Hey guys!
Sorry for being so late, I did not think about adding another post for us to tag our responses onto.
So, here it is. Please post as close to Tuesday at midnight as possible to help our Discussion Director in having plenty of time to prepare for Thursday's book club meeting.
Thanks!! :)
Beginning with the introduction may not have been the best idea. It was interesting in some parts, but seemed to drag on in others. I think my favorite part of the text was the connection to the story of the Titanic. I think it is a great way to incorporate History, reading, and writing in regards to learning about immigration policies from the past. It seemed to me that the focus on vocabulary is also a great focus for improved knowledge and understanding. To relate to my student teaching, I was grading exams with my mentor teacher today and all of the students got what seemed to be an obvious and easy question wrong. When I asked the teacher why he thought this happened he answered, “Because kids don’t have the vocabulary skills that they used to”. I thought this was so interesting that this chapter had incorporated the stressed importance for vocabulary on the same day my mentor teacher happened to mention his thoughts on the matter.
ReplyDeleteAnother great concept the reading focused on was the incorporation of different forms of literacy that went beyond that of the standard textbook, for example the incorporation of art, poetry, outside reading (novels, literature), among others. I think it is imperative to incorporate a variety of literacies into the classroom in order to better prepare students for future classes and for their own advancement in literacy. This topic reminded me of the article we read regarding ‘multiliteracies’ in that it gives examples and explanations as to why a firm existence of different literacy skills is imperative to learning. These various types of readings will also promote student interest in history as well as improve their historical and analytical thinking.
Reading this first chapter, what jumped out at me was the use of nontraditional texts the authors were using in their classrooms. Many mentions are made of using poems,literature, photographs, etc. in order to provide students with a wide variety of reading materials that may engage them in reading history. I particularly liked the idea of using the movie Titanic to connect students with immigration.
ReplyDeleteThis first chapter was about building a foundation for reading success. Many of the ideas provided I had seen before, particularly in A Handbook of Content Literacy Strategies. It was helpful to see strategies from that book used in a real life classroom as a way of improving content literacy.
One thing I really liked was reading about how teachers were able to adapt once they saw a strategy wasn't working. I am talking specifically about how one of the authors saw that creating a K-W-L chart with her class wasn't successful because the students had no meaningful connection with the topic at hand. In light of that, a new strategy was developed to better help the students connect to historical events while still developing literacy (Writing to Learn).
I liked the emphasis that was put on words in this chapter. What I mean by that is the authors provided strategies for remembering key social studies vocabulary. These vocabulary words will undoubtedly be seen in future social studies units, and by developing students' knowledge of these words early on they are more likely to identify them later on.
just checking to see if this works...
ReplyDeleteokay I didnt realize i needed to post so here we go...
ReplyDeleteas i was reading through the introduction and chapter one and i decided that overall i liked it. i think that the book lays out information out in a great way.
it was great to read things we've been studying about in class and in methods with a different outlook on it. i think its great to see some of these methods and information on literacy practice being put to use.. such as teachers adapting to different situations with different strategies.
i really appreciated that we picked a book that has a lot of visuals -- i needed that in order to deeply understand what we have been doing in class.
i really am interested in "stealing" an idea from our book for our demos.. they look like it will be a lot of fun for my students and i think it would be a good idea to try it out and see what flows good and what things may need to be worked out.
lf
This is the 3rd time I've tried posting this. I don't know why no one can see this!
ReplyDeleteHere's my response to this week's book club:
Overall, I felt that the strategies the book focused on was okay. I was really against the "Anticipation Guide" and "Story Impressions" because I felt that they weren't "usable" in the a 9th grade or a high school atmosphere. I mean, let's face it, what would students really write using those words? Also, the Anticipation Guide seemed like a classroom brawl waiting to happen. I don't think it would be a good idea to bring such touchy topics up for debate. However, I am open to playing around with the format/ structure of these strategies to make it work.
What I really enjoyed about this book was the numerous examples that were supplied. For me, personally, I loved seeing examples of student work after the strategies were discussed. It helped connect what I was reading, and to an extent, trust it more. It's similar to a science experiment, I can't work off just a hypothesis, I need to see the data and results!
Lastly, I really was put out, so to speak, when I read the quote at the beginning of the chapter. It made it seem like I was going to read about a depressing case of students who do not excel in reading or writing. The quote, however, was completely opposite to what I read and saw throughout the first chapter. I really wish that wasn't placed there. Although it may be the truth in present day classrooms, I felt that the quote is so off-putting. Can't we be happy and literate for once?
I'm sorry you are having some technical issues and just some issues in getting into the groove of posting. It's key to do this at your deadline so that you can better have a conversation in class that goes deeper, helps the DD, etc., to do that better.
ReplyDeleteI encourage you to to be more specific in your references to this reading and in making connections. I really like what Lutivija says more generally here and what Alyx and Jen N say a bit more specifically (see other comments in other blog posting for Emily).
Jen, in particular, you point out the value of seeing the results with the strategies. That's one of the things that some of these book clubs do that our general text doesn't. I'm so glad you've picked up on that and see its value! I also think it's important to underscore that almost ALL strategies you see will need adaptation. That's how you should always be approaching any introduction of methods and so you don't throw the method out without thinking about it's potential value, the need it addresses, and possible adaptations. I feel like our strategy study memos help us "practice" this way of approaching curriculum and instruction. Look forward to seeing your F/U on your discussion!