Chapter 14 Reflection

Chapter 14 begins by describing a scene that occurs often in middle schools. A teacher is persuading students to read, as she shoves book after book in their hands, while saying, "you'll love it!" You may even want to call this pressuring-- a tactic that will almost surely turn the struggling or uninterested middle school student away. The author writes open and honestly about her struggles with students in the past. Though always having good intentions for her students to succeed in reading, she conveys throughout the chapter that at first, she went about it all wrong. She finally came to the realization that she was "handing students books that she loved, instead of focusing on what the students might enjoy." She also realized that is was time to make a change, and adjust to the students a bit more. Simply asking students why they like or dislike certain books would be a good way to start. From this, teachers can use various comments as a tool for introducing them to books they may enjoy in the future. For many students, books can be overwhelming. That is why it is important to think of all of the things that make books "easier" to read: thin books and short chapter, white space, some illustrations, well-defined characters, plots with a lot of action, mysteries, funny books, and realistic language. By considering the student's desires, they will read more. "Students like to read when we let them read what they like" is a quote from the text that may have a large impact on giving struggling readers a chance to dive into the world of reading.

Connecting Students to Culturally Relevant Texts

After reading the packet over culturally relevant texts, I became aware of the need for students to read texts that they can relate to. I found it interesting to note that "Freeman reports on research she conducted with students in Arizona when she used miscue analysis to compare students' reading of a culturally relevant book, that had little cultural relevance." The students who read the culturally relevant texts ended up more able to produce a better retelling. It becomes apparent that students are able to retain more information when they feel they can relate to the subject on a higher level. In the aritcle, the author spoke of Francisco, who chose to read books that he felt connected with his background and cultures. Through such books, his "English profiencey" became better. It is important to understand that not all books about different races are necessarily relevant to one's culture. The articles reads that "culturally relevant books connect to student's lives, not just to their cultural heritage." Teachers must include culturally relevant texts in their classroom library, as it helps the students engage more in the reading process, as well as open up their eyes to the world.

Chapter One Reflection

After reading Chapter 1 in "When Kids Cant Read," I have come to a better understanding on the idea that not all teachers start off with the notion of how to teach students to read. The chapter really interested me, due to the idea of a well educated UT graduate struggling in the classroom. I appreciated the authors honest approach to her struggles throughout her first few years of teaching middle level students. I, too, have thought about how exactly one is supposed to teach students to read. It is interesting to note that one of the most powerful thing a struggling reader can do is to just "show up." As many struggling readers are not interested in reading, they become less interested in school as a whole because so much of it revolves around reading. The author went on to point out that there are varied reasons for why many readers struggle. Thus, it is important to remember that not all students are alike, and therefore, will all learn differently and have different paces of learning.

Literature Circles "T" Chart

WHAT THE SITE SAYS: WHAT INTERESTS ME:
Students choose their books Giving choices allows for more participation
Groups meet to talk about books Allows for a low-stress environment for kids
Evaluation is by teacher and student observation Evaluation is unbiased
New groups form after each lit. circle Students interact with new groups
Groups are reader response centered There is no "right" answer, opinions matter