Many problems with teaching literacy arise from students' unwillingness or inability to interact with the text. Reading is an interactive process - you cannot absorb the meaning of a text by staring at the words - you must construct meaning through interaction.
During reading strategies offer structure and guidance for interacting with texts. There are two reading strategies that we have read about this semester that particularly excite me: Beers' "Say Something" approach and Atwell's Dialogue Journals.
The Say Something strategy interrupts students' reading of a text and gives them a chance to think about what they are reading. This is done in pairs, and each student takes a turn "say something," which can mean making a prediction, asking a question, clarifying a confusion, making a comment, etc. The other student responds to what was said, and they both continue to read until the other student stops to "say something." I think that this is a very effective strategy because not only does it require students to find some sort of meaning in the text, but it also exposes them to different connections/questions/etc. that they might not have thought about before. It is important for them to observe their peers engaged in constructing meaning as well - it shows them that all readers must interact with the text they are reading in order for it to make sense.
Atwell's Dialogue Journals are similar to the "Say Something" strategy, but gives the students the opportunity to put their thoughts, ideas and questions into writing. In this approach, each student owns a bound journal in which they are required to write every week. They may write a letter to a classmate or to the teacher, but a letter to the teacher must be written at least once every two weeks in order to evaluate their progress. They give the journal to the person that the letter is addressed to, and that student must respond to the letter with a letter of their own within a determined amount of time. This creates a reading community in which the students are exposed to a variety of genres, authors and topics. Ideally, this is done within the structure of a reading workshop, where the students are reading literature of their choice. This is an excellent way to enhance writing and reading skills, as well as encourage the reader to reflect deeper on his or her understanding of a text.
These are only two of many reading strategies that would be beneficial for middle school readers. During reading strategies are necessary for the student to grasp all of the meaning that is to be gained from a text. Once they realize that reading is an enjoyable, interactive process, they will become more motivated to explore the world of literature outside of the classroom. This is key to developing lifelong, independent readers.
Dear Olivia,
ReplyDeleteThank you for yet another thoughtful and insightful post. I appreciated how you shared a couple of the during reading strategies that particularly excite you. I am glad that you were able to find some strategies from this course that you are passionate about and can imagine yourself using in your future classroom.
Before this course, I did not understand the importance of during reading strategies. As a younger student, I always hated having to stop at different stages in a book and complete some during reading strategies that were assigned. I simply wanted to keep reading and figure out what happens next. I resented having to take breaks and pause in the middle of a story. It interrupted the flow of the story and I always had trouble remembering where I had left off. But in the case of a struggling reader, I could understand how frustrating it would be to have to continue reading when you do not know what is going on in the story. The breaks and pauses used for predictions, clarifications, questions, etc. are a welcome break for students who struggle with reading. It allows them to stop and think consciously about what they have just read and process the text.
With that in mind, I think it is important to remember that some of the strategies we have learned about in this course are very beneficial for struggling readers, but not necessarily for those who are more advanced. It is important for us to remember that some of the strategies should not be a requirement for the entire class.
Thank you again for your post, Olivia!
Courtney B.