(From the theme of Beers's book....)
Dear Dr.Pytash,
Thank you so much for all you have done for me this semester. Coming into your class as a Social Studies student was a completely different experience than I have had my entire undergrad. The ideas and concepts to help students along with comprehension in the classroom have really hit me hard. I really and honestly can't wait to use them in a classroom. I enjoyed coming to class every week, and really enjoyed the literature you introduced me too. I have dipped my toes into the young adult literature genre, but now I am totally diving head first. I know some may think this as brown-nosing, but I just want you to honestly know how I feel about your class.
I am pretty sure I will use more methods and got more ideas on how to use literature in the classroom that I have in any other class. I am glad When Kids Can't Read was picked for this class, since I really learned a lot about struggling readers that I never would have without the text. I have definitely become more conscious about struggling readers in the classroom and have the tools to begin to help them. I also am motivated to incorporate literature into my Social Studies classes more than ever.
Thank you Dr. Pytash for everything you do...you have truly made a difference in my life.
Yours Reading,
Sara
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Chapter 14: Finding the Right Book
"I also had to learn that while I wanted lots of characters, non readers often wanted few. I wanted a complicated plot; they wanted straightforward. I wanted to grapple with the biggest human issues set upon the individual human heart and consciousness while they wanted Captain Underpants." p.282-283
We have been exposed to a lot of books in class, and I'm very thankful for that since I love to read and have now been exposed to the world of young adult literature.
Beers gives some things to think about when picking books, some of my favorites are:
-white space (students can become overwhelmed with tons of text page after page)
-funny books (there is nothing better than a book that can make you laugh out loud, and I would think it would be nice for students to realize that)
-characters who face though choices (since most teens have this in common with the characters)
-realistic (I know language can be a barrier, but teens talk like teens....so it makes sense to put it in a book)
Beers talks about how to sell the books to the students, some of my favorites she lists are:
-Read and Tease
-Good Books Box
-Know your students' interests
Along with Dr.Pytash's list of places to find books, Beers provides great sources.
Yours Reading,
Sara
We have been exposed to a lot of books in class, and I'm very thankful for that since I love to read and have now been exposed to the world of young adult literature.
Beers gives some things to think about when picking books, some of my favorites are:
-white space (students can become overwhelmed with tons of text page after page)
-funny books (there is nothing better than a book that can make you laugh out loud, and I would think it would be nice for students to realize that)
-characters who face though choices (since most teens have this in common with the characters)
-realistic (I know language can be a barrier, but teens talk like teens....so it makes sense to put it in a book)
Beers talks about how to sell the books to the students, some of my favorites she lists are:
-Read and Tease
-Good Books Box
-Know your students' interests
Along with Dr.Pytash's list of places to find books, Beers provides great sources.
Yours Reading,
Sara
Chapter 13: Creating the Confidence to Respond
"Our dependent readers don't believe they can succeed and they don't believe they have anything to offer. You must believe for them." p.280
Beers tackles the topic of confidence of the student in the classroom. Thinking about being in a classroom and having the nerve to speak up and say what is on your mind has always come easy to me. I do think a lot of that has come from me being a confident reader, outgoing person, and being accepted in the classroom. Teachers need to encourage their students and make the environment comfortable to speak in. Beers gives some ways a teacher can help with the environment: Make sure students know each others names, Embrace the diversity in your classroom, and make sure there is ZERO tolerance for put downs.
These don't always let students know it is okay to respond in the class so Beers also makes it known that teachers should also provide the students with various ways for engagement. Several of her suggestions are:
-personal response log
-response notes
-very small groups
-in-class literature circles
-online literature circles
Beers also makes it known that picking an appropriate text is important, you need to think about the level of your readers and also the subject matter that is covered in the book. Picking something out of their level range and something they are totally not interested in will not result in them finding reading fun nor important. This is where SSR can fit in, making the students know what is available for them to read and that they have many options should be something presented in class. Beers seems to cover this in Chapter 14 about picking the right books.
Yours Reading,
Sara
Beers tackles the topic of confidence of the student in the classroom. Thinking about being in a classroom and having the nerve to speak up and say what is on your mind has always come easy to me. I do think a lot of that has come from me being a confident reader, outgoing person, and being accepted in the classroom. Teachers need to encourage their students and make the environment comfortable to speak in. Beers gives some ways a teacher can help with the environment: Make sure students know each others names, Embrace the diversity in your classroom, and make sure there is ZERO tolerance for put downs.
