Maybe everyone feels this way, but I feel really behind. I feel like nothing I'm doing is working. Dexter still doesn't read- as evidenced by the fact that he does not have the same book on his reading log, when he does turn one in. He'll write it on the day that I collect them and thus I have no real faith in them. He finally found a book he was excited about Stormbreaker and read that for two weeks, but then lost it (I think he left it in the class and then someone else took it, not sure). But he also wasn't like, where's my book. He just pretends like he is reading it. But I know he isn't. And then when I was like, what are you reading, he's like Stormbreaker, I'm like, you don't have it. He's like, yes I do, it's in my backpack. I was like, no someone else has it out. And then without missing a beat, he's like I'll read it on my kindle. I'm like, do you have a kindle? He's like, there's an app on my phone. I'm like, then you have to buy the book. He's like, my friend has it. I mean, it was just the most frustrating conversation.
Shi-Lin--still reading the Outsiders, but maybe that's a good sign? At least she's sticking with a book, but it's been a few months, she probably should have finished it by now. She keeps having to read back, which makes me wonder about her memory.
Some places where I've made some instructional changes:
Instituted book talks--most kids were pretty excited to talk about their books. In fact, Dexter did a book talk about Stormbreaker. He didn't finish the book, but I guess he got closer than he has with other books, so that's a good thing I guess.
Gave the 8th grade optional book clubs--I talked up a bunch of books and almost everyone wanted to be in a book group. I worked really hard to give kids the book they wanted and tried to really keep with the 'books are great, I want you to love your book' thing. My instinct was to revert to required work for the clubs, but I was worried that they would drop out of the book group. But now I'm worried they don't actually know how to hold a discussion on literature. So now I'm wondering, should I give roles? Or do I keep with the open-ended format and tomorrow do a lesson on using post-its to note areas for discussion. And each week do a different reading strategy, like connections, questions, etc.
The goal is that students are a)reading b)understanding what they read and c)having a good discussion about their books.
I was thinking about what incentivizes someone to finish a book. Ruth's response-because it's good. Which is a good point. You want to get lost in your book. But, if you don't know how to really read with strategies, then you can't do that. So am I not giving those skills?
Shi-Lin--still reading the Outsiders, but maybe that's a good sign? At least she's sticking with a book, but it's been a few months, she probably should have finished it by now. She keeps having to read back, which makes me wonder about her memory.
Some places where I've made some instructional changes:
Instituted book talks--most kids were pretty excited to talk about their books. In fact, Dexter did a book talk about Stormbreaker. He didn't finish the book, but I guess he got closer than he has with other books, so that's a good thing I guess.
Gave the 8th grade optional book clubs--I talked up a bunch of books and almost everyone wanted to be in a book group. I worked really hard to give kids the book they wanted and tried to really keep with the 'books are great, I want you to love your book' thing. My instinct was to revert to required work for the clubs, but I was worried that they would drop out of the book group. But now I'm worried they don't actually know how to hold a discussion on literature. So now I'm wondering, should I give roles? Or do I keep with the open-ended format and tomorrow do a lesson on using post-its to note areas for discussion. And each week do a different reading strategy, like connections, questions, etc.
The goal is that students are a)reading b)understanding what they read and c)having a good discussion about their books.
I was thinking about what incentivizes someone to finish a book. Ruth's response-because it's good. Which is a good point. You want to get lost in your book. But, if you don't know how to really read with strategies, then you can't do that. So am I not giving those skills?
No comments:
Post a Comment