Reading Strategy Use: Reflection Blog #3

Reading Strategy Use: Reflection Blog #3
REED 502
Chadrick Shoales

Persuading Reading Strategies onto My Student Teacher
Currently I am not teaching my students because I have a student teacher. However, I am persuading her to use reading strategies with the middle school students. The middle school team has informed me that they need help getting the students to develop those strategies. I want her to prepare the students for the MSA testing coming up. Beers (2003) stated that “when you provide students with a clear understanding of the strategies and the opportunity to use the reading tools that support them, you will be successful in helping good readers become independent strategic readers” (p. 26). As stated in last week’s journal article, I want to select the strategies and reading tools which help students to be able to have a better chance with MSA testing in regards to strategic reading. As a result, my student teacher is doing altered books with her students. They are doing several different mini lessons within their books. The students were given a basic book where they ripped out pages they didn’t like, taped pages together, and prepared their books for a major alteration. They then are ready to begin using the words in the story creatively to tell a new story. Students can highlight or emphasize key words in the book that they like by painting around those words, omitting the other disliked words with dark paint. The students add onto those words that they emphasized by adding visuals from magazines that they feel symbolically relate. Students then add more words from other texts and magazines. In the end, students merge original texts, with new texts and pictures, forming a new story.
The Good, Bad, and the Ugly
Wynn (2008) stated that “we realize that success is not based on the actions of an individual, but rather a "team" that remembers where they have been and has a vision of where they want to go.” This applies to teachers that make cross curricular connections. We don’t want to keep teaching things students already know. Teachers should collaborate as a team and figure out where the art teacher can help in the aspect of reading. Implementing reading strategies into the art curriculum, when done correctly, can only be a positive for the students. When done incorrectly, it can frustrate the teacher, making more work for the teacher, and it can be frustrating for the students as well. My student teacher has no experience planning reading strategies into her curriculum. When it’s a new thing to a teacher to do this, it can be frustrating because it’s one more thing to think about when lesson planning. However, once the strategies are effective and the teacher understands how to successfully implement the strategies within the regular curriculum, the lesson becomes more authentic and worthwhile for the students. It is a learning experience for both the teacher and student.
These Same Strategies I Plan to Use
Everything my student teacher is doing with her altered books relates to using textual cues, visual, and text organization to increase student understanding. I will continue to elaborate on this and point out to the students that they are making a cross curricular connection with language arts. Making cross curricular connections is a key to introducing reading to students. They are learning about reading within the art class and they enjoy art. I am connecting new knowledge to existing knowledge to make personal meaning. Things they have learned in English, they can apply to art class. When the students can relate personally to the subject matter, they are more motivated to learn.
Anticipated Results
I feel using textual cues, visuals, and text organization simultaneously while creating art is a great strategy to address struggling readers. Students may learn a new strategy from this art project which they may apply to a benchmark test writing assignment. There is no negative aspect to using this strategy. By connecting new knowledge to existing knowledge, students will be able to make more connections and be motivated. If the students are motivated, they are going to finish the project and get more out of the lesson.
References
Beers, S., Howell, L. (2003). Reading Strategies for the Content Areas. Alexandria:
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Wynn, G. (February 2008). Avenues to Success. Developing a Thriving Technology Education
Program. The Technology Teacher. Reston, 67(5), 29-33. Retrieved February 24, 2010, from ProQuest Host Research Database.