Katelyn's Last Thoughts

     In my last post for the book "Do I Really Have to Teach Reading" by Chris Tovani, I want to address a few of the framing questions for this class relevant to my book as well as how I plan on using this information in my own teaching and classroom.
     First, I want to address a few framing questions as I see them answered by my book.

• Literacy is much more than just reading and writing words. 
• People become literate with practice and effective teaching strategies and techniques.  One technique to teach reading will not help everyone. 
• Promotion of literacy development comes with connecting to the text, having a library of different techniques and strategies to practice, taking time to sit and read espcially if you are a struggling reader, background knowledge about a subject, developing questions to stimulate connection to the text, and knowing how to mark the text to hold thinking.  These are just a few techniques my book shares for promoting literacy development.
• In Tovani's book, there is a huge difference between learning to read and reading to learn.  Learning to read requires very primary details such as knowing what letter you are looking at, knowing the sound that that letter makes, and being able to put it with a bunch of other letters to create a word.  This includes reading words, sentences, paragraphs, and books.  However, just reading will not bring you comprehension and this is where you have to read to learn.  This is where teaching of reading strategies and techniques come in for both struggling and experienced readers.  Both are very important because without first learning to read you cannot read to learn. 
• We need to teach our students how to read within our content fields to better learn the information.  If we expect our students to understand all they read in different content fields, we are not helping them reach their full potential in our content classes. 

     Lastly, I feel as though I could use all techniques, strategies, and worksheets that Tovani discussed in this book.  I love all of the bulleted points that Tovani includes at the end of each chapter and what works for students and teachers alike.  I will take all of this information I have learned to heart and try to incorporate as much of it into my own classroom as I can, using her work as an example for myself.  I enjoyed reading this book and I am happy for the opportunity to do this blog.
     Thank you all for commenting and reading my blog.  I have learned so much from each of your posts!    

 

Chapter 9- "Did I Miss Anything? Did I Miss Everything?" Last Thoughts

"If teachers become distant from their own learning they will most certainly become distant from the learning of the students," (Alisa Wills- Keely, pg. 117). 
     Tovani starts this chapter with this quote by Wills- Keely.  This is a fantastic quote to begin with because this is what her book is about.  This quote sums up her whole book with one sentence.  Tovani's strategies and techniques in this book help teachers of all contents and students of all grades with continued learning in reading.  We should always strive to continue our education and pass our knowledge onto our students. 
     After the quote, Tovani tells a story of an experience she had with a reading workshop getting ready for the state exams coming up.  This year they were focusing on poetry and the kids were not thrilled about reading poems.  As the kids file into the room and neglect to find their seats, they are talking and picking on one another while Tovani has a list of disturbances that don't end.  She has to decide what to do.  Does she scold the children and take time out of the teaching to do so?  While everything is disturbing and distracting her from doing her job, she quickly reminds herself, "... how difficult it is to determine what is important when we are teaching," (pg.118).  It was at this time that she writes that everybody faces challenges in their lives, both adults and children, teachers and students.  "... we must take the same advice we give to students: focus on what is important and, as much as possible, ignore the rest," (pg. 118).  She handled her class as she found appropriate and handed them all a poem to read titled, "Did I Miss Anything?"  One boy in her class lashes out saying he has no clue what the poem is about so Tovani reminds him to use the multiple reading strategies and techniques he has learned to better dissect and understand this poem in front of him.  He turns in his marked- up poem with a note in the bottom asking to redo the work he turned in earlier for a better grade, and of course, Tovani says yes.  Tovani says, "Our classrooms aren't the only place where kids might learn to 'query and examine and ponder.'  But they are one place, and it matters that we see how important it is to offer students the opportunity again and again to take us up on the chance to think hard about the world around them," (pg. 120).  I think this is important for all educators to remember and utilize in their classrooms.  We need to give our students every chance we can to help them succeed. 
     Tovani writes, "I think most of us become teachers because we love our content so much...," (pg. 121).  I agree with this completely!  I know the reason why I want to become a health teacher is because I am in love with the content and I feel as though it is one of the most important subjects for a child to learn in and about.  If I am not taking the time to help that child succeed in reading within this content field, I am not doing my job as a teacher in helping that child learn the content.  Part of learning the content is learning how to successfully read the content. 
     This is a very short chapter with Tovani's last thought's to the educating audience.  Her advice to all of us is, "I hope that as you finish reading this book, you are saying to yourself, 'I can do this.'  Sure you can.  You know more about reading instruction than you think," (pg. 122). 
     If you are interested in reading this book, all of Tovani's notes and samples of worksheets are in the back of the book in the appendix.  These are all very helpful in understanding this book and blog as well as useful in the classroom. 
      

