Prior knowledge plays a huge roll when working with text and student. If students have absolutely no idea what the text is referring to, then work needs to be done with the students before they can fully gain all the benefits of the text. Obviously the more the students know before hand, the more they will be able to take away. As a teacher, it is important to remember that every student is not going to step up to a text with the same background knowledge. When introducing new text to students, a teacher should try to make it as relatable to all students in the classroom. This can be done by giving extra cues to students who are new to the concept, or allowing the students who are very familiar with the content to elaborate and share their experiences.
I really believe that the reason why I hate reading text is because of my past experiences with it. I could not agree more with the text when it talks about students' experience with text. So ofter students are required to read text that does not make since to them or holds no purpose. Text books are hard enough to read and comprehend as it is. When teacher give the students a reason for reading, the students will be more likely to do so, and develop a purpose for completing the task. The students can take away a lot more from reading when they have a purpose for reading. Other ways to give bring great experiences to the table is making the text more interesting. Teacher can bring in better resources other the the boring text. Offer magazines, blogs, websites, and other things of this nature for the students to read. Many times the format has a lot to do with how the reader perceives the text being presented.
This goes hand in hand with motivation and text. If the text is something that the student wants to know about, then obviously they will want to or be more likely to read it. Even if the topic is not something that the students do not enjoy, if the text is appealing it will bring the student in. Once the students interest has been gained, they will continue with the reading hopefully taking some knowledge away with them. The main point I took away from this chapter is make the text interesting. By providing the students with something that is intriguing, the student will learn.
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Yep, you raise good points Lauren. My previous experiences reading for school were somewhat lackluster, and it wasn't until college that developed a love for reading. I remember reading J.D. Salinger (Cather in the Rye, Franny and Zooey) and falling in love with the characters. Then I found Cormac McCarthy later, and Faulkner, and realized I am a reader. It takes carving out the time for me now. Creating positive experiences for students with texts will help them develop that motivation to carve out time to read on their own I believe. I'll never forget my 3rd grade teacher reading Where the Red Fern Grows out loud in class. I sat my head down on my desk and tried not to let anyone see my crying. :)
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you Lauren. I believe one reason I do not like reading text is because of my past experience. When I was in primary school my teachers never read us anything interesting. We would always read strictly from the textbooks. I will never forget my fourth grade teacher, because she changed that trend. She begin to read us books such as Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. This helped me to start developing a profound love for reading. From this experience I know that I should give the students interesting things to read. This will definately make them want to learn more about the text.
ReplyDeleteI believe like you do that teachers need to bring in text that students will be interested in reading. It does not matter if it is a comic book, newspaper, or teen magazine, as long as they are reading. Students need to be inspired to read and teachers have to find creative ways to get them interested.
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