Ch 6: Getting the students to ask the questions

"If students become invisible, does it mean we no longer have the responsibility to teach them"-Tovani (pg 74). This is a question that I have seen two main responses to through my experiences. I have heard that no matter what you strive to help the student and access him the best resources possible. I have also heard that if you try to help every student, especially the invisible ones that you will burn out; it is not worth it. For me personally I strive to help every student in the classroom. With my subbing experience I found myself at a school with challenging students. I was to hand out the math worksheets and allow the students to work on them. But I didn't stop there; I walked from group to group and glanced at their worksheets. When I found a blank worksheet I would ask if they had any questions. The students would either say yes and I would walk through the problem with them or they would say no. If they said no I would make my rounds and come back to that student to see if they had made any progress. If they hadn't I would go through a problem with them and watch them do the next one. My standing there with the student they realized two things: that they had to do their work even when the teacher wasn't present, and they were able to ask me any question and I would walk through the problem with them judgment free. When I say judgment free I mean not seeing any question as a dumb question. I remember this being my biggest fear when I was a student in middle and high school and I didn't want my peers or teachers to think that I was stupid so I was scared to ask questions. The truth about this, that I later learned, is that more than likely someone else is wondering the same thing.

Tovani tackles this issue by teaching students to ask questions and to respond to texts. This is new for many students since teachers usually ask the questions and the students answer them. To do this it takes a lot of practice on the students part and tangible models from their peers. To improve as a reader and writer one needs to be given an OPPORTUNITY to read and write. All through high school I turned in papers and received a grade and turned in papers and received a grade. It wasn't til my freshman year in college that I met a professor that said all of our papers were horrible but that we were going to go through them sentence by sentence, and we did. This was the first teacher that I had that didn't just hand a paper back but actually took the time and effort to hop off of the curriculum and moved at the students pace. This is called TEACHING students.

Tovani goes on to ask the students to make their own connections, to make their own sensory images with a text. The students first response is what sensory images should I be having. She tells them that they are to make their own connections through the text.

Through these skills she is giving them the essential tools that will allow the students to hold their thinking and allow them to remember and reuse what they have read and learned.

Ch5: Viewing reading as a race

A student comes to Tovani (author) and tells her that her reading has become worse and she has become slower. The student states: "I have to slow down because everything you are asking us to do requires me to think"-Lisa, varsity cheerleader and honor student (pg 51). It wasn't too long ago when I am I bet a few of you, would race through our texts because we didn't want to be the last one with our nose in the book. We didn't want people to think that we were slow readers. Even though we were able to speed race our eyes along every line didn't necessarily mean that we absorbed any of the material. It also didn't help that I never saw the purpose in reading until I found a book that I could fall inside of. My junior year in high school I would lock myself away in my bedroom and read the Harry Potter books until my parents found it necessary for me to come downstairs and to socialize with the real world. I finally found my purpose to read, which was to get away from the hustle and bustle of the real world and to enter a dimension where I was not required to be or do anything.

In high school students are told to read but they aren't always told the purpose behind the reading. When reading a text for the first time without a purpose, people tend to pay attention to the plot, the action. Now let's say that you assign a novel for the students to read and after they are done reading you ask them to go back and reread to find how the main character changed throughout the story. Rarely will a student go back and reread the novel; therefore the student will go off of their memory. But the student was primarily paying attention to the plot not the main character. If we were to go back and tell the students the purpose for reading the novel they will be able to present a better supportive paper. "When we share a clear instructional purpose, we give our students a lens through which to read the piece"-Tovani (pg 58). For us we are are able to form purposes to read a certain text but for young readers they may have not formed these purposes yet. By assisting them through forming a more limited scope we are allowing them to comprehend the novel through a particular perspective verse the student trying to memorize everything in the book and eventually giving up with regards to the plethora of information. By giving them the purposes now we are allowing them to comprehend the material better and forming confidence that will later allow them to form their own purposes. Once they are able to form their own purposes they will be the ones tracking a particular character through a book, or asking themselves if they agree with Darwin's explanation of natural selection. We are forming a foundation so that one day they can take the reigns and ask the questions.

