I found this chapter and the text to be very interesting and very easy to read. Even though I have to read this for an assignment I am liking how easy it is to follow along. I really enjoyed the first story about how she went to Denver to work for the day to teach the students reading and comprehension. She read the text the students were reading about viruses. She found it very boring and said so in her lecture. The teacher came up to her afterwards and asked how she could say that viruses were boring? He then told her about all kinds of interesting articles he read on them and how they might cure cancer. Her final remark was awesome!! I actually clapped when I read it. She said, “Then why aren't you using those articles with your students?" So awesome!
Then she talks about her purpose. The purpose of what this book and her life’s work it trying to accomplish. She is trying to find the best way to teach students how to start being proficient readers and writers while comprehending the material. A good point that she made is that learning to read is an ongoing thing. It doesn’t just stop in elementary. I definitely see this as true because I don’t feel that I became comfortable with reading until I reached my mid college years.
Tovani feels that we should teach the students a few good strategies and not gimmicks or techniques. If we can give them some core strategies and they can master them they will be better prepared to take on any reading. Along with her teaching regular high school students she spends most of her time helping other teachers better able to teach content reading.
When I entered college it wasn’t a teacher or a class that helped me to start to understand the text and become a better reader. I used to hate to read. I would try to get away with the smallest amount of it as possible. If we had to read a book for class I would only do the smallest amount necessary. In college I was introduced to fantasy books by a friend I worked with. I then started a series and was so interested in the content that I was unable to put them down. I soon read the whole series and was hooked. I started to get my hands on other fantasy series. I was loving to read so much that I even moved into fiction, self help, and even a couple non-fiction. I was soon addicted to reading. I would hate to have to drive because I couldn’t read. Then I got into audio books. I now never have any music on and always have an audio book playing in my car. Then I can read my other books on my free time. I now currently love to read because the content pulled me in. I believe comprehension has to do with content.
I agree that motivation for reading needs to come from within oneself. No matter how enthusiastically I read 'The Lorax' to my students, there will be those students who have no desire to pick up on its message because it has no value to them.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to reading about how your book will address the issue of motivation.
Hello Anna,
ReplyDeleteI like that story and how she starts her text and life’s work by this introduction that put the reader in the context. It is an attractive. The reader can live there and share the experience with the author who clearly state her purpose and how to prepare proficient readers & writers. I totally that learning does not stop and should not stop, yes it is ongoing process. I will keep reading your post about this book.
I like how you really connected to this chapter. When you finally found something you were interested in, you found out that reading could be fun. I think we need to keep this in mind with teaching our students reading techniques today. They need to be connected to the text and have an interest to ask questions to succeed.
ReplyDeleteI like how you put the part in there where she is being told be the teacher about all the viruses, and made him explain, and then she put it out there that it needed to be more interesting, so he should use the articles he found.
ReplyDeleteI think it is always important to make your lesson fun, no matter the subject, otherwise you are going to lose your whole class.
Your book seems to be really interesting, I think the story that you told about the author is a bit sad, because is something that happens everyday in the classroom. Teachers go for the "boring" texts when they know there are some out there that will catch the students attention, but somehow they are not as relevant and dont include them. It is important that students have an interest on what we are reading.
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