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.
ED 630: Reading & Adolescent Literature
Sunday, June 10, 2012
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.
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.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
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.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
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.
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.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
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.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
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.
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.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
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.
Friday, April 20, 2012
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.
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