Tovani- Chapter 3 and 4

January 26^th, 2012

　

Tovani- Chapter 3 and 4

　

Chapter three discussed modeling and slowing down our thinking. It began talking about how to teach reading skills in your content area. The chapter talks about teachers being models. As effective readers we must slow down how we think so that we can teach this process to our students in ways that will engage them and help them to understand. The author talks about how in order to help students read she must first discover what they are struggling with. She also highlighted that we must help students organize their thinking. It is important to make sure that you engage the students in what they are learning. She came up with a strategy to do so. She took an interesting page out of a seemingly boring book and she prompted the students to ask questions that they don‘t know the answers to. This got the students minds going and sparked interest which made them more inclined to read the required book.

The blueprint story reminded me a lot of what I am going to have to do when it comes to teaching. As an art teacher it may seem as if I shouldn’t have to teach reading. Like the shop teacher I may think, students don’t have to read in art. However, there are plenty of things that students will need to read that can help them in other content areas as well.

Chapter four talks about the problems with textbooks. There is too much content and the students are unable to understand what is written in them. Some students don’t even know how to really read a textbook. The book talks about the fact that if students are to understand what they read then teachers need to have separate text that can supplement the textbook. An example of supplemental text would be, “accessible text”. This text is pleasant and interesting (usually comes from newspapers or magazines). The chapter talks about how students will care more about what they are reading when they are encouraged to think. Therefore the text we give them should spark something in their minds. The book also discussed text sets which consists of several different texts about a topic that vary. This is a good way to get students interested in what they are learning and have an organized selection of text to help students understand material.

I like the part in this chapter where it says, “I also need to remember what it feels like to read something for the first time.” This really helps me to understand how to introduce reading material to students. Often times we forget that it comes easily to us because we are experienced readers, forgetting that students are learning and that it is our job to teach them, not to expect them to already know. As a student I found that there is nothing more frustrating than your teacher expecting you to just understand information. That’s why as an educator I always want to keep in mind that some things come easily to others while some things are difficult. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses and it is so important to remain patient and make sure that you are doing everything you can to help each student understand the material.

　

Citations

Tovani, C. (2004). Do I Really Have to Teach Reading?: Content Comprehension, grades 6-12. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.