I am posting this on behalf of Liz, who is responding to Matt's comment:

I’m going to respond to your (matt’s) quote about how students choose approximately 80% of their own texts and then you said that you found this to be true. Can you explain this more to me maybe? Because from what I see, my teacher doesn’t really let them pick what they’re reading unless it’s for silent reading (individual). My teacher has selected all the texts we read as a class, and this is sort of how I remember my elementary experience going as well. I would love to come see your class if your teacher is letting them choose 80% of their own texts. WOW!

I enjoyed many things while reading though this weeks section. One example I really enjoyed was on pages 11-12, when the sixth grade teacher modeled how to do text to self when reading a book and then gave students an opportunity to make their own text to self connections in a book of their choosing (Matt also mentioned modeling, but I would like to expand on this idea).  I liked this example for 2 reasons. One, I think it was a very excellent example of modeling; something that I am discovering to be SO important in my 5^th grade classroom. I recently read another article on my own titles Explicit Instruction by Archer and Hughes and they placed so much emphasis on the importance of providing “guiding and supported practice.” They said that “in order to promote initial success and build confidence, regulate the difficulty of practice opportunities during the lesson, and provide students with guidance in skill performance.” This tactic was modeled perfectly through this literacy lesson, which, for my second point, I really liked this idea for an activity. Too often I think students read books and just answer questions about them- I think this is a good exercise to start students on being able to connect the text to their lives and world. I will definitely be keeping this in mind for my future classroom and maybe even use it during my internship year. I liked what they said on page 14 about how just understanding the text “goes beyond” the literal interpretation of the text-it’s important to be able to interact with it as well, which is another reason why I liked the text to self strategy used above. This will help aid in comprehension.

Another discussion I really enjoyed reading in this book was the discussion found on pages 27-28. This talked about how proficient readers are able to monitor themselves regarding comprehension- in other words, they basically read and read and read “on autopilot” until something goes on they don’t understand, and then they have to figure out what’s going on by re-reading, slowing down, etc. The book pointed out, however, that sometimes “less proficient readers may be so focused on decoding that they can’t give adequate attention to making meaning when they run intro trouble,” meaning that it’s important for beginning readers to be reminded to stop periodically to keep track of what’s going on (this needs to be modeled through various strategies and reminded often).

In chapter three, I think that I will find the gradual release framework really helpful. I haven’t seen any group work in my classroom yet, sadly, but I hope that I do (or I hope that I can do something with that when I plan my own lesson) . I think it’s so important for students to be able to collaborate with one another, and I think it helps students learn a lot too by hearing their peers talk, which gives them good feedback.

On page 36, the “language matters” portion really stuck out to me- “What we say and how we say it makes a difference.” Obviously, I think this goes much further than simply literacy instruction- it’s in everything we teach and say and do throughout the day. It makes me shudder when I witness teachers saying things to their students in a negative way, that to me, could be made so much more positive ( I personally think this goes for pretty much every interaction you have with people in life in general, but that’s just another conversation for another day)

Just a comment in general about my class and wondering if anyone else is experiencing this same  “problem”- I have seen no differentiated instruction what so ever. Is this just me? Is it common not to see this in the beginning of the year? Am I missing something…?

Okay, until next time. Adios my fellow book club bloggers.