Chapter 7--Constructing Meaning-->During Reading

Reading is an active process. To kids this is a misconception. They think you have to be standing up or jumping around. Rather it is an active mind process. Students must be thinking, predicting, visualizing, and questioning. So many students think certain people can do certain things because "It's just the way things are" (Beers 103). In the opening of the chapter Gene gave that exact response. We as future teachers need to stop that accepting behavior and make students want to change those things they have previously thought couldn't change, whether it be their reading skills or studying skills.

Making sense is about rereading, figuring out definitions and figuring out what you don't know. Ama used this to show Lavern what all it takes to read and understand a passage. Two strategies Lavern could use to understand the poem he was reading is Say Something and Think-Aloud. This two strategies are closely related, although the first deals more with a group and the second more of on an individual basis. 

Say Something:

Students are in groups and take turns reading. Every now and then they stop and make some sort of statement (question, prediction, comment,etc.) and the partners are to reply to them. Everybody gets a turn to help the students remember what they are reading as they go along. 

Think-Aloud:

Students are partnered with someone so that as the student reads he/she will randomly stop and do their thinking out loud. The partner will note what kind of comments he/she made and talk to him/her about them when they are finished reading. 

Both of those two strategies need to be modeled by the teacher before being performed by the students. The teacher should first model the strategy showing how it is to be done and then explain how to go about doing it and the exact rules for it. One thing I like about the Say Something strategy was when the teacher would give the students stem starters so I student didn't have to think for a long time something to say. Instead they had a piece that they just had to finish. You can find a lot of stem starters on page 108. One think to help make clarity in the Think-Aloud activity is to make a verbal or visual cue when thinking that way students know that you're not reading from the book but rather activating your mind.

Rereading

"Probably the number one strategy independent readers use" (Beers 113)

"Probably the last strategy dependent readers use" (Beers 113).

Rereading is an important strategy for students to use. This is probably the strategy I use the most, if I don't understand something I find myself going back over it, whether it's to read the whole passage or just a chunk it doesn't matter. Some students don't know what to look for when they reread. They think that they will find the same information as they did the first time. So it's best to offer some sort of questions for them to answer or think about after they reread to see if they found out any new information, which they should have. Another issue that this chapter brought to my attention was the debate about rereading a book you already had for a book review. If teachers are recommending students reread passages for understanding then what's so wrong with rereading a book for a review? Most likely students will find new information that they didn't pick the first time.

Two of the end strategies that I thought would really help students was bookmarks and post-it notes--

I liked the bookmarks because they let the reader jot down special phrases or paragraphs they liked and keep it with them throughout the book. Also, there were many ways you could use this type of bookmark. Instead of writing down phrases they could write down words they didn't know or popular themes throughout the book.

I am a post-it note guru! It's a simple way of jotting something down that will stay with you as well. If you later decide you want it somewhere else you can transfer it. My elementary librarian always taught us to never write in our books. She was very apt about us never doing that because it ruins the book. To this day I feel somewhat guilty when I write in a novel. So for me post-it noting helps as well as if you want to take notes in a book that you borrowed.

This chapter was filled with great strategies to get students to construct meaning. It offered a variety that could allow students to work in groups or by themselves. This way the student will always have some type of strategy they can use no matter the circumstance.