Chapter 9: Vocabulary

I started out reading chapter 9 thinking, "This sounds exactly like my high school." On Monday I would get new vocabulary words, study them for the test on Friday, and forget them by the time I got out of school for the weekend. As I look back on this, I feel cheated. My vocabulary could be so much better if only my teachers had followed the recipe for Vocabulary Treat on pg 177.

The first thing that stuck me was the recipe cards at the beginning of the chapter. All I could think was what a great idea! I think that if a teacher was at a point were she didn't know how to teach a certain subject, vocabulary being one example, she could have her students make these cards. She could then keep them in a "recipe box" of ideas! This way students would be more likely to enjoy and learn from the lessons.

Another thing I really liked about this chapter was the vocabulary tree. I also learned better with visuals, and I think this would be perfect for students like me. They could be worked on as a class on the chalkboard when a new root word was introduced, and then copied at the end of the class to be put in the students binders.

The section of the chapter that I was most interested in was the section that talked about reading aloud and using SSR. It really amazed me that reading is were students hear the most uncommon words. I thought about how Dr. Pytash starts each class by reading an excerpt from a young adult novel. Before reading this chapter I was thinking about doing that in my class at the beginning of each week, but now I am certain I will. This section stresses how important reading out loud to your class really is. Not only does it get kids interested in reading what they like, but it reenforces vocabulary. I also thought it would be a good idea to have students keep an in class log of those texts they read outside of class. Encouraging them to read at least one outside book every nine weeks.

It also brought up how important silent reading in class is. This surprised me because I have not had many teachers who do this. I understand why-- it takes up instruction time. But according to this chapter it is extremely important. I think that I will try to set aside 10 minutes at the end of each class period when I am a teacher for individual reading. This time can be used to finish up reading that is for class or to explore books that students can be reading independently.

Chapter 8: Extending Meaning

Once again Beers has provided a chapter full of great reading strategies-- this time for after students read. I would like to focus this blog entry on two of my favorites, Somebody Wanted So and Most Important Word.

I really liked the idea of using Somebody Wanted So in the classroom. I think that summarizing really shows how much a student is comprehending. To do this they need to understand character, plot, main ideas etc. It is a great way to link a story together in a students mind and make it make sense.

I also really like the most important word. As can be seen by figure 8.12, this activity hits many aspects of a book that the student would have just finished. Characters, conflict, plot, setting, and theme are all listed. One thing I particularly like about this one is that it gives the student some freedom to think. Not all of the kids are going to come up with the same word, but that doesn't mean they can't all be right. It is a way for them to take the story, learn what it is about, as well as sharing what they thought was important about it.

Chapter 7: Constructing Meaning

Chapter 7 gave some great examples of how I can, as a teacher, help kids while they are reading. One of my favorite examples was the strategy of rereading. The example with Mr. Bell telling his students to reread the chapter 3 times surprised me at first, but it turned out to be a great way to show students how much more they can get out of reading the second and third time around. One thing I would be sure to tell my students after they have done this and see its value is when to do this. Obviously they don't need to reread each chapter three times every night. They need to know, now that they see that rereading helps, when are appropriate times to use this strategy. I was thinking this after I got done with the story about Mr. Bell's classroom, and I was surprised to find out that I was completely correct in my thinking. About 4 pages later, figure 7.5 shows just that. It shows a student's list of when she needs to reread. I think this is a terrific idea to help kids see the practical uses of rereading after they learn that it is important.

Chapter 5: Learning to Make an Inference

While reading chapter 5, I was once again struck with how easily it has been for me to read and how much I struggle to understand how a student in high school would have a hard time making inferences. The difference made between the two classroom studies amazed me. There was such a difference between the class that was having an in depth discussion about the passage and class that could not make any sense of it.

One thing I enjoyed about this chapter was the section that gave us ideas about how to help students make inferences. I loved the idea of taking a few minutes and reading a passage from a book and discussing how to use inferences in that situation. For those teachers that worry about teaching how to read taking up too much time, this is perfect. Just a few minutes each day will help kids understand how to make inferences.

I also liked the idea of bringing comics, signs, and bumper stickers into class and making inferences about them. This could help students connect this reading strategy to real life. It would be a fun mini-lesson to have.

Chapter 6: Frontloading Meaning

This chapter had very good ideas for pre-reading comprehension strategies. I never realized that what we do before we read a book affects our comprehension so much.

One strategy that I had never heard of before was an Anticipation Guide. It is a great way to get the students thinking about the difficult topics that many books bring up. It was interesting to see how much student discussion these things generated in the discussion presented in the book. The classroom in the example was buzzing with discussion before they had even started to read the play.

I also thought the Tea Party was a great idea. One, it gets students up and moving. Two, it helps them understand concepts and how things fit together. At first when I started reading about the activity I thought, " What if they get it completely wrong!?" But then I began to understand that it's more about helping them predict and set the stage for reading, not being right or wrong.

Chapter 4: Explicit Instruction in Comprehension

This chapter did an excellent job at explaining how we are to teach students comprehension strategies. When Beers told the story of Al, I loved his question, "How do I know unless I already know?" How do you answer this question! This really showed me how important it is that we as teachers show our students how to do the things we ask them. Beers is constantly saying that she expected her kids to just know how to do things and that by simply telling them "how" they would understand. I am learning that this is not the case.

I can also say that I learned a lot from the transcripts Beers provided of the student teacher Kate. Her first discussion with her class is probably exactly how I would have gone about doing it: initiate, respond, evaluate. Seeing the difference, though, between her first and second time discussing "Eleven" really taught me how important this Explicit instruction is and what it means.

Chapter 3: Assessing Dependent Readers' Needs

This chapter was very frightening for me in a way. Although I loved how Beers used different students she had as examples of all the reasons why kids might have trouble reading, it was very intimidating to know that there is not one set reason why they are struggling. I understand now that there is no main reason that all dependent readers struggle. There are a million!

While a million might be a bit of an exaggeration, that is what it feels like. Figures 3.1 and 3.2 in the texts show how many different things as teachers we may need to do depending on what our students are struggling with.

Reading the examples of students she supplies in this chapter really showed me how diverse these struggling readers can be. While Mike is clearly in need of immediate help, I don't know if I would have noticed Amy's problem. When Beers first introduces us to Amy, she sounds like a great reader. I think of someone who has problems with reading as someone who does not participate in reading exercises and when they do they stumble over words. Amy was not like this at all. She was quite good at reading the actual words. Her problem was more hidden then the others. At first glance she seems fine. Reading these makes me hope that by the end of this class I will be able to recognize when students are having troubles (even when they are not so obvious) and that I will be able to have the knowledge base to help them.

Chapter 2: Creating Independent Readers

The first thing that stood out to me in this chapter was the statement that anyone can be a struggling reader. As I thought about this, I knew that it was true. I have been a struggling reader at times, even though I love to read and do it often. Sometimes I may struggle through a book that was written a long time ago and I don't understand the language used, or I may struggle through a textbook. What separates someone like me from students that "can't read" is that I am an independent reader. Until reading this chapter, I never realized everything that I do when I read that helps me when I struggle. As I looked at the image on page 16 of our book, I was shocked to think that some students don't use these strategies. They have come so naturally to me that I was unaware that some kids don't even know how to use them.

This chapter really helped me to understand why kids "can't read." Up until the beginning of this class I had not thought about having high school students in my class that have difficulties with this. I now know that I will have to be on the look out for this in my class and that it is my responsibility to help them.