Chapter 14: Finding the Right Book

Book by Book

Finding the right book can make all the difference in getting students to read. They aren't going to pick up something that doesn't interest them and so they surely won't want to read something we give them, if they don't like it. We need to make a conscious effort to give them books that interest them and NOT us. 

Text Features/ Know Your Students' Interests

This chapter made me aware of all of the material out there for students to read. It does not have to be a book. They can learn skills from things like magazines, newspapers, and advertisements. I liked the idea of getting to know students and what type of reading they like to do. I think this would be a good question to put on an information paper that you ask students to fill out during the first week of school. I know that this teacher said she didn't want students filling out a whole survey because she didn't end up reading them, but I think one question would be OK. Also, she told us about speaking with students for a few minutes to write down what they like on an index card and then have students match the cards to the pictures of the students in the class. This kind have seems juvenile but if it gets the students interacting then there's nothing wrong with having a little fun with it. 

Take Students to Your School Library
I give a lot of credit to the mother in this section that told her child she could not afford to send him to Washington D.C. with the rest of his class. What an awesome idea for her to suggest to her child that she would take him to the library so he could read about what everyone else was doing. This child was ecstatic that he could participate, while not being there physically. 
I can remember getting my first library card and how excited I was. That card allowed me to spend many hours looking for books, while growing up. A lot of students don't know what's available to them and don't go. I think as future teachers, no matter the grade, it is our responsibility to get these students to the library and to help them find books. 

Chapter 13: Creating the Confidence to Respond

The Power of Confidence

This was one of my favorite chapters. I find it compelling to learn all of the ways to make students feel more comfortable in the classroom, thus, giving more effort and interacting with other students. The first thing that I really agreed with was the idea that students value the respect of their peers more than they do their teachers when they reach higher grades, such as middle and high school. The book related, "fitting in, finding a group, and forming relationships with peers become more valuable than stickers on homework papers or nod of approval from the teacher" (Beers 259). From that we have to learn how to make kids feel like they fit in while they are learning.

Keep Your Expectations High

This part of the book told us a story about a group of students that asked their teacher why they didn't do the things that other, more advanced classes did. They brought about how they only write paragraphs instead of essays, don't have homework, and that she tells them things rather than having them find out themselves. From this the students got that the "teacher [thought they couldn't] do it" (Beers 261). The teacher finally gave in and said she would allow the students to read Huckleberry Fin like the other classes. Knowing that the students needed extra help, the teacher used more scaffolding for the students, and they did indeed complete the book. They even got AP credit for it. I found this to be a very true and relevant story to most classes today. In my placement this week, I saw this exact thing happen. The teacher told the students, "I won't talk about second person because you always get confused by it." She wasn't even willing to explain it to them again, and this is the type of circumstances that make students feel inferior. If the teacher doesn't think they can do it, then they surely won't believe in themselves. 

Make Sure Students Know One Another's Names

Students need to feel like they fit in. Knowing their peers will help put them at ease and make them participate more. The book stated, "the effort we put into learning their names and making sure they learn each other's names is critical" ( Beers 265). I agree with this 100%. I know it gets tough to learn one hundred plus students, but I think it is do able. The students will benefit so much from it, by feeling like they are a part of a group and feeling like you value them as a student. I saw this personally in my field experience. One of the teachers was going around to check homework and had to ask the student his/her name before giving them points. The students caught onto this and wanted to know why she didn't know their names. They said the other teacher (who is a special ed teacher that helps certain students) knew our names, why don't you? The main teacher replied that she didn't do the attendance and had so many students that it was too hard. I find this hard to believe, when the other teacher can remember all of the student's names and it's not even her classroom. The students specifically told me they wished the classrooms were more exciting and the teachers more respectable. I really think they lack the confidence they need to perform to their best abilities.

Chapter 9--Vocabulary: Figuring Out What Words Mean

Contrary to the usual vocabulary lists we all got back in elementary and middle school and were just memorized for the tests there are other ways of actually learning new words. Pure memorization is not going to get a student anywhere because they can't build on that memorization to make room for new material and new words. 

I loved Kylene's study of teachers and their study of twenty vocabulary words. It was interesting to see how the teachers finally agreed that if they did not give the students twenty words per week that they would never catch up. Ms. Beers was not only worried about there being too many words but also how difficult the words were. The teachers had to learn the list of twenty words a week before using them in front of the students and an additional week before introducing the list to the students. Altogether, the teacher had two weeks to learn these twenty words before making the students learn them. After the process started not only did the teachers have a list of twenty words to remember and use but also another list of twenty to introduce to the students. Overtime the words piled up. After four weeks the teachers were exhausted. One said, "... This is ridiculous. There is no way I can keep up with all these words" (Beers 181). Another stated that she never uses some of the words that were even on the lists. This experiment let the teachers see what they were expecting out of the students and after doing it themselves they learned what a huge task it was. 

Another thing we need to be careful of, is telling students to use context clues to figure out a word. Instead, it might be better if we say "using the context as a clue" (Beers 186). The chapter tells us that context clues require a lot of inferencing that dependent readers can't do. So even if they try to figure out the word, it is at times hard because they don't have the skills to inference, as well as a lot of times there is not enough information in a sentence to blatantly figure out the word's meaning to understand the sentence fully. 

A previous chapter mentioned collecting words on bookmarks that students didn't know. This is brought up again in this chapter. I think this is a really great idea to broaden students vocabulary. Not only could they put them on bookmarks but the teacher could make a running list in the classroom so each week students could learn five to ten more words. That might not seem like a lot but over a nine weeks that's forty-five to ninety words without even having to have a test over them. 

Logographic cues are a good way of finding the meaning of words without having to write a lot. Instead, students can be creative and draw pictures and symbols. On one side of an index card students can write the vocab word and on the opposite side they can define the word, as well as draw a logograph to suggest the meaning. Many students are visual learners and I think this technique would really help them by allowing them to think about the meaning of the word by seeing the drawing. 

The last thing that I was interested in was probably the most important thing in this chapter. Reading aloud was termed by Becoming a Nation of Readers "the single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading" (Beers 197). I know a lot of people think it's stupid to be in high school and have a teacher reading to you. They think that their not in elementary school anymore and thus don't need to be treated like babies; although, the reading aloud is extremely important and will only make the students better readers. Personally, I enjoy having someone else read at times. It gives you a break and lets you follow along and imagine more. My high school English teachers did just that. A lot of times they wanted to point out certain parts and other times it could have been for this exact reason, of helping us become better readers. Along with this out loud reading comes silent reading. I know it can be hard to incorporate this into teachers lessons at times but just look at what a huge impact it can have. It affects vocabulary, fluency, comprehension and even students attitudes. Students need to realize how important this is, even though there is a debate on whether teachers should do the silent reading with the students. I think what the students need to see is that the teacher values silent reading and it should not be used as a time filler; yet know that sometimes they won't be able to read with them as they have other things to complete to affect the student.