Shawn's "What?" can contain an almost infinite number of questions: What do I do once I open the book? What are all those words doing there? What is reading? What is decoding? What is the meaning of the words, of the book?
The most important aspect of reading is that it is a complex process. It includes automaticity, fluency, phonics, phonology, morphology, understanding the context, vocabulary, and even spelling. At the center of reading is decoding, which, according to What Content Areas Teachers Should Know About Adolescent Literacy, is the "ability to correctly decipher a particular word out of a group of letters" (3). Teachers need to be aware that mid-level students are going to exhibit a wide range of decoding abilities.
Kylene Beers, in When Kids Can't Read, offers helpful strategies for improving students fluency, or the automatic recognition of words with the appropriate speed and use of expression, and automaticity, or the ability to do something quickly without much conscious thought. My favorite strategy that she presents is to improve knowledge of high-frequency words by having a word wall (213). Students form word walls by writing down common words on notecards, which are then alphabetically arranged in a visible area on the wall. In addition to word walls, chunking and teaching prefixes and suffixes are useful and practical strategies to help students with word recognition. Chunking, or dividing long words into smaller, easily recognizable parts, can help students who are daunted by monstrously multisyllabic words (235).
In regard to vocabulary, the most important and implementable strategies are having a manageable number of words each week, developing vocabulary "trees," and using logographic clues. According to Beers, learning five to eight vocabulary words a week is manageable and allows for actual learning opposed to rote memorization (182). As teachers, we have to use the words we assign in the everyday classroom and encourage students to use them, too. As Catherine Snow from Harvard University explains, experimentation with words is okay. Mistakes should be seen as "developmental progress." In addition to having a small number of words to learn each week, vocabulary trees can be used to teach students the root word and other "branch" words. Beers explains that trees are a fun, meaningful way to learn roots because students listen for and record the branch words of the root (188). Not only is it helpful to know the root of a word, but it is also necessary to apply to students' different learning styles by encouraging them to use logographic cues. By making flashcards with a word on one side and the definition and a picture on the other, students are forming meaningful relationships with the words and are able to use their artistic senses (195). Having a manageable list of words to learn, using vocabulary trees, and accessing logographic cues are three of my favorite vocabulary teaching techniques.
Above all, it is essential that my students and I read in class and have time for silent reading. Although I believe reading time is crucial, I do not know how I will be able to implement a steady reading schedule into a jam-packed teaching schedule. Although Beers cites that students should have ten minutes of SSR daily, where will the recommended time come from? How do I get students to cooperate and read for the time? I am hung up on the day-to-day practicality.
Another question that has been nagging me is, How can I create a reading- and writing-friendly atmosphere? Although Nancie Atwell in In the Middle is a proponent of the reading workshop (35), is the workshop a dream that I can bring to reality in a regular classroom? To me, the class size has to be small, the curriculum flexible, and the students exceptional. Although I can include aspects of the workshop, such as having a fully developed library (I am a book hoarder) and allowing student choice, what are other ways of implementing a reading environment?
Overall, reading is a complex process that students struggle with and need the teacher's help with. As Beers reminds us, we have to believe our students can succeed (243). Have confidence in our students and share it with them. As a future teacher, I will be able to help my students who don't know how to read--who respond with "What?" when I ask them to open a book--because I will implement the variety of strategies that the complex process of reading demands.
You included a lot of good examples for knowledge that a teacher needs to posses in order to effectively teach reading. Reading, as you say, is a complex skill. There are so many techniques that an effective reader uses to decode and deal with text that to someone else are invisible, or at least hard to notice. I had an unorthodox education, and the only teaching I remember regarding the decoding of text was going through a phonics book with my mother. After that I mostly gained my reader skills through reading as many books as I could get my hands on.
ReplyDeleteObviously, this is not adequate in a classroom. Many students need detailed instruction on the tools for decoding. I can't wait to give students these tools so they can be independent readers.
Amy, I love the lead to this post. You give us a great image that captures the difference between what we assume of adolescent readers, and the reality that we need to still be teachers of reading in multiple ways through middle and high school.
ReplyDeleteAmy your post is very thoughtful and by reading this, I have a better understanding of what I need to do to be a good reading instructor. You hit on some very good examples in your blog post about improving reading instruction. One that i really like was the idea from Beers to include word walls. I believe that this is a fabulous idea because it allows students to see smaller words that eventually turn into bigger words. This can be done with prefixes and suffixes.Great post, I really enjoy reading your blog.
ReplyDeleteI would like to echo Ms. ML's complement of your post's introduction. As someone who devoted many hours over the years to watching Boy Meets World, I only ever considered Mr. Feeny's classroom lessons in reference to the hilarity they produced. It never occurred to me to watch the teaching itself. To continue the reference, Shawn never seemed to have much confidence in his academic abilities. Viewers laughed at the "read a book" and other jokes about his lack of interest in school, but how many Shawns receive this treatment in reality? Do you think that helping Shawn with reading would have helped him to gain confidence in school? From this post, you clearly have a good grasp on what it takes to help these Shawns gain confidence and achieve a higher level of success.
ReplyDeleteJennifer, helping Shawn with reading would have improved his success in school (although it would have sorely changed the dynamics of the television show). Students like Shawn--those who are funny in order to cover up embarrassment or divert attention--need teachers' attention because they have already developed their "coping" mechanism to deal with not being a strong reader. We have to work with the Shawns to approach reading seriously and help them to gain confidence.
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