Ch4: "...We focus too much on teaching our curriculum and don't devote enough time to teaching our students"- Rick

"If the reading is too hard, I just get the Cliffs Notes or skim through chapters. If I can't get the Cliffs Notes, I just listen to what the teacher and kids in the class say."- Jay, high school sophomore.

I can personally relate to this quote. It was uncommon for me to have trouble with a book and for me to borrow someone's Cliffs Notes before taking a test. But what did this do for me in the long run? I ended up cheating myself out of building up my literacy which became prevalent when I came to college. Finding college readings to be more diverse and complex than high school readings. In college I had to learn how to comprehend, and ask questions on research papers for biology classes. At first I found this to be very intimidating since I didn't want to ask a dump question, but I later came to find out that everyone else was asking the exact same questions.

In this chapter the author finds that rigor reads aren't necessary for helping students succeed. Instead the reading needs to be fitted to the students so that they can work on a challenging level to where they can decode the text and still ask questions. If the material is too complex students will not be able to ask questions and will give up. It was also found in a study that "Students care more when they are encouraged to think, when they are challenged to an intellectual wrestling match"- Hyde & Bizar (1989). Students like to feel included and intelligent if we give them a text that they are unable to comprehend even in the smallest sense then we are just lowering their self-esteem and prolonging the inability for the student to work on their comprehension and fluency.

It is also complementary to have text sets which consist of accessible texts that support the current reading or study in the classroom. This allows the student to be exposed to a broad spectrum of readings and helps them to understand the primary reading. For instance, when I had to read The Odyssey I found the text to be a hard read even though we went over it in class and got to watch the movie. Tovani (the author) suggests having a Text Set available in the classroom for books just like The Odyssey. For The Odyssey she suggests reads that illustrate the gods, heroes, and monsters, historical books from the book’s time period, a map of Greece, etc. Such resources will help educate the students past the information seen in this text and build a foundation of background information which will in turn help to make the book an easier read.

Ways that I could use this in my biology class is by finding current research papers on hot topics, historically famous research papers, anatomy books with illustrations and comparisons, bibliographies are profound scientists, and journals. This way I am exposing and preparing my students for a broader spectrum of readings and showing them the relevance of biology in the real world.

Ch 3 "If someone could teach these kids how to read, I could teach them science." -Melanie

In this chapter, the author starts off explaining how the content from subject to subject is different from one another. For example science teaches you to read charts, diagrams, graphs and interpreting data; social studies teaches you cause and effect; while math teaches you how to break down a word problem; and english teaches you how to decode poetry and complex stories/plays. Now relating back to the quote in the title: "If someone could teach these kids how to read, I could teach them science."-Melanie, high school science teacher, we see that each content area teaches us a different form of literacy that pertains to that subject. Therefore a student can excel in english to where they interpret Shakespearean plays with an ease but they struggle when it comes to word problems. This all has to do with different approaches that are taken between the subjects. The strategy that we use to decode a Shakespearean play is different from the strategy used to break down a word problem. Therefore it is necessary for every teacher to teach students how to better comprehend the material in their particular subject be it math or social studies.

To see how each content area teacher goes about reading/decoding a text she observed each area as they read a text within their field. What I found to be most surprising was when she talked about how the math and science teachers go about decoding their texts. The science teachers observed the tables, graphs, and diagrams, then moved on to the abstract and skips around from there. The math teacher reads through a word problem and then writes down what information they have and what information they are missing and/or trying to find. Each of these procedures is exactly what I find myself doing within the given content areas. With science I like to get a little peek of what kind of study I am looking at and I weigh a lot of my interest, towards an article, based on the graphs, tables, and diagrams. On the other hand with math, I have been tutoring this subject for about 5 years and over the years I have found this to be the best way to make a horrifyingly ugly word problem look like a piece of cake. When I was younger I remember my Dad pulling his hair out when I wasn't comprehending the word problems. I would just freak out with the site of them; I found them to be in a different language. Later on when I took Calculus in high school I met someone that taught me to slow it down and to just look for what we know and what we don't know and to go from there.

