The social dimension requires creation of a sense of community and collaboration within the classroom between students and teachers. The emphasis on it being an inquiry to reading, without the power structure of teacher/student instruction, sets up an atmosphere of approval for questioning their skills and sharing confusions. This atmosphere would be ideal to have in all classes so that there was a sense that everyone was working together to facilitate learning. The impact on the students from knowing that mistakes were expected because everyone encounters texts that they struggle with, even teachers, seemed to be freeing for the students. To illustrate this point, they had students bring in texts like song lyrics to share with the class. The teachers tried to figure out what was meant in the language of rap, and the students were made to feel like experts (or Masters of the secondary Discourse of current slang, as Gee would say). By sharing out loud the strategies they were using to find meaning of unfamiliar terms, the teachers were also showing the apprentice readers various techniques in action.
Students were given a common vocabulary to use, including terms like metacognition, schema, fluency. As one teacher stated on pg. 55, " We treated students like real partners, and they seemed to like knowing that we were doing what the 'experts said' would make a difference in their reading."
The mental actions of reading were emphasized so that the students were aware that there is a difference between " 'reading with your mouth' as opposed to 'reading with your mind'." Thinking about thinking was introduced and as the authors state, middle and high school students are already so self-absorbed that this concept was not unfamiliar to them. Using something seen as a detriment to learning (students' focus on self and identity at this age) and turning it into a positive was brilliant.
Once students were able to recognize some of the problems they encountered while reading, they were given specific tools to use to help when they were confused by text. I thought they were excellent ideas and so I am sharing:
1. Ignore the unclear part and read on to see if it gets clearer.
2. Re read the unclear part
3. Re read the sentences before the unclear part.
4. Try to connect the unclear part to something you already know. (p.58)
2. Re read the unclear part
3. Re read the sentences before the unclear part.
4. Try to connect the unclear part to something you already know. (p.58)
these strategies are pretty similar to the ones in the book i am reading. she talks about how it is good to let your students know how you read when you encounter a difficult text. i think that is a really good idea, particularly with older students. i have to re-read all the time, especially with really fry art historical stuff with information that i need! reading is not always exciting...but with some of these strategies students can stay focused and not get lost...hold onto the information they have read.
ReplyDeleteoh...and i love the video by the way!
Thank you for sharing those strategies. I agree that it is beneficial to have students describe how they need help, and take ownership for their learning. I like students having to think about thinking and learn about learning, because I believe it gives them a broader perspective of how things work, and why they work the way they do.
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