Chapter three begins with a girl that wishes she could read without the constant interruptions from her teacher to look at the passages that were just read. I remember feeling that way. I was usually the "off-task" student that just read ahead while the class discussed the story. Then, of course, I would be embarrassed when I didn't know where we were. I always chalked it up to my impatience but I guess I really was like Chloe and a bit bored with the constant analysis of the text. I actually read chapter three on the treadmill and got a little "lost" in it. I was amazed to see two miles had passed by so quickly while I read. I closed my book and thought about the chapter as I ran the last mile of my workout. Allowing a time to reflect on what was read is also a good idea for students.
I think reading should be viewed like exercise. When people (especially adolescents) first start, it might be reluctantly but with the addition of a comfortable environment, less interruptions, and getting into a routine, it becomes a task that is welcome. SSR or Silent Sustained Reading seems to come and go in the world of education. Like so many things, we want to put it in the day, then take it out of the day in our constant search for the right combination of teacher centered and student centered activities. Differentiating instruction is important but giving kids a routine that includes quiet one on one time with the book, article, newspaper, or other written material of their choice is one of the MOST important parts of the day. I also think it is effective for the teacher to model good reading habits. A read aloud time for the group and/or a time when the teacher sits reading but in a position where they can glance up from their book to supervise, if necessary shows the students that they care enough to read too.
The Kill-a-Reader Casserole that Gallagher lists on page 73 is fantastic. I'd like to see some recipes for Addicting-a-Reader Casseroles. Perhaps: Take one student-selected piece of literature. Place in a comfortable, calm, cool but well-lit environment. Do not stir. Quietly chill for at least twenty minutes. Signal a time to stop. Allow to sit at room temperature and become incorporated for five minutes. Share your experience amongst peers and you may just find your next "dish" to sample! =)
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Reflecting on Chapter Two of Readicide by Kelly Gallagher
First of all, let me just say that I love Kelly Gallagher's writing style. It is so readable and engages my mind. I find myself nodding my head as if someone is sitting before me having this conversation with me. The description of being on the other side of the airplane while those on the right hand side of the plane got to experience an "amazing" view of the Grand Canyon is priceless. I have felt that same sense of wishing that I could see the view. We weren't over the Grand Canyon but I do recall being on the plane headed to Toronto and the pilot telling the passengers to look out and see the beautiful view of Niagara Falls as we passed over. Well, I did not have a chance of seeing out from where I was sitting on the aisle. I saw lots of clouds.
The illustration of the Bridge to Prison in the book is an excellent depiction of being in that same "blind" state. I did not know anything about the story of Senator Stephens from Alaska. Once I read what the background information was about, I understood. Word Poverty is a tough place to be and hard to get out of, in my opinion. If you have spent the first six years of your education absorbing vocabulary like a sponge then you are better prepared for middle and then high school. You have the foundation necessary to build upon with an advanced curriculum. However, if you have grown up in a home with little or no reading materials then you need access to materials to "catch up" as much as possible and you need INSPIRATION! Students often shut down when they realize they have a deficit in some area, especially middle school students. Middle school students can be super sensitive about their own inadequacies. In order to combat this, the techniques used to approach their vocabulary development needs to be exciting to them, something that they can feel successful with, and then they will be "hooked". The "endangered minds" of our youth in America is staggering to me. They are the ones that are going to be in the work force in the next decade. It is essential that they learn how to find information and read/comprehend that information before voting, operating machinery, or any other serious task. I can remember years and years of reading current events, recipes, magazine articles, and brain teasers. These items gave me a variety of types of reading to experience along with the fiction, non-fiction, and reference materials that the library provided. My teachers provided supplemental materials in their classrooms either at their own expense or the school's. My husband and I subscribe to various publications for ourselves and our children and rather than throwing them out or putting them into the recycling bin, we take them to our classrooms to enrich the reading lives of our students.
In my classroom, vocabulary is a big part of what I teach. Describing words for art, cultural awareness, and expressions are filled with vocabulary. We look at works of art and talk about who created it and where they lived. We discuss what life was like for the artist and how they did that particular technique. I use language arts references like nouns being a person, place, or thing and how we can use that same definition for the subject matter in a work of art. Spatial concept, geometry, and symmetry are vocabulary terms that cross over into math. I love it when they make the connection that art can incorporate all of the academic subjects and apply them into a new creation.
