Chapter 4 - Finding the "Sweet Spot" of Instruction
My two big "take aways" from this chapter
1. The not so new idea that it is all a balancing act
2. So much of students learning depends on background knowledge.
Gallagher suggests using the Big Chunk/Little Chunk philosophy when teaching a novel. Gallagher has warned in previous chapters not to cut a novel into so many piece that the students lose interest. At the same time he realizes that we do need to teach close reading. Students need to be taught how to make connections, analyze a character's actions, identify foreshadowing, etc. What I personally need to do is not try to cram everything I need to teach into one novel. As a teacher, I need to figure out which standards would best go along with a particular novel.
Another thing I will work on this year is giving my struggling readers exposer to as many kinds of text as possible. Building their background knowledge is just as important as building their reading skills.
What will you do to prevent Readicide?
Keep hopping and head over to Erin's blog to see her thoughts on chapter 4.
Then be sure to come back next week when we discuss the final chapter of Readicide.
I am also going to aim for not cramming too much information into just one novel. I liked Gallagher's strategy for teaching students strong reading strategies. I like that he does so over informal discussions and over an extended period of time. I thought to myself, my goodness...this is so much less pressure than the way I've been teaching...both for the students and myself.
ReplyDeleteAngela
The Organized Plan Book
I am also looking to adopt Gallagher’s no stress approach to teaching reading strategies.
DeleteKim
I also try tocr in too much. Testing time comes too fast
ReplyDeletetry to cram in too much. Maybe I should give up typing on a cell phone?
Deletelol
DeleteI liked his suggestion of having 50% recreational reading time and 50% academic. I feel with this approach that I could still have fun with books and address a few standards over time....over many books. I know I'm very guilty of cramming a lot in before testing time..hopefully these new strategies will help balance my time and approaches out better this year.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, can't wait to read the wrap up next week!
The Whimsical Teacher