Chapter 8- "What Do I Do with All These Sticky Notes?" Assessment That Drives Instruction.

     On the first day of class, Tovani walks into her 12th grade college prep class and tells the students, "Before you read anything, I want you to ask yourself, 'What's in it for me?'  Don't read for your teacher or your parents or your friends.  Read, write, and think for yourself," (pg. 101).  The kids are happy with being selfish people in the class, however when Tovani asks if they have questions, the kids are only focused on the tests and how the tests will be graded.  Tovani says of course there will be assessments, but not in the way that they are used to.  Tovani says about assessments, "But the good news is, I'm not looking for one right answer.  There will be lots of possible answers.  It will be hard for you to fail if you are willing to share your thinking," (pg. 102). 
     Grant Wiggins writes, "The aim of assessment is primarily to educate and imrove student performance, not merely to audit it," (pg. 103).  Tovani says that assessments should tell students specific things they are doing correct and specific things they need to work on.  Assessments should also give students many opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge on the given topic.  I feel as though we, as educators, should feel the same way about testing or assessing our students.  We need to remember there is no one right assessment that will answer all of our questions and doubts about our students.  You have to assess students multiple ways and make it a learning experience for them.
     Another important technique to remember is goal setting.  Helping your students set goals in the class and on specific assignments helps them to succeed in the class.  This can also be a form of assessment.  When the students meet a specific goal they had made for themselves, they could get a certain amount of points for meeting their goal.  Goal setting is a very important skill to teach children and being able to use it as an assessment tool is a great idea! 
     Tovani uses conversation calendars to keep up with her students.  Teenagers have a bad reputation because they are so dramatic and it is a very hard and trying time for them.  As educators, we work with that stereotype everyday and need to find ways to connect with our students and make school and learning a positive experience for them.  The kids can write anything they want in their little square for the day and turn it in.  The teacher will reply to what they wrote and give it back in a prompt manner.  This is a way to connect with the students on another level.  By connecting with the teens and knowing how they think, the teacher will be able to better teach them.  Some ideas for making a conversation calendar work are as follows:

• Have a tray in the room where the calendars will go everyday.
• Respond to the student's calendars on a daily basis.
• Make the calendars worth the students time.
• Decide consequences on lost or neglected calendars.
• Consider who will use the calendar and when.
• Experiment with different ways to use the calendar.

Another idea to use in the classroom is a reading response log.  This gives students a chance to read a book, write a summary, and keep notes on what they are reading in order to hold their thinking about the book.  They can turn their journals in for points and it can be another form of assessment where the students do not get nervous and full of anxiety and can barely perform on the test itself. 
     Tovani recommends keeping a file for each student in the class with work that really portrays who that student is as a person and showcases their identity.  She also pushes for quick conferences.  These do not have to be parent- teacher conferences or parent- student- teacher conferences.  These can happen with the teacher just walking around the room and speaking with children on an individual level while they are doing independant work.  Tovani says, "Conferences are perhaps the best assessment tool I have," (pg. 113).  As educators, I think this is a great tool to use to not only connect with the students, but get a feel for how they are doing in the class with the lessons. 