The author goes on to state that we were not always experts we all started somewhere and this is where we need to start when we are teaching our students. When we are able to relate to our students and break down the process that we use, the students will come to ease and will hopefully not blank out when they see a word problem on their next math test. Also we need to encourage them to ASK QUESTIONS to themselves when they are reading a given text and aloud in the classroom. I think by being the model in your approach to a text in your content area, and letting them know that you were not always an expert will help the students open up to you and feel free to ask questions.

Chapter 2: The "So What?" of Reading Comprehension

In this chapter the author starts off talking about her struggle with a student in the classroom that finds the material to be irrelevant and dry. Whenever a student proceeds to point out a connection they found within a text she proceeds to ask "SO WHAT?" in the most sarcastic, demeaning way possible. The author, being the teacher, was having other teachers come to observe her class tomorrow and she did not know how to retain the disruptive/blunt student. As she shifted through the students connections that they found through the text, she found herself asking the same question: SO WHAT??

From here, she found that she had not shown them how to create/find a meaningful connection to a text. She then created the double-entry diaries. The double-entry diary consists of two columns, the left column consists of a quote or description from a scene in the reading and the second column possess the record of the strategy being taught for example: I'm wondering...., This reminds me of....., I'm confused and this is how I got unstuck...By allowing the students to find a meaningful connection we are allowing them to deepen in their understanding of the text and helping them to remember. Just like the author, I too learned a lot of facts in high school and college but I only remember a certain amount. The reason being exactly this, without a meaningful connection no one has a reason to remember material but if you find a way to relate it to yourself or to see how it is interesting to you in a personal matter the material will be more likely be remembered and recalled.

Recalling information is very important especially in undergraduate years. I remember having to learn a broad spectrum of biology terms and models. At the time I never saw the meaning for all of the memorization, extremely late night studying and 4 red bulls in one study session until I came to my final years. In my final semester as an undergraduate student I had the opportunity to take Virology (study of viruses) with Dr. Hofkin. In this class, I finally found the purpose behind all of what seemed to be meaningless work, which was to better my education in my secondary Discourse so that I may tackle more complex material and come closer to literacy in my field of biology. I went from draw the stages of DNA replication to if you had the chance to find a vaccine for a virus would you rather work with a single stranded DNA, double stranded DNA, single stranded RNA or double stranded RNA virus and why. I finally saw the amazing mysteries and findings within the field of biology which all came at an ease with my ability to recall information. Now I know that the only reason why I was able to recall certain information was that I only found meaningful connections with certain information. If I knew that this was the most efficient way to remember material in my classes, I might have approached school in a more proficient way. Therefore, I hope to show the relevance of finding a meaning full connection to material so that my students won't have to struggle or relearn material later on. Instead they will recall information that they found a meaningful connection and will be able to build on their secondary Discourse and move towards mastery.

Chapter 1 continued..... Introduction: "I'm the Stupid Lady from Denver..."

My Roots of Learning About Comprehension and Understanding Content Teaching

The author talks about her struggle to find out how students could decode a text but are unable to comprehend. She found that she had to make the students more aware of their thinking process. She also saw the necessity in teaching them how to properly highlight important words/phrases in a given text and how to take concise notes. She came up with her thinking strategies through analyzing the process that "good readers" use to better understand what is lacking when others read a given text. She found the following to be the essential "thinking strategies used by proficient readers and writers:

1) Activating background knowledge and making connections between new and known information.
2) Self-questioning the text to clarify ambiguity and deepen understanding.
3) Drawing inferences from the text using background knowledge and clues from the text.
4) Determining importance in text to separate details from main ideas.
5) Employing fix-up strategies to repair confusion.
6) Using sensory images to enhance comprehension and visualize reading.
7) Synthesizing and extending thinking.

