reading is so vital to their everyday lives.

Chapter Two

Chapter Two focused on what makes a struggled reader; I could not agree with what Kylene Beers wrote more. I think that it is important to allow students to realize that mistakes are not failure and they are not something to throw in the towel for. In order to succeed, one must make mistakes so that he/she may learn from them and learn the correct way to accomplish a task. It is important to instill this in students, especially since the main reason why their confidence usually gets shattered is because they make the association that mistakes are failure. Lack of confidence in a dependent reader not only causes the reader to not enjoy reading, but causes him/her to have issues when it comes to “comprehension, vocabulary, word recognition or fluency and automaticity.” (17) These issues can carry over later on in life and may create concerns in other aspects of the student’s life; hence why creating independent readers who can use tools and strategies to cope with struggles is key.

When Beers discussed how she, herself, was a struggled reader when reading Beloved and her VCR programming manual, I thought about how important it is to show your students that you struggle too. I know that in my internship, students constantly complain to me that they think that teachers hold themselves on pedestals, so I think it is definitely a necessity to acknowledge to your students that you have struggles in reading as well. I once covered a class with students whose reading levels were at sixth grade, instead of being able to read like the sophomores they were. I had them read aloud, and allowed them to sound out the words; which seemed to work. I myself began the reading, and stumbled on some of the words (as most do when reading aloud). I really believe that this helped create a safe environment for the students and that once seeing my struggle; they realized mistakes are natural and that sometimes reading slow and right is better than reading fast and incorrect.