the infamous "why?"

I was asked this week to explain the difference between a good teacher and a great teacher. Part of my answer was that a good teacher made students read and a great teacher made students love to read. A good teacher helps students understand what they are reading and a great teacher helps students connect what they read to how it is relevant for their lives now. As a result, I really appreciated what Gallagher had to say in chapter 8. Students must be content with the answer to "why?" in order for them to really engage with the text.

Two things I walked away from this chapter with:
1. Day 1 of a book is hugely important. This is where as teachers, we must "set up" our novel in a way that makes our students excited about reading it. Whether that is building anticipation about what the book might hold or how it connects to their world, we need to find a way to entice our students in order for them to journey through the book with us. And we are probably going to have to think outside of the box and think creatively about how to do this.

2. The last day of the book is equally important. I loved the last idea he gave about giving students the "final exam" question on day one so that they know what they need to be looking for. What was the author's purpose for writing; cite specific passages to support; how is this purpose relevant today? What a great final exam.....and if students know it ahead of time, they can read looking for the "bigger picture." And class discussions, projects, mini-lessons, etc. can all be geared towards setting students up to do well on the final.

I'm all out of love, I'm so lost without you...

Gallagher and Christenbury are amazing. I want to meet them. I love Chapter 8 from Deeper Reading because I feel that deeper reflection is what I strive for in my classroom and imagine my students being able to do. I want them to be able to enjoy the books that they read and even if they do not necessarily like it, that they are able to see value in it. I think that by using the strategies that Gallagher points out, it can expand our students thinking about their reading much further than if we told them that they are reading it because it is a classic or because it is required. When we show them how it can connect to their own lives, they are more inclined to invest themselves in the topic or subject being discussed.

I personally enjoyed the Circles of Reflection on pg. 157. I think it is important to not only focus on the student's own life, but to bring his/her attention to the people and settings around them. Each circle gives them a different opportunity to focus on things that are surrounding them but it also moves them towards the point of thinking about their community, nation and humankind. I feel that sometimes I don't really have an impact on the world - I am just one person, you know? But if I am pushed to consider aspects of my community, country, or humankind in general, I feel that my significance in the world is greater than if I just reflected on my own life - even if I just have reflections about my world, I become more aware of what's happening and that makes me a better citizen.

Good ol' Gallagher

Okay, so I, like everyone else, really appreciate the examples that Gallagher gave us for responding to a student's question about why we have the read something. I might just type that list up, laminate it, and keep it handy for when my students ask me that question.
I was also really pleased to see the seven activities that were "proven effective in getting students to see why literature matters." I'm anxious to try some of those out and see if they really do help students understand why literature matters. I think my favorite of these activities was "The Hunt for the Author's Purpose." It seems like deeper comprehension and relevancy will come when the students understand WHY a certain piece was written.
The theme notebooks seem like a really great idea to get students more involved in their reading. They also seem like they would help students understand that themes and issues in literature, even classic pieces, are still applicable to modern times.

Chapter 8 the Great

There was a lot of interesting stuff in chapter 8. The first thing that caught my eye was Gallagher's response to a student's question "Why do have to read this book?" If one of my student's would have asked me that question I'm not really sure what I would say. After looking over ways to respond though, I have a better idea. Instead of just saying something like "because", I can something like "It's a great book and it teaches you about ----". I can say something that makes sense and is true. It will get the students curious or excited about the book instead of bored or uninterested.

Gallagher also listed many good activities but my favorite was the theme notebook on page 160. It's a great way to show students that issues in books happen in real life as well. It also gives them a little freedom because they can pick an issue that they are most interested in, and write about topics that relate. They also have to do some research to complete the notebook - they need 10 different sources. They then take the real world and pull examples that relate to the topic they have picked. Gallagher did this with his class after reading To Kill a Mockingbird, but I think that you could do it with most books, which is always good

No Longer "Because I Said So"

I love the way that Gallagher opened this chapter with real reasons for reading specific works in class. It is ineveitable that students will ask the infamous question "Why do we have to read this?" and with the great answers that Gallagher provided us, we will never have to think of an answer. It is important for students to recognize that there really are multiple and relevant reasons that they read certain works. Not only are these works classics and because we say so, but also because reading them will give them a better understanding of their lives, their vocabulary, and preparation into another step of their life. Making the connection between these works and students' lives is what will make them actually want to read and get involved in the material.

