Chapter 9

Okay this chapter addressed a problem I have been very concerned about even as a student in high school... vocabulary. Like most students I had the weekly 20 words and the weekly test and at home my dad made me write out the words and their definition fives times each. This was horribly boring work and very tedious, also I am sure I learned little to nothing from it. Just like the teachers described in this chapter most of the words assigned I have used very little, if ever, and certainly forgot after the test I had to have them memorized them for. By shortening the list of words and making the words useful to students the teacher can easily TEACH student vocab SUCCESSFULLY!!! I feel that interaction added to information always allows a student to learn better. So why not do it with vocab? As I believe I have said in this blog before, making the material useful and important to the students is key to teaching them the information. There are always ways to interact with the information. Specifically I think strategies such as synonymous words and picture representation of those words allow most learning types to intake the information needed. I realize that vocabulary is inherently dull but part of our job as the teacher is to be creative enough to teach all things to all students.

Also in this chapter I feel Kylene Beers made an important point on page 202 regarding involving students. It is important to ask specific questions about what the student knows. This forces the student to consider, accept and report their experience, this is information many students do not have and can not access. More importantly this is information you as a teacher rarely have access to and can be key to helping that student succeed. However, if the right questions are not asked the student can not give the right information. Beers states that this information is important to know about the students word knowledge but I feel it is applicable in every aspect of teaching. 

Chapter 8

Scales...wow. I wasn't even aware that these were an effective way to grade students understanding let alone help them create meaning. As far as I was concerned these were strategies only used on annoying surveys. However, Kylene Beers explains and shows their use very well and has proven in this chapter that they can be used and be effective. I especially like the Semantic Differential Scale which is used most often to track character development. This scale not only shows how a character can change but how the readers opinion and view of the character can change. This strategy also allows students to debate over the text which often leads to new ideas and better understanding. When a point of view has to be proven and especially when you feel strongly about your opinion, you do research in order to prove your opinion. In this case research means you read the text and reread it sometimes, making notes isn't out of the question and often these things are done voluntarily. The more this is done and the more the reader has to recall information the more likely it is to "stick" in their head and because they have done it mostly voluntarily the student shouldn't even notice the amount of work they did.

Also in this chapter there is a summary on a strategy called Somebody Wanted But So. I thought this was a truly brilliant strategy and wish my teachers had utilized it in my high school years. This strategy helps the reader to closely analyze characters and the text itself. It also seems like a great conversation starter. I personally can not wait to try this strategy in a real classroom! Finally I feel this will be a chapter I often refer back to in my teaching career.

Chapter 7

This chapter has been the most important to me thus far in our reading of this book. Constructing meaning is what all literature teachers hope students do before, during and after reading any literature. Also the constructing of meaning is probably the most important skill students need in the world outside of school. Things such as contracts, agreements and even e-mails need to be able to have meaning before they have any importance. What I mean is if there is a word or phrase in any of the above mentioned pieces of writing that a student doesn't understand and they do not know how to make it make sense and have meaning they may sign something or not sign something maybe even say something that could conflict with the piece of writing. To be a little less confusing without this skill someone could easily and unknowingly agree or disagree to something that may later get them into trouble. This may not seem to matter much in the school setting but in all honesty school is preparation for life outside of school. However concerns in the classroom setting are that a student may fail to complete or simply fail an assignment because they couldn't figure out the piece of literature.

I know a lot of this seems geared towards "Uh-oh no one can do this" but this chapter also helps point out that not everyone has major issues with making meaning. This is important to know and utilize in your classroom. On page 103 of "When Kids Can't Read What Teachers Can Do" there is a great example of a student who has great strategies for reading and understanding things she didn't understand when she read it the first time. These students can help show, through strategies also mentioned in this chapter, others how to make meaning. These strategies such as Say Something may even spur great discussion that may not otherwise take place.