These don't always let students know it is okay to respond in the class so Beers also makes it known that teachers should also provide the students with various ways for engagement. Several of her suggestions are:
-personal response log
-response notes
-very small groups
-in-class literature circles
-online literature circles
Beers also makes it known that picking an appropriate text is important, you need to think about the level of your readers and also the subject matter that is covered in the book. Picking something out of their level range and something they are totally not interested in will not result in them finding reading fun nor important. This is where SSR can fit in, making the students know what is available for them to read and that they have many options should be something presented in class. Beers seems to cover this in Chapter 14 about picking the right books.
Yours Reading,
Sara
Chapter 10: Fluency and Automaticity
"It's so important to remember that students don't develop automaticity via decoding but rather through repeated exposure to a word they can decode."
I like how Beers really tried to hammer in the fact that reading automaticity will lead to fluency. I also like how she pointed out the fact that when we think we are helping students by providing them with the word we are helping them out. I will be the first to say it is hard to listen to a struggling reader read aloud when they have problems with fluency and I do have problems myself with just giving them the word they are searching for, and I will work on that.
My two favorite improving fluency suggestions from Beers is:
#2 Give varied opportunities to hear texts (I think this is important so that we can really help the reader connect with the text.)
#3 Give the students the opportunity to reread. (We have heard from Beers earlier how important and beneficial it can be to reread a text with her To Kill a Mocking Bird reference.)
Yours Reading,
Sara
I like how Beers really tried to hammer in the fact that reading automaticity will lead to fluency. I also like how she pointed out the fact that when we think we are helping students by providing them with the word we are helping them out. I will be the first to say it is hard to listen to a struggling reader read aloud when they have problems with fluency and I do have problems myself with just giving them the word they are searching for, and I will work on that.
My two favorite improving fluency suggestions from Beers is:
#2 Give varied opportunities to hear texts (I think this is important so that we can really help the reader connect with the text.)
#3 Give the students the opportunity to reread. (We have heard from Beers earlier how important and beneficial it can be to reread a text with her To Kill a Mocking Bird reference.)
Yours Reading,
Sara
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Chapter 9: Vocabulary
“It only took my struggling readers about one week to figure out that if they were honest and listed all the words they didn’t know, they would have very long lists; so instead. They didn’t choose any.” P. 177
Vocabulary to me means getting out flashcards and reviewing them until my brain can’t possibly hold anymore information for the day!! I think calling certain vocabulary work ‘TV Work’ is completely correct, since in college and in high school I would sit in front of the TV or be chatting with friends while I was reviewing my flashcards.
The Word Across strategy is really cool, since it makes the students think about how differently one specific word can be used in different contexts. This will not only expand their vocabulary, but hopefully expand their comprehension with different meanings of words.
The Word Collection is a great strategy in classrooms. I observed and taught in a classroom where the teacher used this strategy, and would then put up the words all around the room, by the end of the year she would have a ‘boarder’ of words around her room. This was really neat because the students could look around and really get a feel for all the words they now knew. This was also in a US History class, in which the students needed to know a lot of vocabulary for the OGT.
The Logographic Clues is a great way to give the ‘flashcard’ a makeover. Drawing a picture to connect with the word, and still writing the definition and other information about the word is a great alternative to typical flashcards. I can see this being used in a Social Studies classroom, or specifically in a geography classroom.
Vocabulary is important and so many teachers have always done it in the same way, but I do think these strategies can be used to enhance student vocabulary….without the specifically knowing we are working ON vocabulary!!
Yours Reading,
Sara
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Chapter 8: Extending Meaning
"That limited vision is particularly damaging to dependent readers. These students, more than any others, need activities that bring the invisible process of comprehending to the visible level." p. 175
This chapter was once again very useful when thinking about using strategies in a Social Studies classroom. While I have been reading I have been trying to envision myself using strategies in the classroom, because for me I have to come up with my own ideas how to use the strategies to incorporate them into a content area classroom. This has helped me, but it also takes me a little time to sort things out in my head to find a place for some strategies in the classroom.
Scales
The Likert scale would be good in the classroom because it concentrates on the idea of themes, conflicts, and symbolism. These are always concepts that Social Studies teachers are trying to get students to grasp. Creating the scales doesn't always seem as easy as one would think. Beers talks about how you have to use scales that require reflection and thought, which not that creating one wouldn't , but I feel that the scale would be something that would/could be tweaked each year (like almost all other things) to better the learning experience.