Other than the beginning, I also really enjoyed the "Strategies to Encourage Reflection." These are seven activities that can easily be incorporated into the lessons. This book is exceptional in giving multiple ways and ideas to incorporate activities into the classroom. This chapter, as well as 4's ideas for effective reading bring some really fun and interesting activities into the classroom that students will most likely enjoy because they are above average. The idea of the Theme Notebooks was probably my favorite idea. I would love to incorporate this into my classroom....as with the other ideas present throughout this chapter and entire book.

Chapter Eight...LOVE IT!

I love the idea of getting kids away from what the book referred to as "stock" answer about a literary work. I love how the chapter talked about going beyond just reading the work and discussing the plot, characters, the author, etc. and really diving in and exploring concepts, ideas and themes that the students see in their lives now. Concepts, ideas, and themes that will give connection to what a student might consider an out-dated work, in which they have no interest. (I love the example of some of the things that the book related with 1984 pg.155-156).

There is a sentence on pg. 157 that says, "In asking our students to reflect, we want to push them beyond the self." I think that this one sentence can go as a generally rule in our classroom for what we want from our students, not just what we want when they are reflecting. I think that we have to teach our students to go beyond just summarizing, and really help them get to the point to where they are CONNECTING to literary works.

This chapter also brought up the idea of Theme Notebooks. I love this idea and I am trying to incorporate it into my unit plan. I think that when students can have evidence of a connection of a theme of a literary work that their not interested in to a medium and events that they are interested in, we are just giving them even more of a chance to be successful in our classroom.

This has honestly been one of my favorite chapters we have read for the sheer fact that it gives me ideas for some many things that I want to incorporate in my classroom!!!!

Chapter 8 got me so excited...

...about my conceptual unit plan and mini-lessons I could conduct during my unit. There are many examples that I bookmarked in Chapter 8 that could extend the course of the 20 days we are going to write a schedule for. Back in Chapter 6, I liked the "trouble slips" idea, then splitting the kids into groups to discuss their difficulties with the text.

In 8, I really liked the mini-lessons covering "why" we read, or should read. These can be broken down, and multiple texts can be used, to drive the point home. Political speeches made by George W. Bush could serve for "Reading builds a mature vocabulary." Students could discuss the misuse of language, the perceptions it gives the audience, when a person errors in their "vocabulatory" words. They just won't sound as "intelligified" as Mr. Bush.

P.S. Vocabulatory and Intelligified are not words, ...I think.

~Stan

I've read, I've posted, I've commented. I'll leave the blogging to all of you now. Later.

Chapter 8

I can appreciate that Gallagher began this chapter with a discussion of how to justify book choices to students. It's inevitable that kids are going to go through their "why are we reading this" stage. In fact, kids aren't the only ones. I'm sure there are plenty of adults who wonder why their kids are reading the books that they are, and maybe even a few who wonder why their kids have to read (fictional) books for school in the first place--why aren't they learning something practical? The English field isn't as cut-and-dried as math, science, or even the social sciences, and many otherwise educated people feel that reading fiction serves no practical purpose. I like that Gallagher used 1984 (one of my favorite novels) as an example of how to justify literary choices to students (and presumably their parents, the administration, the community, etc..)

I also felt that some of his ideas were personally helpful to me because of having to plan the conceptual unit. Some of his "anchor question" for example were helpful in thinking about conceptual questions for the unit plan. I also liked the rather quirky idea of doing a casting call: deciding who should play certain characters of a book in the hypothetical movie version. This allows students to think critically about the characters and use their imaginations, and it also allows them to make a personal connection with the book by imagining people they know portraying their characters. I was unsure about that idea at first, but the more I think about it, the more I like it.

Teaching in My Field Experience

Last Thursday, I taught my field experience lesson in which Dr. Franklin came to observe. I had create a lesson to use while the students were reading Julius Caesar. It revolved around the speeches given by Antony and Brutus and creating a political/public relations speech, commercial of ad support one of the two characters using a list of character traits, as well as quotes and events from the play. I really enjoyed teaching this assignment because the students were engage and excited to take a break from reading the play and actually work with their classmates to create the assignment. At the end of the hour they presented what they had come up with and they exceeded my expectations with their creativity and knowledge of the play.