So... Here is what works:

• Decide what is IMPORTANT to assess.
• Design assessments as CHECKPOINTS for understanding.
• Use a VARIETY of assessment tools.          

Chapter 7- Group Work That Grows Understanding

"Cirriculum is often thought of as a set of specific knowledge, skills or books to be covered.  I propose instead that we think of cirriculum as a set of important conversations that we want students to engage in," (Arthur Applebee, pg. 89).
     Tovani begins this chapter by stating how well her students work in groups.  All of the students are discussing as they should, asking questions about the reading for their historical topic, and taking notes on their posters for their work.  However, group work and discussions were not always this easy for Tovani.  Tovani says, "There is an art to discussion," (pg. 90).  Students need to know what they are doing right and they need timely feedback to continue working the right way. 
     Content teachers get frustrated and do not know how they will teach their content and reading to their students when their classes are full of thirty or more students.  The answer here is small groups.  Tovani did a lot of research when it came to small groups and discussions.  She observed teachers who had "fool proof" plans in discussions and she wanted to mke sure she would not have to control and babysit every discussion taking place.  Tovani wanted to be able to walk around the room and see all groups discussing, working together, and staying on task.  She found the way to do this is to set norms.  These norms need to be agreed on not only by the teacher, but by the students as well.  She asked students what they enjoyed least about working in groups.  From this point, she made the norms and actions and had the students agree or disagree with them.  If the students disagree, they had to fix the norms to where everyone would agree. 
     After norms were set, Tovani needed to model what she wanted to see in the small group discussions.  She uses a fishbowl technique in where she will model what she wants to see in the small groups and the students will take notes to help them understand what is expected.  She asked her good friend and author Chryse to help her demonstrate.  Chryse models what a good student in a small group will act like and Tovani models what a bad student would act like in a discussion.  As they act out this situation, the students are taking notes on a paper given to them to separate good ideas from bad ideas and actions. 
     Once students know what to expect, they need time to practice.  "Group discussions give students an opportunity to rehearse and construct connections before they sit down to that daunting blank screen or piece of paper," (pg.93).  I can relate to this comment especially with the class we are in now.  I feel like without discussing the text in our small groups, I would be completely lost at times.  It helps to bounce ideas off one another.  Tovani makes sure that the students ideas are being recorded from the discussion either through a sticky note technique or through a more sophisticated worksheet.  She notices that by walking around and giving her students positive feedback, they strive to do better and engage in more sophisticated behaviors.
     Tovani wants to send the message that working with others is very important.  "Small groups also give more students a chance to participate in a way tha they wouldn't do in large groups," (pg. 98).  I personally do not like group work at all, but when you have something you are passionate about to discuss and work with others who are passionate about the same thing, it makes it much better!

So... Here is what works:

• MODEL for your students how to discuss.
• Give students SPECIFIC and POSITIVE feedback.
• Use INTERESTING texts for discussions.
• ANTICIPATE trouble spots.            

Chapter 6- Holding Thinking to Remember and Reuse

     Tovani starts this chapter with showing her reading workshop class a picture of a navy seal climbing out of the ocean, onto a rope ladder from a helicopter, with a shark about to eat him!  She asks the class what they think and as they all give there different opinions about the picture, she finally reveals the truth... the picture if fake.  It is two pictures combined together through photoshop to make it look like an unbelieveable picture.  She explains that reading is more than looking at words in a book; you can read many things like pictures.  In order to read the picture, the students had to question the validity of the picture, ask questions, make connections to prior knowledge, and think as you "read" it.  The main point here is that Tovni wanted her students to realize they are "thinking even when 'reading' a picture," (pg. 68).
     "No one is smart enough to remember all that he knows," (Mark Twain, pg. 69).  In this chapter, Tovani really stresses the importance of encouraging the children to become active readers so they will comprehend and remember what they read.  A way to do this is by having students mark the text.  The following list is what Tovani suggests when marking a text:

• Write your thougts next to the words on the page that caused you to think this way.
• If there is no room on the text to write, draw a line from the text you are using to your thoughts elsewhere on the page.
• Do not copy the text in your thoughts, respond to it.
• Underlining the text is not enough, you must think about what you are underlining.
• There is no one right way to respond to the text.  

