This will give you an opportunity to participate in the District 205 NTLT Spring Book Club, even if you cannot attend the meetings! This space will allow you to post comments based on our readings in 7 Keys... .
I'll post some comments or questions to think about based on the Suggested Reading Schedule (at right). Please feel free to post your ideas or questions here, or coat-tail off others' comments.
After each meeting, I'll post a summary of our discussions here as well.
For Meeting #1: Chapters 1 & 2
As an overview of the book, 7 Keys outlines the things that "good readers" do when they encounter text, and how teachers, parents, and other caregivers can help nurture & develop these skills in children/students.
The first key is "Sensory Images." The authors suggest that good readers immerse themselves in the text as they read, making "movies in their minds." They give some examples, suggest questions to ask readers, and offer tips for teachers & parents to help develop this skill.
Personal Thoughts:
Before I read this book, I honestly thought that I had some sort of reading disorder or attention deficit. When I read as a child, I would enjoy a few paragraphs and then my mind would wander off as I thought of myself interacting with the characters in the story. I used to blame comic books for that. Non-fiction was tougher, and college was almost unbearable for me as a reader.
Teaching helped me love reading again. Following my first year of teaching, stressed out beyond belief, I sat on the the ought-to-be-condemned balcony of my first apartment and read Thoreau's Walden. Nine months with 7th graders will give you new appreciation for an entire chapter entitled "Silence..."
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I thought chapter two was thought provoking to say the least. I think many of us that don't necessarily struggle with reading subconciously forget all of the sensory images that continually pop into our mind as we read. I can certainly recall when I first began reading I was only concentrating on sounding out the words correctly and just making it through the book. It was only then that I naturally progressed to being able to just read and create images in my mind as I did so. Its easy to then just assume that all readers eventually reach this point in comprehension. However, this is not the case at all. Many kids have no sensory images as they read. Luckily though, the book proves that this is a skill that CAN be taught.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, Nick! We'll talk about ways to encourage and develop this skill at Wednesday's meeting, then post some of our top ideas here!
ReplyDeleteKeep On Posting!
We had a great discussion about the comments above. When asked, "Were you taught to make 'movies in your mind,' or did it just happen," I was stumped. I honestly don't recall being taught that skill formally. However, I know that the skill can be fostered by teachers in all subject areas and grade levels. Here are a few ideas:
ReplyDelete*Drench children with text and visual language. Have books available that appeal to a wide range of interests and reading levels, both fiction & non-fiction). During "down-time," have kids grab a book or magazine from a bin or basket. (My middle schoolers - especially the boys who hated reading - loved to read through old Rules of the Road manuals in preparation for Drivers Ed and their first license!)
*Read Alouds and Think Alouds! Instead of giving kids an assignment to read certain pages, read the first few paragraphs out loud to them, and then say, "When I read this, it makes me think about...," or "I wonder what might happen next...," etc.
Remember that imagery doesn't have to be visual. Imagery also includes smells, tastes, feelings/emotions, etc.
Here are some other ideas:
*Draw pictures of the event(s) and place them in chronological order.
*Act it out in a skit
*Encourage kids to share stories about what they've read (forces them to summarize!)
*Encourage groups to read same text and discuss (literature circles, book talks, reader response logs, etc.)
*Create picture books with captions
I had mentioned to you some visual story starters. Here are the websites of the works I had mentioned:
http://www.chrisvanallsburg.com/
http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/harrisburdick/
Almost forgot: There were a few other suggestions, too!
ReplyDelete* Use highlighter tape in text to make important points 'jump out' at the reader
*Use flash cards (images, text/words, etc.) to help kids make connections between words and suggested imagery
I just finished reading chapter 3 and it made me look forward to teaching summer school language arts once again. Making connections are so important for struggling readers because I really think it is what helps kids to "get into" a book. The chapter discussed how many kids get frustrated with stories that they are capable of reading but lose interest in. This is because they many times don't have the background knowledge that is necessary to make connections to the characters of the story. The tips discussed on page 63 are very worthwhile.
ReplyDelete