Chapter 5 of the text, Strategies that Work, hit home for me. I can recall numerous times throughout my primary educational career where I was force to read something in particular. I was hardly ever given a choice on what I had to read, whether it was for summer reading, book reports, or even free time. I remember specifically that in 3rd grade I was forced to read the current class book and wasn’t allow to go grab one of the books about baseball, even if I had already finished the class book! In chapter 5 the authors explain the power literacy holds when it related to the lives and concerns of those who read it. I couldn’t agree more.
In the beginning part of the chapter we are told as future teachers to thinking about how short texts can move us. We should be reading newspapers, magazines, poems, travel books and any thing else that has words on it. If a piece moves us, we should save it, think about why it moved us, and try and find a way to incorporate it into a lesson in the future. When collecting a short text though it is importance to consider the purpose, audience, genre, topic, and writing quality. Not all short text pieces that you think are wonderful are going to be good for 3rd graders.
The text goes on to say that when choosing short text for comprehension instruction it is important to pick something that your students will be able to activate and connect background knowledge to. When you read about topics you already have prior knowledge to, it is more likely that you will connect new information to what you already know in order to come to a fuller understanding. I believe that this is especially true. When I was in elementary school I always wanted to read about things that I was currently involved in. Going back to my 3rd grade example, I wanted to read the book about baseball because I played baseball and it was interesting to me. As a teacher, it’s important for us to help children find books that are interesting, not too challenging, and not too easy. We are looking to introduce children to their “just right” books.
Picture books are an interesting topic that is also discussed within this chapter. Personally, I have little experience with using picture books, both during my elementary school years and as a college student. However, I believe that they have great potential for getting through to children that may be reluctant readers or linguistically diverse learners.
I think that picture books are viewed to be solely for younger children. Reading over this chapter, I feel that I would be able to incorporate them into an upper elementary classroom setting. I believe that older kids would have a blast trying to come up with an explanation for what is going on. I can picture a 5th grade class where picture books have the students intrigued and excited.
I also agree that choosing books makes students more enthusiastic and excited about reading. In most of my elementary school education I can barely remember picking the books that I had to read. And in high school I remember choosing one book my senior year to read off of a list of about twenty-something books. Other than that, in high school we had no choice as to what to read. In certain cases it was enjoyable, such as when we had to read Night by Elie Wiesel but it wasn't so enjoyable when we had to read Moby Dick. This made me hate reading at the time, which is really sad to say.
ReplyDeleteI think that short texts are a great way to encourage reading in children. When books are big, it can automatically be a turn off for those who struggle with reading. If students see small texts they might not feel as overwhelmed, and in turn may enjoy the reading more.
The books that I had to read in high school were so uninteresting to me that a few times I just didn't read them. We would have a test when we came back to school on the book but usually I could get a decent grade by just reading random a synopsis on the internet the day before the test. It's not that I hated to read though, I actually was reading other books during the time, it was just that I couldn't bring myself to read about something I wasn't interested in. I think that schools need to reassess their summer reading programs and give students an option for books they could read.
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