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.