Even though throughout reading this textbook I already
trusted Daniels and Zemelman because all of their recommendations and
strategies really made sense to me, it was very interesting to see all the
studies and research that went into the making of Subjects Matter. There were
a few points that stood out to me in this last chapter.
The first was there reassertion
that “students should read a wide range of materials and genres of text in all
classes” (pg. 294). Over the course of
the semester this has become a point that I really agree with. As adults we come across a huge variety of
texts. We read doctor’s reports, tax
forms, legal documents, blogs, e-mails, and our books for pleasure. If as teachers we only take the time to teach
our students how to read Shakespearean plays or Poe’s poems, how are we
preparing our students for life after high school? That’s not to say reading those things aren’t
important, but there is so much more out there our students should be ready to
encounter. And the fact that they feel
confident when they do encounter these texts is what lets us know that we did a
good job during the four years we had with them.
The second was that “students should read plenty of materials written at a comfortable recreational level, and gradually move up toward more challenging text as the necessary supports are in place” (pg. 298). At least from my own high school experience, I feel that this is something that gets forgotten much of the time. There is this big focus on challenging students to read at or above grade level, to have them analyze and pick apart texts, and draw new conclusions from what they read. We forget that students can’t analyze and synthesize if what they are reading does not make sense to them. Becoming a better reader is not like becoming a better athlete. If you want to train to be a better athlete then you play against people who are better than you. Even if you lose it doesn’t matter because the fact that you were challenged helps you to be faster, stronger, and make better decisions. If a student “loses” when he’s reading then he does not take away any positive lessons. He starts to feel that he is not a good reader, that he can’t do this, and that he’s falling behind. These feelings don’t motivate students, but give them all the reasons they need to give up. Becoming a better reader happens when the student is successful. If a 9th grade class is learning how to find the themes in a text it should not be taboo to do it while reading something that might be at a 6th grade level. We should only want to be teaching one new skill at a time anyway. The lesson is about themes, not about reading complicated words or phrases. We will get to finding themes at a 9th grade reading level eventually, but starting slow builds confidence and still helps the student practice reading even though it’s “below their level”.
The second was that “students should read plenty of materials written at a comfortable recreational level, and gradually move up toward more challenging text as the necessary supports are in place” (pg. 298). At least from my own high school experience, I feel that this is something that gets forgotten much of the time. There is this big focus on challenging students to read at or above grade level, to have them analyze and pick apart texts, and draw new conclusions from what they read. We forget that students can’t analyze and synthesize if what they are reading does not make sense to them. Becoming a better reader is not like becoming a better athlete. If you want to train to be a better athlete then you play against people who are better than you. Even if you lose it doesn’t matter because the fact that you were challenged helps you to be faster, stronger, and make better decisions. If a student “loses” when he’s reading then he does not take away any positive lessons. He starts to feel that he is not a good reader, that he can’t do this, and that he’s falling behind. These feelings don’t motivate students, but give them all the reasons they need to give up. Becoming a better reader happens when the student is successful. If a 9th grade class is learning how to find the themes in a text it should not be taboo to do it while reading something that might be at a 6th grade level. We should only want to be teaching one new skill at a time anyway. The lesson is about themes, not about reading complicated words or phrases. We will get to finding themes at a 9th grade reading level eventually, but starting slow builds confidence and still helps the student practice reading even though it’s “below their level”.
The third point that stood out to
me was how we can teach students to read by having “teachers make their own
reading habits and processes visible by regularly reading aloud and by
explaining and modeling their thinking about content-area texts” (pg.
299). Dr. Abrahamsen (RIC math
department) often reminds his students “Math is best read with a cup of coffee
and a pad of paper”. This could not be
truer. When you are reading a math text
you need to follow along, do out the examples, and check your understanding at
each step.
Search on google for a mathematician working and there is not a single picture of a person statically reading. The only way to learn math is by reading and doing. Students can't just be expected to know this is the way though. It's the job of the teacher to model this and give them a space to practice this.
Reading one page of a math book should not take the same
amount of time as reading one page of a storybook. This is something I really want to make sure
my classes understand. It may take more
time initially, but the gains you make from practicing proper math reading
strategies are enormous. You gain a
clearer picture of the material and if you work problems out for your self you
will remember the process and the results for much longer.
I want to set myself a goal for my
first year teaching. I don’t want to
fall back on what I'm comfortable with. I don’t want
to settle for just doing math at the board and having students copy the routines
and just learn the steps. I want to
bring literacy into my classroom and I want to bring reading into math. Students in my class will be able to answer “Why?”
at every step along the way. They will
know how what they are doing on Monday connects to what they did last Friday,
what they did last month, and what they did three years ago. They will know how it connects to what they
will do on Friday and what they will do at work or in college. I’m writing this here to set the challenge,
and now I have to meet my goal because now a bunch of other great future
teachers know what should be going on in my classroom.
Hey Brian,
ReplyDeleteI really loved that point about allowing students to read at their own comfort levels as well. Growing up it was definitely my experience that this was a taboo thing for students to do. Especially in subjects like science and math, we rarely had chances to engage with the content at or below our reading level first to understand the content. This made subjects like math and science especially difficult because we were learning the academic vocabulary, writing in that content and the idea themselves. Sometimes its beneficial for students to read a lower level, understand the content then learn how to read and write it in a more challenging way for that content.
Another thing I really loved was your goal that you put here out in the open. This was a great addition and conclusion for your blog post after reading Subjects Matter. Especially for a future math teacher, it's great to know I may have a colleague some day who expects more from his students and wants them to get a deeper education. Rather than just drills, memorization and copying math problems, you're determined to teach students why you feel the subject is so important, and why it's so important for them as well. You'll definitely have some grateful and intelligent students!
Hi Bryan, reading your post and Michela’s comment reminded me of something that I heard about at the RI Science Teacher’s Association conference a couple of months ago. I was in a session where the presenters described various literacy techniques that they had success with in their classrooms. After the presentation, some of the other teachers in the group were providing some resources that they've used to find text to bring into their classrooms. One teacher mentioned using “The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That” books in her middle school classroom. I was pretty surprised to hear this because this series is something I read to the preschoolers at the daycare where I work. Originally I was thinking that it would be kind of silly to bring these books into a middle school classroom. However, the books do contain valid information on a number of topics that can be presented to students in fun, no-pressure way. Allowing students to read something that is at a lower level can help them become more comfortable with reading while still obtaining information in the content. You made a good point when you said that we don’t always have to focus on getting students to read at or above grade level. While I would not want middle schoolers to be reading only “The Cat in Hat Knows a Lot About That” books all the time, once in a while they might be a fun and easy way to get some information. Maybe some of these books would be worth keeping in my teacher library.
ReplyDeleteBryan,
ReplyDeleteI think it is very compelling that this book has helped you great a new goal for your future teaching: to include reading and literacy in the content. As a future English teacher it is really reassuring to know that there are other teachers in other contents that are willing to go the extra mile for their students in regards to literacy and reading. Too often is it that English teachers are given the huge responsibility of teaching students to read. The truth is that we need help, and reading is a skill that is essential for all students to acquire for all contents. Thanks for taking the leap to further your students' reading in the future.