Somebody Wanted But So
I love this for the Social Studies room. The scale and the process, would work really well in a history, geography, government, economics, and MANY other Social Sciences classes. This would eventually push the student towards the concepts of the time period. I am looking forward to using this in a classroom....someday....someday. (If I can obtain a job :-P)
Save the Last Word for Me
Once again...never heard of this strategy, and really like it! Like Beers says, it is completely perfect for those students who are afraid to speak up in class for fear they are wrong or shy. This is also a very good way to make sure when students are in group work, there isn't only a few students participating.
Over the span of reading this book, I keep finding myself more anxious to get into MY OWN classroom!! I hope the opportunity will come soon for an interview and I can talk about my knowledge, and I can eventually whip out my arsenal of strategies and really make a difference. Now I just need an interview....
Your Reading,
Sara
This chapter was once again very useful when thinking about using strategies in a Social Studies classroom. While I have been reading I have been trying to envision myself using strategies in the classroom, because for me I have to come up with my own ideas how to use the strategies to incorporate them into a content area classroom. This has helped me, but it also takes me a little time to sort things out in my head to find a place for some strategies in the classroom.
Scales
The Likert scale would be good in the classroom because it concentrates on the idea of themes, conflicts, and symbolism. These are always concepts that Social Studies teachers are trying to get students to grasp. Creating the scales doesn't always seem as easy as one would think. Beers talks about how you have to use scales that require reflection and thought, which not that creating one wouldn't , but I feel that the scale would be something that would/could be tweaked each year (like almost all other things) to better the learning experience.
Somebody Wanted But So
I love this for the Social Studies room. The scale and the process, would work really well in a history, geography, government, economics, and MANY other Social Sciences classes. This would eventually push the student towards the concepts of the time period. I am looking forward to using this in a classroom....someday....someday. (If I can obtain a job :-P)
Save the Last Word for Me
Once again...never heard of this strategy, and really like it! Like Beers says, it is completely perfect for those students who are afraid to speak up in class for fear they are wrong or shy. This is also a very good way to make sure when students are in group work, there isn't only a few students participating.
Over the span of reading this book, I keep finding myself more anxious to get into MY OWN classroom!! I hope the opportunity will come soon for an interview and I can talk about my knowledge, and I can eventually whip out my arsenal of strategies and really make a difference. Now I just need an interview....
Your Reading,
Sara
Chapter 7: Constructing Meaning
"For too long we've told them to "think carefully" about what they've read without showing them how to do that thinking." p. 137
This chapter was a nice link to Chapter 5, since we were actually able to read strategies to help students with the ability to inference while they read. The idea that Beers presents about beginning to inference before the reading even starts is a very good point. How should we expect students to comprehend and predict what will happen without even knowing a basis about the text.
The examples I really liked were Say Something, which just happens to be one of the strategies my group is working on in class. The chart with the stem starters was a really good idea to place in the classroom or on the overhead during a Say Something activity.
The Rereading section of the chapter really made an impact on me, and I was actually able to implement it into a classroom today. One of the volunteers in the Kindergarten class I was subbing in began talking about how the students had already had a book read to them the day before, and I was able to talk about Beers's book and how rereading can actually be beneficial to students. I LOVED the example Beers gave about her daughter and reading To Kill a Mocking Bird through the different school years.
The post-it notes activities I have used frequently in the classroom with my students during my student teaching and practicum. It was very nice to know I was doing something in the classroom, which was reinforced in Beers book to helping students with comprehension and the ability to inference.
Yours Reading,
Sara
This chapter was a nice link to Chapter 5, since we were actually able to read strategies to help students with the ability to inference while they read. The idea that Beers presents about beginning to inference before the reading even starts is a very good point. How should we expect students to comprehend and predict what will happen without even knowing a basis about the text.
The examples I really liked were Say Something, which just happens to be one of the strategies my group is working on in class. The chart with the stem starters was a really good idea to place in the classroom or on the overhead during a Say Something activity.
The Rereading section of the chapter really made an impact on me, and I was actually able to implement it into a classroom today. One of the volunteers in the Kindergarten class I was subbing in began talking about how the students had already had a book read to them the day before, and I was able to talk about Beers's book and how rereading can actually be beneficial to students. I LOVED the example Beers gave about her daughter and reading To Kill a Mocking Bird through the different school years.
The post-it notes activities I have used frequently in the classroom with my students during my student teaching and practicum. It was very nice to know I was doing something in the classroom, which was reinforced in Beers book to helping students with comprehension and the ability to inference.
Yours Reading,
Sara
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