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.