I thought that the students really enjoyed getting up and getting to collaborate with their classmates, at least most of the them anyways. I also think that the lesson that I present and had worked hard to prepare went as well as I could of expected. With that said, there are many things I would have changed. First, I would have made this a two day assignment. The students got more involved and I really found many ways in which I could expand this assignment and even more learning could have taken place. One thing I would have added is more explanation to my introduction. I had a few really good questions relating the political aspect of the play to the political experiences that are going on right now with the upcoming presidential election, but I would have liked to have more class discussion about them. Another item I would have liked to cover is that as a class we come up with list of character traits of the two characters and really explore their character development. The last thing I would have liked to add was a model of how to create a good PR commercial, speech, etc, by explaining and modeling to them things such as a strong introduction and conclusion.

A few problems did arise during my lesson. First, was that the kids were working so hard on creating good products with their groups that I had to rush them to finish. Had this been my class we would have taken the rest of the class period to finish and presented the next day, but I did not have that kind of time with this class. Second, was a problem I had with one girl who left to go to the bathroom 5-10 minutes before we started presenting and did not come back until the bell rang. My cooperating teacher was absent the day that I presented my lesson, so I am not sure what action would have or should have taken place. If it had been my classroom, we probably would have waited for her, had a student go and find her, and there probably would have been some sort of discipline for her action. It was disrespectful, not only to me, but also to her group members. I know students are sometimes scared to public speak, but this was a horrible way for her to deal with it and it needs to be addressed.

All and all I was excited about how my lesson turned out. I loved seeing the students engaged, excited and LEARNING!! It was a really good feeling!!!

Size matters...

Oh Gallagher, that's so cliche. I have to disagree with Gallagher's assessment of 3 in a group being the best number (107). Having grown up in a family with 3 kids, I have to say that it's always going to be 2 vs. 1, so having a group of 4 (if it must be more than 2) would be my preference. I do agree though that groups of 2, especially when it's not always the exact same partners, are the best way to go.

I really liked Gallagher's take on Accountability (112). The whole "hitchhiking" thing can be quite interesting to those who are working hard, so any sort of accountability ideas are a good thing. I especially enjoyed the idea of having group projects in which the group members do not know which of them will have to present it to the class, so each of the group members have to have a basic understanding on what the group has done.

I also love the idea of "collaborative groups" and "talking to learn" (122). Tomorrow I am teaching "The Great Gatsby" at Central High School and I hope to incorporate some of this (although I already had planned on doing this before the reading). Students interpreting text on their own, and being able to discuss it with others and bounce ideas off of each other, are important ways for them to think critically. I feel like it's important that they realize the significance of their own interpretations and opinions.

Collaberation and Deeper Reading

I don't know about you guys, but I can see where collaberation could also be a great way to help students think deeper about what they have read. The ten strategies Gallagher gives us to use on p. 114 have great implications to start the students off with. Anchor questions start the class lecture off to a deeper understanding of what the students need to see regarding reflection of historical background and elements of the novel, but if they are going to reflect on a personal level to the novel we're wanting them to engage to, we should let them collaborate. When I gave a quiz in my class this week over "Of Mice and Men" I asked them questions that would help them see what they needed to from the novel, but when we discussed the answers, I let them pull their personal knowledge into the text and this really urged them to think critally about it from their own experiential values. They also discussed it among themselves to come up with the answers in lecture. It really seemed to work.

Dominos in Lit Class? What?

I thought that the domino idea from chapter six of Deeper Reading was really interesting. It seems to me that it could be a fun exercise for the students to do. Plus, it will help them see the chain reaction, see how events lead from one thing to another, deepening their understanding of the material.

Like Kevin I really appreciated the section on questions we don't want to ask. During my field experience we were covering poetry (something I am not overly interested in) and I found myself struggling to find questions that would engage the students. I myself was not particularly engaged and that made it even harder to draw them in. Unfortunately I found myself asking them simple yes/no questions and even fill in the blanks...it was not good. Eventually we moved past this awkward stage and managed to have a pretty great discussion about Frost. I just wish I had read this section earlier so I had been better prepared and the class would have had more time for the good discussion versus the awkward teeth-pulling that had come before...

