Subjects Matter: Pages 124-143; When Kids Can't Read: Chapter 8

Ahhhh…after reading strategies. I think this is the area we’re most familiar with when it comes to before, during, and after reading strategies. Of course for some folks (not any of us, of course!) the after reading is often limited to quizzes and tests. But what about the kids who can understand but struggles with the traditional tests???

Daniels and Beers give us a plethora of ideas to check for understanding as alternatives. We’ve seen some of these strategies before and some are new. And, as usual, Beers goes into much greater detail in describing the strategies. We’re all now familiar with exit slips in our study group, but has anyone tried using them in class to see how they’ll work with your students? Not only do exit slips give the students time to reflect, but it can help you become aware of problems the students are having with the work and what you may need to go back and reteach. Or, it may just confirm that you did a great job at executing a lesson!

So were y’all able to try to incorporate some of these after-reading strategies in your classrooms? Do tell!

Subjects Matter: Chapter 8; When Kids Can't Read: Chapter 14

Subjects Matter

(Page 184) “…to grow the community of lifelong learners around our schools, part of every school day must be devoted to independent reading. Period.”

I think we’ve established in class the importance of having students read every day at school, and some of y’all are having your students read even on non-SSR days. While all classes are supposed to be participating in SSR on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, I have heard through the grapevine that there are a few teachers who are not doing it. What do you think it will take to convince the faculty who are not a part of this study group daily reading really will improve student learning and make students more successful in all of their classes?
For those of you who do SSR in your classes outside of the school-wide variety: What do you do while the students are reading? In this chapter the authors suggest having conferences with students about their reading, but I always had difficulty keeping students focused on their own reading if I wasn’t doing the same. I found my students to be most engrossed in their books if I was reading along with them. This also gave me the time to read lots of YA literature and be able to make recommendations. Has anyone tried the conference thing with success?

When Kids Can’t Read
I love how Beers gives all of the features struggling readers like to find in books. Perhaps if my teachers had known this when I was in high school, I would have read some books. There always seemed like there were a million words on a page of those classics and there was practically no margin! I think students have been given so many books that carry no interest for them for so long that they tend to lump all books into one category: boring. The world of YA lit has exploded over the last several years and the choices are endless. I’m amazed at how much the section has grown at Barnes and Noble; it has doubled in size over the past few years. I think we also need to remember that just because a kid (or adult) doesn’t read a book doesn’t mean he’s not a reader. There are so many other types of material out there. How many of us know people who never pick up a book but read the newspaper every day religiously? How many of us read magazines? It’s important to recognize different types of reading. Does it really matter if a kid doesn’t read a novel if he reads tons of other informational text?