From number 1 I can see a strong connection to Gee's Theory where background knowledge equals primary Discourse and new and known information would be secondary Discourse(s). Number 2 shows the thrive for further understanding of a secondary Discourse towards mastery and from there onto literacy. Number 3 shows how you can use your primary Discourse to better understand a secondary Discourse and by finding clues one is learning/creating tools to master a secondary Discourse. Number 4 talks about comprehending and mastering the understanding of any given text. Number 6 uses multiple approaches to comprehending a text through sensory images and visual aid. With number 7, synthesizing and extending thinking is the mastery of comprehension and what is seen in the Academic Literacy Model.

Number 5, on the other hand, has to do with fix-up strategies which are used to repair confusion. A fix up strategy as quoted from the text: "is any strategy used by a reader to help get unstuck when the text becomes confusing." This is what I believe defines a "good reader". A "good reader" to me is someone who can properly analyze a text and who is not afraid to ask questions. Asking questions is something that I have found to be a problem in the classroom. For example, I taught a lesson on punnett squares for a science class. I would start by going over a few examples on the board and would then ask the students if they understood. I saw a few students acknowledge and yet I would continue to scan the class for perplexed faces. Once I noticed these students I would do a more detailed example and would continue until students were able to walk me through the steps and there were no more confused faces. Noticing that students feel uncomfortable asking questions in front of their peers, I have found a discrete way to go about this so that no individual student is pointed out. I have also found that by doing this students become more comfortable and are therefore more likely to ask questions free from embarrassment. All in all I think a huge crutial point is promoting students to ask questions so that they may in turn become "good readers" and come to a better understanding of texts in general.

Chapter 1: Introduction: "I'm the Stupid Lady from Denver...."

I really enjoy how this author talks through her own vast experiences. She has experience ranging from being a teacher in a classroom setting to teaching teachers how to incorporate reading into every content area.
At the beginning of this chapter, she talks about how she goes from school to school in the hopes of showing students and teachers how to incorporate reading in every content. About a week before flying out to a class she asks for the reading/ lecture material ahead of time. In this case she was sent reading material that had to do with viruses. She talks about her struggle in that she has no interest in the material and finds the read to be very dry. It wasn't until she got on her flight and sits next to a man that sneezes on her that she realizes her sudden itch for information on viruses. She finds her self flipping through her virus text and looks for answers. This is when she realizes that the only way to be interested in material is to come with an open mind and to ask questions that one is interested in learning from a certain area of study. This is the tool that she uses in the classroom to enlighten the students that feel the same way she does with the material. Through this I am able to see that not everyone is interested in the same area of study. For instance, I have a hard time finding the fun in Physics. Since this is a course that I may have to teach I need to find questions that I find to be relevant to Physics. Like we have all experienced, if a teacher does not have a passion for the subject they are teaching the students will lack to have interest as well. Therefore bringing enthusiasm and showing the students how to make a dry text informative is a very strong tool for the classroom.
Another interesting part was when a teacher came up to Ms. Tovani (the author of this book) and asked her why she was not interested in viruses, since she had mentioned how she found the material came off as very bland to her at the beginning of the class. He went on to tell her well did you know that they are using viruses in hopes to cure cancer? There are great informational texts out there. And she replied by saying no and why aren't you using those articles with your students? I am so happy that she mentioned this! I subbed many times for a middle school science teacher that relied minimally on text and mainly on articles, hand outs and mini lectures. I was shocked by the material that was being absorbed through these students. They were comprehending material that I wasn't introduced until my undergraduate years in college. They also seemed to have a stronger interest for science and participated fully in the classroom during activities and discussions. Therefore I strongly agree with this stand point of showing the needed material through a more interesting manner in which the students can become enlightened with the material and see the big purpose or "so what" behind science.