-Name & Summarize (a few sentences) about the chapters you read.
Chapter 16 “The Value of Reading More”- This chapter addresses the million word gap, 1.4 million to be exact. Reading to children every day from birth until they enter kindergarten exposes them to 1.4 million more words than children read to only once or twice a week. This makes me think and worry about those who have 0 books read to them. By the time they get to me in third grade it is too late. Now I am wondering how we can help these children. I’m thinking about ways to get books into households. I found it interesting that words in children’s books are considerably rarer than those in speech on prime-time adult television. Those rare words are considered to be tier 2 vocabulary. That is eye opening. This chapter also addresses the role of practice in reading. Deliberate practice is important. It is focused, purposeful and valuable. This part spoke volumes to me.
Chapter 17 “The Interdependent Relationship of Skill and Will”- My biggest take-away from this chapter is Figure 17.3- “Smart Words That Help Students Discuss Fiction”. These are different from sentence stems. I love this idea. I’m going to tweak it for third grade.
Chapter 18 “Monologic and Dialogic Talk”- This was a thought-provoking chapter. It discusses the differences between monologic and dialogic talk. Basically monologic talk is like a lecture, a mini lesson. The answers to the questions are already known. Monologic questions do not help the students work through the process of understanding. Dialogic talk is a give-and-take of ideas. The responsibility is shared by all parties. Dialogic talk helps the students create meaning. Three pages of examples of dialogic questions are included.
Chapter 19 “The Power of a Book”- This chapter talks about helping kids find books. One example/suggestion is the “Good Book Box” which can just be a display of “good” books that help kids make a choice when choosing a book. The chapter addresses the fact that sometimes there are too many choices and students are helped when we narrow the choices until they are able to choose from a wider variety.
Chapter 20 “The Role of Relevance”- This chapter discusses the relevance continuum. I found this interesting. It also talks about giving kids a choice of what they read, a choice of how they respond and using questions that center them. We can’t guarantee relevance in everything that students read at all times but we can ask questions that ask the students to consider something about themselves such as the Three Big Questions.
Deliberate practice is important. Although I think we already do this I need to re-evaluate and make sure I am doing my part, always. I will use many of the examples and strategies provided in these chapters. I think it will also be important to have conversations at grade level meetings and at vertical alignment meetings.
-What strategies did you take away and how will you implement them into your teaching?
I will consider the Read Aloud; Read Along; Read Alone progression and how some of my students would really benefit from it. I plan to use this in some way with some students. I will refer to Figure 17.1 Ways to Counteract Negative Behaviors on pages 289-290. Figure 17.3 Smart Words That Help Students Discuss Fiction is going to get tweaked for 3rd grade. It can be an anchor chart or a page for individual student reading notebooks. Also, it could be as simple as a bookmark. I will photocopy and add Figure 18.2 Dialogic Questions to Ask Students to my reading binder. I plan to make it 3rd grade appropriate and divide it by text bands. I need to get back to having students do book recommendations. I used to do this and I will start again. The Three Big Questions will become an anchor chart and strategy that I use to center students. This is all very exciting.