Nancy, Bonnie, Jenny, Bobbie, MarySusan, and Barry, showing us how you used the role sheets in your book club was important. It gives us an idea of what it looks like and how it works with our students. Did you all like having the role sheets or did you feel they were too restrictive? Do you think you will try book clubs with your students?
On to the writing...
You all impressed me with your writing. Thank you for being so open and willing to share.
How did you feel about using Quickwrites? What are some of the benefits of using them with your students? If you use them, please tell us how it goes. How did you feel about being asked to write? Did you enjoy the writing time? Did I give you enough time?
After reading Chapter 4 in Subjects Matter, what are you thinking about? What about textbooks vs. other genres, choice vs. assigned, fiction vs. nonfiction, classics vs. contemporary, hard vs. easy, etc...
Please respond to our January 8th meeting under this comment thread.
8 comments:
I really enjoyed this reading. It is so true that students do not learn/"turn off" when only texts are used. I quit that practice many years ago. I love seeing students on fire about a subject that they have researched and learned about from different sources. One of the biggest helps to me in this reading was the list at the end of the chapter. I am going to have to restock my library because lots of books have "walked off," but that is also a good thing. It shows that the students have engaged with that author and that reading outside the room is happening. This was one of the most useful readings we've had in a while.
I think it is important for us to pull reading materials from areas other than the textbook. For example, I have found some children's books which can help make the tie back to the lesson. For example, the tortoise and the hair and tie it to "keeping an eye on the competition". I also continously find articles from The State Newspaper and The Wall Sreet Journal and either provide for the students or read aloud. My classes also have a book pass scheduled and we will incorporate silent sustained reading each day.
I agree wholeheartedly with Daniel and Zemelman’s “balanced” approach to balanced reading in the classroom. This brought to mind a book a college friend recommended to me years ago—The Professor and the Madman, an interesting nonfiction read about the compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary. That kind of reading can help ignite a learning passion or even a passion for language, English, literature, etc., in our students—not to mention helps make the learning much more tolerable on a daily basis. And if the textbook passage is still necessary, perhaps students will connect with and understand it better coupled with the more interesting nonfiction.
Concerning covering the textbook and standards, I believe we must be honest with ourselves—and with those at the state department and in the legislature: we can’t cover it all. There is no way to sufficiently cover all standards in one year, much less one semester. The only other option is to cover very well a shorter range of topics, as suggested. Our speaker at this weekend’s conference confirmed this—we can’t teach everything but we also can’t half-way cover many things.
One of the big questions in English is the classic canon literature versus the modern adolescent literature. I agree that we should offer a balance of older and modern texts, with male and female authors, of varying cultures. We do our students a disservice intellectually and emotionally to offer them a slim range of texts. Yes, we must meet students where they are and tap into those personal connections they make with literature, but we must also ask students to push themselves approach and explore what is different and difficult. I think this is our greatest call as teachers—to expose students to and move them beyond where they are at a certain point. Otherwise, why go to school, why learn, why do anything that alters your current perspective and state of ability or skill?
I agree that nonfiction can be used to supplement the textbook. One year I was doing a long term sub in a reading class and one student who was a behavior problem would only read information about sharks, so we found articles about sharks. He also read Jaws. At that time there was only one Jaws so we couldn't use the sequel. This worked for him.
This Sat. at the conference, I was in the book club group with teachers from Airport. The psychology teacher talked about having her students read five articles every two weeks on a psychology related subject in addition to her book club for them. They list the sources in MLA citation form, give a summary, write an interpretation/opinion and make an analysis/realworld connection. The articles come from Discus, so the students make use of this free source that they can use in class or at home. They also print the articles (the shorter ones) and the teacher files the copies away for a day when the computers or printers aren't working in the Media Center. She has the articles, she pulls them, and the students can still do the work. Not sure how this fits into copyright. Her teachable moment has an extended time period. But...Discus would be an excellent source and "the other stuff" on the Internet has been filtered for you.
Easy vs higher level reading for students: If the students are readers, I think they should be challenged to try to branch out from their comfort zone and try Dickens or Bronte or Austen or... Many times they won't do it on their own so we have to make this a required part of their assignment. These students will find the time to read what they want to read.
This was amazing, quick writes are the trick. When I think of writing promps I think of topics or ? or maybe a profound statement.
I never dreamed that they could touch the depths of your soul trully.
I found myself with ideas, feeling, and emotions that I have
not experienced or let myself express.
I know that this can modivate students to be confident in there writing.
I think you need to use with silent reading it could help student express content when they do not know what to write.
I agree with Maria, I very rarely find myself indulging in creative writing! The quick writes we worked on were very cathartic. Quick writes have been very successful in my classes.
Giving students a prompt (but one not too strict) allows them to explore their own ideas without the pressure of trying to find “the right answer.”
Reading Reflection: Ch.4
I agree that many different reading genres should be used. The text discusses the difference between choice and assigned materials. Most of my materials have been assigned. I have tried choice materials with my advanced class. Due to study of a second language, it needs to be highly structured. I have not yet figured out how to provide that structure to a choice item. I have let the student design the outcome.
I truly enjoyed the writing activities in class. I have always loved writing as a form of personal expression, but getting caught up in the day to day routines has left me little time for personal expression. Paula, thank you for giving us that time in class. I also enjoyed sharing the writing with a partner and with the entire group. You learn so much about people through writing.
As far as choice with reading, I am all for providing as much choice as possible. The more we can make the reading personally relevant for the student the greater the outcome will be.
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