Giving students a purpose for reading is really helpful for readers like me. Reading words is not the problem...attending to the text is killer!! When students have a focus for reading, their minds can go back to that focus again and again as they're reading. Doing this helps me notice when my mind is wandering. So if I'm thinking, "I need to read this to teach it to my class tomorrow." Then it's important that my mind stay attentive to what I'm reading. The more focused I am, the less I have to reread. If I'm thinking about making connections as I read, it helps me stay more focused as I read. For readers who might not just soak up every word they read, purpose develops stamina.
This section also mentioned having readers share with one another. This is another strategy that has helped me as a reader. Because I would often miss things due to my inattention, listening to other's ideas helped me to not miss key pieces of texts. Once I listened to what others were getting from the text, I could then go back and reread with new understanding.
Another interesting thing to see in this section was the "wasted time" during the school day. We will always make time for what's important to us. As new light is shed on the importance of independent reading, teachers will place a new level of importance with independent reading time.
Very insightful, Heather, especially since you can connect as a reader to what the author is saying. I agree that it is so much easier to pay attention to what we are reading if we have a purpose. It is important to remind students that reading is more thinking and less text. I am sure that is doubly important when reading in Math!
ReplyDeleteGiving our readers a purpose is important--I know I read differently depending on my purpose, so giving our readers a hint is only fair. Good thoughts!!
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