Chapter 3- Parallel Experiences: Tapping the Mother Lode
I am not sure about my feelings on this chapter. I think it was something I was suppose to really enjoy, because this time it is her experience with teachers and not students.
"If someone could teach these kids how to read, I could teach them science."- Melanie, high school science teacher.
When I read this I thought to myself, "Hey, I hear teachers say this all the time!" I mean you could substitute a different class name in for science, but I do hear this all the time. Teachers at the secondary level are teaching class periods that vary in reading levels. It could vary from class period to class period or even within one class period.
In this chapter she is talking about the Monday following a Saturday workshop she had with a group of high school teachers. On this Monday, she was to meet with math and elective department teachers. She said that these teachers had to help their students become better readers and had to figure out a way to assess their students' reading and report it back to the Principal twice a month. An industrial tech teacher had come up to her asked her how he was suppose to teach reading when his students didn't have to read in his class. She didn't know what "industrial tech" meant, so she asked him what his students did in that class. The teacher goes onto explain to her the "stuff" they do in that class. He asked her if she knew what a schemata was; she didn't know and he told her it was a blueprint. In her view, the man was hostile and decided that she wasn't going to teacher him anything, so she said she would get something out of it for herself. She was at this time remodeling her kitchen, when she recollected a moment when she was trying to read a blueprint and pointed out what she thought was the window in her new kitchen, but it turned out to be the back door. So, she asked the teacher how do you read a blueprint and his reply was, "What do you mean, how do I read a blueprint? I just read it. "
Next, she asked him what does he do in order to read a blueprint. He was getting a little annoyed, but still managed to walk her through what he is thinking when reading blueprints. She thought about what he was saying and it made perfect sense to her. She then applied it to standardized tests and how students have to use the scales provided to find out the answers. Her next question was about birdhouses. She wondered if he would provide the supplies and tell the kids to "have at it." She asked him how do the kids know how to build birdhouses. Here, is when he realizes that his kids do read in his class because his answer was that they read directions. The author, Cris, I shall call her from now on, goes onto say that students are not very good at reading directions. Cris then says that if this teacher could get his students to read, understand, and follow directions in his class then he could be helping out other teachers in other disciplines. Reading directions is a skill that we often over look because it is not valued in our society. When this happens we are cheating our students out of a valuable skill that will stick with them for the rest of their lives.
Cris says that if English and Language Arts teachers are the only ones to teach reading then the students are not learning to read different types of texts. If teachers of every discipline want to help their cause then they need to teach their students to be better readers of what they are teaching. Teachers can do this by slowing down their thinking process, so that they can see what an expert of their content does in order to understand the text. With this in mind they will be able to create an instruction that will model their own thinking to show their students.
She shows how to do this in her workshops by giving the teachers a difficult text to read. This allows the teachers to slow down their own reading and think about the skills they use to figure out what the text is saying. (The text is The Three Bears written in Italian). "...teachers must wrestle with the words and be flexible in their thinking, drawing on a wide range of background knowledge and experiences as readers." In order to help students to become better readers, we have to identify first what they are struggling with. Then put yourself in a similar situation and you as a good reader has to figure out what you would do to get through that hump.
The next section talks about how to model how to stay with a text. Meaning, students have difficulty in reading texts that get boring and sometimes forfeit to reading the text completely. Her strategy is to first get an overall idea of the book and second, get to know a little about the author and the time period the text was written. When you go onto model it for your students, let them know that you are the expert, but let them in on your first experience when reading the text for the first time. When the student's start to ask questions, it is good to write them down, because they can "drive the reading and guide the learning well after the lesson is finished." It is good to show the students what you are thinking and the skills you are using to help them overcome their troubles with a difficult text.
Renee
I like the section in the book where the teachers are given the difficult text to read only to find out that it is the story of the "Three Bears" written in Italian. It makes me think of English Language Learners and how they struggle with decoding written text as they are learning. I think that having the teachers decode a text like this may help them come up with strategies to help multicultural and ELL students.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good chapter in this book. It important that teachers in all subject areas teach reading strategies for their area. It is not fair that the language arts teacher has bear all of the weight of teaching kids literacy.
ReplyDeleteI teach second grade and I hear it all the time from other teachers, "If someone could teach these kids how to read, I could teach them _____". Students do not only learn reading from a reading teacher. ALL teachers must work together to teach students
ReplyDeleteThe part of the post about reading blueprints was my favorite. Some teachers may not know this but every subject even P.E., wood-shop and home economics require some type of reading level. I enjoyed reading how the teacher explained how reading related to the industrial tech teachers field. Even if you looking at a blueprint or reading directions to a game, it still requires some level of reading to know how to understand what is being presented to you.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that I was one of those PE teachers. Before this class I would've told everyone it's not my job to teach reading. I would've said there's no reading in my classroom. But the more I think about a the more I realize that's not true. My students read instructions. They read the newspaper for current events. It is my responsibility!
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of writing down questions as you go along. This will allow students to really focus on their reading and pull from the text. Teaching in upper elementary, I too have heard teachers saying if students would know how to read I could do my job and teach them other skills. Reading should be a part of all subjects and activities in school. It is not up to one reading teacher to teach students to read. Teaching students is a group effort and if all teachers on the same page students would benefit more.
ReplyDeleteI believe students need to learn to read in write in all forms of education. I never knew I would have to read and write so much as an adult. You have to read directions and write reports in different jobs no matter what job you take. As teachers this chapter points out that students read even if the teacher doesn’t think that they are. Good job.
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