What Not to Say

The section titled "What Not To Say" was awesome. I haven't really thought of asking students this question in my lessons but now that I've read this section it makes a lot of sense. I was impressed with this instructor's use of the question. Using a table with data represented is a good item to use for basic data comprehension but asking students to identify what that table doesn't say takes critical thinking to a higher level. I think that this question would be great for individuals or groups to discuss.

Birthday Card

I received a birthday card for my 21st birthday from my roommate Anna. On the front of the card a person in a rabbit suit was reclining by a pool with a cool drink. Captioned below the picture were the words, "Happy Birthday from the neighbor you don't speak of". I laughed as I paired the picture with the quote. I immediately understood the card was from Harvey, a giant invisible rabbit. After thanking Anna for the card she and I talked about the meaning. Anna did not grasp the meaning of the card in the way I did. I realized that my past viewing of the movie "Harvey" set the foundation for my viewpoint.
Chapter 6 discusses the importance of collaboration between students. Every student has different insights and experiences that provide bases for his or her knowledge on a particular topic (104). Therefore, students can use those previous experiences to help classmates to further understand topics discussed in class.
In chapter 5 the Plug-Ins and Literary Dominos exercises seemed to be useful in the classroom setting. The Literary Dominos are helpful when asking students to recall events and declare the importance of the characters' actions leading the end. Starting the students with the last domino allows the students to take one step backward and evaluate the story to find what led to the ending. After students complete this exercise they are able to think about the cause and effect relationship of a story.

No Hitchhiking

I really liked the part of chapter 6 that talked about group work. The descriptions of the types of students that you find working in groups. Gallagher talks about how group projects will sometimes encourage some students to "hitchhike" and not provide any input to group discussion. I encountered this in my practicum lesson that I did on Tuesday. For the most part I think that the students were engaged in the discussion of William Blake that I wanted them to engage in. I saw some students discussing spring break while others were simply sitting on the sidelines. My inexperience led me to wonder about the correction of this behavior but it definitely gave me something to think about.

I was so glad that chapter 6 covered this aspect of teaching because I plan on doing a lot of group work and want to do it affectively. Gallagher provides some great ideas for organizational structure. I think that it is important to give each group member a job to do, especially after I witnessed the reality of student participation first hand. So I guess the question for those who wish to respond is, "how are you going to ensure that your students are contributing group members?".

Second Draft Reading?

I know that Stan kind of mentioned this in one of his many blogs for the week, but how practical is teaching students to read and then reread and then reread and then reread and maybe read one more time.  It's a great idea if students have the rest of their lives to read one book.  If and when our students get to college like I have found I am having a really good week when I have done all of the reading one time through for a class.  Many times I probably should go back and read again but there is not enough time with all of the other things that teachers expect you to do.  So that is my tangent about the reading we had to do.

While there were several good things about the reading one thing that stuck out to me was the thought of having students fill out a clock to help the students pick partners throughout the class.  So many times when teachers ask students to select a partner they select the same person. But to have the students schedule different people they are required to meet with a variety of people plus the teacher doesn't have to think about how to break the students up into groups each time.

Why does it matter??

This is the main thing I got out of the reading this week! It just really hit me that if I can find ways to explain to students why the things I am teaching them are important they might actually take it more seriously and perhaps even enjoy it! I think it is so crucial to let students know how the information they are digesting is going to be useful to them, or matters to them in some way. For example, this week I did my teaching in my field experience and Keri came and observed me. I planned a really cool lesson that I thought would be really fun for them introducing African American poetry. They just completed a Civil Rights unit which they seemed to really enjoy so I thought they would have a lot to say about these poems about slavery and segregation. I think I missed one thing though...I didnt ask them why the poems really mattered. I don't think many of them made the connection that many of these poems made a huge impact on the Civil rights movement. I had them read the poems and analyze the meanings, but I didnt really give them any reason to find the poems important to them. Although the lessons that I taught went really well, if I could do it over again I would definitly find a way to answer this question for them...why does it matter? I think they might have been even more engaged in the lesson if I had. To look back at my high school experience, I know that this made a big difference to me when I was learning new information. If my teacher gave me a distinct reason why this info mattered to me I would give much more of my attention. I know that was only a small part of the reading this week, but I really thought about this a lot!

