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!!!!
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5 comments:
I love that sentence! I read it and noticed it, but didnt really think about it until i read your post. I think that quote is really our job, as teachers. We need to make our students think outside of the box and go beyond their normal behavior. This will motivate them to get involved and will lead to a better class discussion.
I also love that quote. When I really think about it, my students have so much to say and how often are they not challenged to be the intellectuals that they can be? By giving them connections and a reason beyond "Because I am the teacher and we have to," they are so much more likely to be engaged, have opinions and thoughts, and more passion in the classroom. Then, I feel, our discussion can be much deeper than anything else.
Valerie-
I agree. I love the idea of students digging deeper into their work and taking something away from what they have read/done. I am excited about this chapter because I am doing my in-class lesson on deeper reading so it added to my ideas.
I agree that we need to help our students move beyond basic reading, reflecting, and comprehension. Helping them connect to what they're reading is where they will truly start to appreciate the importance of literature and the impact it can have on their lives.
Yes yes, not just summarizing, but CRITICALLY THINKING. I think we all want to help students learn to think critically.
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