During the
month of January our application we are working on learning about Socio
Cultural Learning theories and strategies that help support student talk. In our
required reading this month Richard Allington identifies student talk as one of
the essential components that characterize the most effective teachers’
classrooms.
In January’s
blendspace you will find a variety of resources we’ve included for you including
the four theories that we are sharing with you such as Owocki and Goodman’s
kidwatching excerpts that focus on sociocultural learning and talk and
Chorzerpa’s suggestions for utilizing Socratic Seminar to promote active
student engagement in learning. You will
also find in our blendspace an example of an award-winning podcast in the link
to NPR’s “This I Believe” podcast series as well as a link to try out a very
user friendly podcasting tool for students called vocaroo (vocaroo.com)
This month for
my blog post, I have chosen to read chapter 3 “Share Your Reading Life” from
Routman’s Reading Essentials for many
reasons. First of all, I believe that this
directs to the importance of talk in our classroom. How many of us love to read and love to talk
about what we are reading? I know that
many times I have read a book that has deeply affected me as a reader and I
have immediately wanted to share that experience with another human.
When I was
in the second grade and read, Charlotte’s Web I remember sitting beside my best
friend at the time, Amanda Ravan just a crying over the loss of Charlotte and
the heart warming knowledge that I at 8 had experienced the joy of
friendship. When I was in the fifth
grade and read Where the Red Fern Grows I remember vividly having to re-read it
at night to my twin brother because I wanted someone else to know those two
coon dogs, Little Ann and Ole’ Dan that had stolen my heart and made me love the
outdoors all over again.
I’m a little
embarrassed to admit to you that in college when Greg and I first met I read
Nicolas Spark’s The Notebook and was so smitten by the idea of a love like that
I asked him would he please read because I hoped that the new love we had found
might grow into a lasting life time love like the two characters based on the
author’s grandparents had found. I know
cheesy right!
As readers
we connect to what we read and we are compelled to share our thoughts with
others. When Lily Grace figured out what
Severus Snape’s heart was really about in Harry Potter she had to run
downstairs and tell me that he wasn’t all bad and she couldn’t believe I had
let her peg him wrong all this time when I knew he actually helped save Harry
in the end! I told her that I was
waiting to see her reaction and I didn’t want to spoil the discovery of loyalty
in his character for her. We then both
concurred that J.K. Rowling had magical writing abilities to draw out his
character development.
Our students
need time to talk about what they’ve read, to transact with others who may
affirm their thoughts and more importantly, who may challenge them and open
them up to a new way of thinking. In my
first summer of the Spartanburg Writing Project, my book club that read and
wrote under the influence of Barbara Kingsolver’s work that summer challenged
my thinking and my writing in ways that grew me.
In this
month’s article, Allington states,
"..if we want to increase substantially the amount of reading that
children do (and would I argue that this is one absolutely crucial step toward
enhancing reading proficiency), it is important to give children books they can
read and choices regarding which books they will read. Likewise, crafting a
supportive conversational environment in which students talk to their teachers
and to their peers about the books they are reading is an important component
for sustaining increased reading. And active teaching of useful reading
strategies expands the array of books that children are able to read. Finally,
shifting evaluation to focus on effort and improvement enhances students'
motivation for reading." (Allington,
2002 pg. 8)
One of the strategies that Routman made in this chapter is
to share your now and your next book and to have a record of your reading. In my writer’s notebook I have a running list
of books I’ve read so I can remember them for mentor texts and for the memories.
Each month I visit Mr. K’s Used Book store in Greenville (in
Verdae Shopping Center off the Motor Mile) and buy my stack for the month. Below is my picture of my Now Book stack. Every single book in this stack was
recommended to me by a friend. Keri
Lyles from Arcadia recommended Outlander (she was right, it is full of
adventure, history, suspense, and a little romance too!). A friend of mine I met in Kentucky when Tasha
Thomas and I presented at a Writing Conference there recommended The Goldfinch
to me on facebook and The Martian was highly recommended to me by my
parents.
Here is a picture of my Next Book Stack and both books on
this list made the list through talking with others. The Rick Bragg book is on my next stack
because he is an all-time favorite of mine and two friends, Susan Cox and Pam Ray
recommended this one to me recently. The
ESV Bible was given to me for Christmas by my husband Greg because two friends
of mine recommended this translation to me.
Other take aways for me from this chapter include:
*Favorite Author Area – page 30
*Baskets of Recommended books – page 30
*Keeping a Simple Reading Record – page 35
*Demonstrating How You Read and Your Love For Reading – page
36
Routman says on page 24 that it is important that we share
our love of reading with our students.
“I want students to know I am compelled to read. It is almost impossible for me not to
read. It’s much more than enjoying a
well-told story, increasing my knowledge about the world, following directions,
or say, understanding philosophy.
Reading pervades my life and sustains me the same way friendship and
love do. Reading gives me joy, comfort,
perspective, new ideas, questions to ponder, and connections to other
lives. I want nothing less for my
students.” (Routman, page 24)
I agree whole-heartedly.
#readersareleaders
Sincerely,
Dawn
No comments:
Post a Comment