Chapter 5

This chapter really allowed me to view other ways in which readers of all levels read. I was always the kid that sat in the class who saw something a little different than most people but never really understood why. Through inference as explained in this chapter many different reasons for events or even actual events can be different for every reader. The passage regarding the popcorn story and how the students viewed it gave a very clear view into how inferences are made in different ways depending on what you have focused on in the passage. I also found it very interesting how the students focused in on details, such as the price of the movie, and made inferences based on experience. This defined for me what the true definition of an inference is: A conclusion based on some facts of the piece of literature and a lot of information based on what the readers experiences have been.
Also in this chapter I found (after trying it myself with a student I tutor outside of school) the comic strip strategy very useful when helping a student see how they make inferences. For those who have not read this book the comic strip strategy is utilized simply by choosing a comic or cartoon out of a newspaper, cutting it out and having the student verbalize the hidden humor. For example, if there is a muscular man about to sit in a tiny chair we infer that the chair will break because he is larger than the chair. Because this is such an obvious fact to the reader we also infer that he should know what the outcome will be and therefore laugh at him when he sits down anyways. I did not realize how many small inferences we make based on the tiniest details. Many strategies, other than the comic strip strategy, such as It Says- I Say can be useful in showing the process of inferring too. To me this is one of the most important parts of comprehending any piece of literature and is also the most invisible making this part visible is crucial to students success.

Chapter 6

I had no clue this was the process good readers go through everytime they read this really struck me. It's interesting that we can do this without our knowledge. Also teaching this is going to become more and more difficult as thinking while reading progresses. How do we as teachers teach kids when we don't even know what is going on in their head?

Chapter 4

"How do I know unless I already know?" (Al's comment to Beers p.47). This comment really made me think about what it takes to be a teacher and what we should be required to teach. These strategies that Beers discusses are very important because of exactly what Al said, "How do I know unless I already know?" If the student doesn't know how to recognize something or the thinking process it takes to recognize it, they are not going to be able to magically osmosis it into their brains. WE HAVE TO TEACH THEM HOW TO DO IT!!!!!

Chapter 3

Something I noticed that I forgot to mention i my previous post, is the classroom examples Beers gives showing the different students with different problems this helped put the problems in a realistic perspective. By doing this Beers has helped me see what I might expect in my own classroom.

Chapter 3

Because dependent readers are most often the ones who require the most help from the teacher this chapter focuses on what they do that makes them dependent and how we as teachers can better help them become independent readers. A special focus on recognizing a dependent reader was very helpful. I have realized that even as a student I categorize others I see by the things they say or do when it comes to reading and that this characterization usually comes with the idea that the person is uncaring or the assumption that they are not trying to succeed. This chapter has shown that this is not always the case. Sometimes, maybe even post of the time, the student has problems unrelated to their level of knowledge or caring on the topic. This is very important to teachers because we are who fixes these problems and without the proper diagnosis of the students problem how can we fix it? It is our job to help these kids and therefore we must take on a more active role in figuring out the true problem underneath the facade of the uncaring student. This is perhaps the most important part of our job.

Chapter 2

This chapter is filled with so much information that I feel every Language Arts teacher should know. For example, Beers tells of how she expected perfect readers who were ready to dig deeply into the meaning of literature. The students she had were exactly the opposite and unfortunately this discouraged her greatly. Her greatest challenge that year, a young man by the name of George, proves to be her greatest example of what she believes students shouldn't do. However, in this chapter Beers explains that this is a wrong assumption because every child may act like George if/when given certain texts. Beers also explains that there are two types of readers in this chapter and explains how to deal with both types: dependent and independent readers. I found this part especially helpful. If a few of my teachers would have had this information, or had used it in their classrooms, I am sure I would have been a better independent reader sooner than my college career. Finally Beers makes a comment at the end of the chapter that I felt truly capture what it takes to be a teacher. She says, "Teaching reading to adolescents is both rewarding and frustrating; it's a science and an art. It's making mistakes and growing from them. It's the most important thing I do as a teacher" (Beers, When Kids Can't Read: What Teachers Can Do, 2003, p.22). Making mistakes is a part of everyone's growth and as teachers we should not expect perfect from ourselves or our students, especially through our first experiences. Instead we should strive for a better way to overcome the mistakes and create a better learning environment for our students. Mistakes are part of perfecting that environment.

Hi all!!!

This is the site where I will comment on many aspects of the book When Kids Can't Read: What Teachers Can Do by Kylene Beers. I have so far enjoyed my reading of this book and have learned a lot from just the first couple chapters. my hope is that this blogg will get those who have read this book thinking about new ideas and discussing them with me. I look forward to your future comments!!