Further into the chapter, the focus turns to picture books. Being in a Kindergarten classroom last year, I encountered numerous picture books, mostly aimed at a young audience. But were they? Picture books could be used for multiple purposes across all grade levels. Jump starting a lesson in an engaging way, creating conversation among students, mini lessons on reading techniques- all these purposes can be considered when deciding whether or not to bring a picture book into an upper elementary or secondary classroom. But going back to the idea of using text that you personally love, Harvey & Goudvis express their opinion. "The best reason of all to read a picture book to a group of students is simply because you love it" (p.69).
An absolute favorite picture book of mine is Oh the Places You'll Go, by the infamous Dr. Seuss. I loved this book so much, that I used my childhood copy as a guestbook at my high school graduation open house. Now it holds extra special meaning, as I can thumb through it at any given moment and read comments from favorite family and friends. If I were to use this book in a classroom, I may even use my very own copy with the comments, to show an insight into my own life, and to open up conversation throughout the class to get to know each other better. In an academic sense, I could incorporate this book into teaching/finding poetic devices (repetition, rhyme). This would also be a good book to end a year, motivating students to keep moving forward. :-)
To weed out what not to use, the authors suggest considering purpose, audience, genre, topic, writing quality and text structure (p.63-4). Having listed these, and thinking back to some favorite readings, do you have any books/picture books/short text/passages that you would consider a favorite and one to share with your classroom? What could you possibly use that reading for?
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ReplyDeleteI have never really thought about comparing what we read as adults to what we ask our students to read. So I thought this chapter in Strategies that Work was really interesting. It is true that as an adult a lot of what I read is short. I read many magazines, newspapers, recipes, and websites. I also have a book that I read before I go to bed, but that only accounts for a small percentage of what I read. So it makes sense for teachers to introduce their students to short texts because they are likely to read more short texts as they get older. I also really like how the book lists many great resources to find short texts for students. I am not familiar with many of the magazines that they listed for kids, but I know the adult versions are good, so I am curious to see what the younger versions are like.
ReplyDeleteSomething else that interested me in this chapter was when the authors talked about helping students select books. Many students in my class have been having trouble picking out books that are at an appropriate level for them. They are either bored reading the books because they are too easy, or they discover after reading a few pages that they don’t like reading the book they chose because it is too hard. So some students have been making frequent trips to the library to get different books, which is causing them to miss out on D.E.A.R time.
I like how the authors talked about modeling to students their three different categories of books—easy, just right, and challenge books. (pg. 71) I think that hearing a teacher explain what makes books fall into each category will really help kids understand what books are best for them. I also liked the idea of a class coming up with a list of how to pick out a book. (pg. 73) I think that when students generate ideas like this they will be more likely to use the strategies than if the teacher gave them a list. The library at my school is very big and some of my students have a hard time picking out a book. I think that making a list like this would be very helpful for them.
Chapter 5 in Strategies That Work made me realize the importance of sharing the text in my life to the lives of my students. It encouraged me to not only share text that I think the students would understand and react well to, but should the text of varying levels and length. Each and every text can be used to provoke, challenge, motivate students to be excited and interested about the literacy that moves me to move them.
ReplyDeleteI was especially encouraged to share short text with my students because of the many ways it can be used for comprehension instruction (p.66) There was a whole list of points that explains how using short text was a great way for students to gain understanding in comprehension. There were two insights that I never realized and motivated me more to share short text with my current and future students. First, I thought it was valid that the use of short text in the classroom can prepare for children the text that they will encounter outside of school. Also, I think that short text can create foundational ways of thinking and comprehending that can later help with longer and text that is more challenging to students (p.66).
This led me to think of two forms of short text that I am now encouraged to share with my students-news articles and cooking recipes. I think be informed about the world around you in important and now there are so many ways to access the news. I still like to read the newspaper in the mornings, but I can see myself sharing the news with my students through an online article or in a magazine. I think this would be a great way for students to understand that reading can be used as a way to find out information and students can see how reading current news can effect them or them them learn about others. It also exposes them to a different style of writing where the write has to be informative, yet concise to allow the reader to understand the purpose of the article. I also love to cook and bake and I think sharing recipes with students can be a fun way to expose students to text. I think it would be even better if I could bring in the food that the recipe makes and allows students to see that the end result was only able to happen because of reading a comprehending the text.
I also thought the insight that was given about the possibilities of picture books(p.66). Before reading this chapter I think my viewpoint was that picture books were used primarily for younger grades. I appreciate the response that older kids can have "when you share powerful picture books that are filled with sophisticated content best suited to older students (p.66). I also like the way that picture books can be a gateway for reluctant readers. "The pictures complement the text to help less proficient readers access meaning" (p.67). A picture book that I would share would be Stellaluna. I just read the book for the first time in class last week, but I thought it had many good elements that I could see being used to share with my 5th graders. Superficially, I can see that this book it a humorous book about a cute bat that is trying to find her mom. However, now I can see where the themes and events of the book can be used in learning about diversity, acceptance of others who are different from you, and learning to love your own identity. I think these are all powerful themes that could easily be accessed in this book and shared to readers of all ages.
The chapter, “Text Matters” in "Strategies that Work" was very valuable for me as it helped me while I was thinking about of some literature pieces to use for my guided lead teaching. I am in a 5th grade classroom and for some reason I consider that grade level to be more advanced than picture books. I seem to think that they should be preparing for middle school which mostly focuses on chapter books and informational texts with limited pictures. But as I read the part where it talked about the possibilities of picture books, even with older kids, I realized that choosing a picture book could be a great idea. As the book mentioned, picture books can be an advantage during instruction and help students with engagement, comprehension, finding meaning of text, investigate topics, and more. Until now, I never knew that picture books could be so powerful and I am deeply considering using at least one during my guided lead teaching.
ReplyDeleteKara, to answer your questions, yes, I have several favorite literature pieces that I would love to share with my classroom! However, considering the author’s suggestion, I will have to weed out some of my favorite books and use the ones that will help me stay on target with my lessons. I plan on focusing on the historical fiction genre, Some of the picture books that come to mind are “Encounter”, “Freedom Summer”, or “Going North”. I could even choose a longer, chapter book such as “Esperanza Rising” to help me focus on the overall text structure. To help me focus on meaning of words and phrases, I may want to use something such as the Amelia Bedelia or Dr. Seuss books which is known for the use of idioms and rhyming. Another area I may decide to focus on is help students to analyze different character’s points of view. I think the books, “Voices in the Park” and “Stella Luna” would be great selections for that purpose. Has anyone else thought of the kinds of books you will use for your guided teaching in literacy?