Not just another textbook...

There haven't been a lot of books throughout my college experience that I have kept, but like Katie mentioned in her post, Gallagher's book is packed with amazing strategies. It would be silly of me to sell this book back to the university and lose such an amazing reference.

In Chapter 5, I really liked the idea "literary dominoes" and giving students the resolution and asking them to describe the steps that led to that resolution. It really makes them think about what events triggered each "domino" in order for the story to end up where it did.

The "Reading Symbols" strategy was another that I thought could be very useful. Students are very good at summarizing things that they have read, but that's often all they do. Using the elements that Gallagher outlined encourages students to go beyond summarization.

In Chapter 6, Gallagher talked about Double-Entry Journals (which, by the way, I always enjoyed writing journals in class ;D ) which reminded me of the class blog that my field expeirence teacher has recently set up for her students to use. She used an in-class activity to illustrate what it would be like to use a blog.

She showed a video clip from KY3 about the possibility of a legislation going into affect that would require school uniforms. After the clip, she had the students write their reaction to what they had seen. Then, they wadded up their reactions and tossed them into a basketball hoop that was connected to a crate, which was just a small way to get the students moving around the room. Next, students picked a "wad" from the crate and responded to it. They repeated this process a couple times, and then the students were given their original paper back. They then read the responses from their classmates about their reaction.

Mrs. Wicklund explained to the students that the activity they had just done was like the blog they would soon be using. They would post to the blog about whatever book they happened to be reading at the time, and other students would be given the opporunity to respond to their post. I thought it was a very creative idea, and the kids loved it.

Darn. Now I'm out another twenty dollars.

I was expecting to sell this book back in a month. I really was. I was taking notes on all the useful things I found and was already hearing the sweet "ka-ching" of another twenty (oh, wait. University bookstore. Thirteen.) dollars in my checking account. But then Gallagher has to go and impress me and give me too many useful ideas to write down.

I loved the chapter on collaboration and groupwork. I think he has some fantastic ideas about getting students to contribute and really focus on what they're reading. His group roles (well, Harvey Daniel's group roles) also cater to certain interests. I've been in Facilitator/Recorder/Reporter groups before and I always end up as the Facilitator (um, TEACHER!) and I feel like I do all the work. I love that his students are expected to prepare for and contribute to the discussion in a unique way. I also think all of his activities and questions would make great reading journal prompts.

Speaking of which, Stan already commented on reading journals. What do you guys think of using them in a High School classroom? I go back and forth. In some of my classes, I hate(d) my required journal; in others, it's the most useful part of the class (and not just by comparison). For me, I find the difference might lie in how much we're required to write and how often. My favorite journals have been for Dr. Moser, for ENG 351 and 354. She asks for 10 minutes, not a length, so it seems like less pressure to me. And she collects them every class and reads them so it helps her structure her lectures/discussions. I really liked it...well, at least I recognized its importance and liked it the most of any journal I've ever been required to keep. I think I would very rarely give the class a specific prompt, unless it was something I REALLY wanted them to get, to maybe prepare for the final assessment. I might give them a huge list of things to get them thinking, but they could write about any of them, as long as it was a critical response. The best way to get kids writing well is to get them to write in the first place.

I'm still trying to figure it out, but that's what this is about, right? So if you hate journals (as I often do) don't jump down my throat. I hate them too...sometimes.

Chapter 6 ... Accountability

I know I some of you felt that "Popcorn Reading" made you feel anxious and on-edge, because you never knew if you were going to read, but I think that Gallagher agrees with the intent, accountability. If you never knew when you would be chosen to read in the story, you paid attention to ensure you knew where we were. Although this might be awkward with a new class, I think the intent and effects of on-task behavior out-weigh the anxiety of a few students.

~Stan

What do you think? Read it again?

I was wondering what everyone else thought about re-reading difficult texts. If I have a class read "Romeo and Juliet" straight through, the go back and re-read and point out things that require a deeper reading, would that make it more enjoyable? Like watching "Sixth Sense" a second time? What do you think?

~Stan