The illustration of the Bridge to Prison in the book is an excellent depiction of being in that same "blind" state. I did not know anything about the story of Senator Stephens from Alaska. Once I read what the background information was about, I understood. Word Poverty is a tough place to be and hard to get out of, in my opinion. If you have spent the first six years of your education absorbing vocabulary like a sponge then you are better prepared for middle and then high school. You have the foundation necessary to build upon with an advanced curriculum. However, if you have grown up in a home with little or no reading materials then you need access to materials to "catch up" as much as possible and you need INSPIRATION! Students often shut down when they realize they have a deficit in some area, especially middle school students. Middle school students can be super sensitive about their own inadequacies. In order to combat this, the techniques used to approach their vocabulary development needs to be exciting to them, something that they can feel successful with, and then they will be "hooked". The "endangered minds" of our youth in America is staggering to me. They are the ones that are going to be in the work force in the next decade. It is essential that they learn how to find information and read/comprehend that information before voting, operating machinery, or any other serious task. I can remember years and years of reading current events, recipes, magazine articles, and brain teasers. These items gave me a variety of types of reading to experience along with the fiction, non-fiction, and reference materials that the library provided. My teachers provided supplemental materials in their classrooms either at their own expense or the school's. My husband and I subscribe to various publications for ourselves and our children and rather than throwing them out or putting them into the recycling bin, we take them to our classrooms to enrich the reading lives of our students.
In my classroom, vocabulary is a big part of what I teach. Describing words for art, cultural awareness, and expressions are filled with vocabulary. We look at works of art and talk about who created it and where they lived. We discuss what life was like for the artist and how they did that particular technique. I use language arts references like nouns being a person, place, or thing and how we can use that same definition for the subject matter in a work of art. Spatial concept, geometry, and symmetry are vocabulary terms that cross over into math. I love it when they make the connection that art can incorporate all of the academic subjects and apply them into a new creation.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Chapters 1 and 2 of Improving Adolescent Literacy
My own experiences with literacy...Well, I started reading in kindergarten. I remember the Dick and Jane books that we read at school and then brought home to read our parents. I loved them. I have an older brother and I wanted to be able to read because he could read. I must say that school was fairly easy for me. I was blessed to have a mother that stayed home and helped us learn. We weren't wealthy by any stretch of the imagination but we had the basic needs and a few books to read. We went to the public library and checked out books too. I learned to read and then was ready to read to learn. I have seen so many struggling elementary students trying to read to learn when they never really finished learning to decode the words. It is sad. They fall through the cracks.
I did not LOVE reading in middle and high school. Even the coursework in college was a bit tedious to me. When I finished college, I became an avid reader. My husband even caught the reading bug from me. We have decided that we were never given the opportunity in school to choose what genre that we identified with the most. Kids need to "buy in" to the material in order to foster their interest. Now, that is not to say that textbooks, trade books, picture books, etc...should not be an everyday essential. I am just saying that it is important for teens to find a place where they can fit in the world of literary works. I think that group discussions like book talks are a fantastic way to reach adolescents. I use think, pair, share in my art classroom frequently. It is a great way to get thoughts generated. Each member of the group gets to participate in the discussion. I remember teaching at Lamar County Middle School where we ALL taught reading. I actually had a decoding group. We were an America's Choice school. Reading and literacy in general was our main focus. The kids loved the variety and pervasiveness of the Principal's Book of the Month. Every teacher had a copy and used it in their classroom throughout the month. I read to the students selections while they created artworks to go along with the narrative, or biography, or whatever genre we were studying for that month. I really enjoyed that school wide implementation of the book.
I did not LOVE reading in middle and high school. Even the coursework in college was a bit tedious to me. When I finished college, I became an avid reader. My husband even caught the reading bug from me. We have decided that we were never given the opportunity in school to choose what genre that we identified with the most. Kids need to "buy in" to the material in order to foster their interest. Now, that is not to say that textbooks, trade books, picture books, etc...should not be an everyday essential. I am just saying that it is important for teens to find a place where they can fit in the world of literary works. I think that group discussions like book talks are a fantastic way to reach adolescents. I use think, pair, share in my art classroom frequently. It is a great way to get thoughts generated. Each member of the group gets to participate in the discussion. I remember teaching at Lamar County Middle School where we ALL taught reading. I actually had a decoding group. We were an America's Choice school. Reading and literacy in general was our main focus. The kids loved the variety and pervasiveness of the Principal's Book of the Month. Every teacher had a copy and used it in their classroom throughout the month. I read to the students selections while they created artworks to go along with the narrative, or biography, or whatever genre we were studying for that month. I really enjoyed that school wide implementation of the book.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
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