When you are not specific about what you want, about your instructional purpose like discussed in the last post, you will not get what you expect to get and you will be greatly disappointed in your students.  Students are not mind readers! 
     Tovani continues in her reading workshop with a short article instead of another picture.  It is about a 12 year old girl who went to court for an overdue library book.  The students were to read the article and write two comments, or pieces of thinking, in the margins.  She then proceeded to use the students work as examples to show the class what she was looking for in terms of this assignment; going over good examples of the student's work.  I think this is a fantasic thing to do.  By using other student's work as an example for the rest of the class, the students will know they are capable of doing the work and they will see how it is supposed to be done.  Model the assignment for the student so you are not setting them up for failure.  I feel as though too many teachers today set their students up to fail.  By not having a clear instructional purpose, posting objectives, or not modeling the assignment, they are letting their students fail and feel incompetant.  We need to make sure we are doing everything in our power to help our students succeed. 
     There are many tools to teach students how to hold thier thinking.  Once students learn how to do this, they will be able to participate a lot more in class and reach a new skill level.  There are many tools and strategies to use to hold thinking.  Students can use highlighters, sticky notes, large text on a bulletin board, and directly marking the text.  One thing I would like to mention here is highlighting the text needs a lot of practice.  I have seen adults who will highlight almost everything on a page.  This may not always be the best situation to give your students highlighters... they will have yellow books!  Tovani says, "Whole- group charts make class thinking public, and are very useful in getting students started with learning how to mark the text,"  (pg. 75).  This will save you from having yellow books!  Tovani also uses comprehension constructors.  "Comprehension constructors help students name their thinking and make it visible," (pg.76).  The main point of these worksheets is to get the student to question and connect to the material given to read.  This is to get the student thinking about how to mark the text and think about the text.  These comprehension constructors can be used in any content field.  You could also use double or quad entry diaries to connect students to the topic and have them record their thoughts and questions about the text.  Let students pick one of these strategies that work best for them.  Do not limit them to doing something they do not feel confident in doing while reading.  And let students work in groups after individual work.  If students are asking questions about the reading and the text, let the student ask their questions and answer as many as possible and then give them the support of a group to discuss and better understand the text. 
     Tovani said that she saw a poster in a middle school classroom that said, "Individually we are smart.  Collectively, we are brilliant," (pg.84).  This is a good saying to remember in any grade and in any content field.  Let children be smart on their own and brilliant together.  This could make the students feel better about discussing and working through the text. 
     So... here is what works:

• Give students a CLEAR instructional purpose and MODEL marking the text.
• Show students DIFFERENT techniques for connecting and marking the text and let them pick what works for THEM.
• Share with your students techniques that work for YOU in holding your thinking.             

Chapter 5- "Why Am I Reading This?"

     This chapter starts with a misconception that is prevalent among students in all grades which is "equating fast reading with good reading" as Tovani puts it.  In reality, good reading happens in all different ways.  Good readers adjust their speed to better comprehend what they are reading.  Good readers also need to establish a meaning for getting into the book in the first place.  Your purpose will then set the speed of your reading and determine what you will remember.  This is important for all educators to remember.  Tovani recalls a situation where she was talking with a newer high school teacher and the teacher was complaining because she was having her students read a book and they were not fully understanding what she wanted from them.  Tovani says that teachers often struggle in finding a balance or knowing what to teach from a book when there is so much information.      So what is a solution to this problem?
     One solution to this problem could be to use an instructional purpose sheet to determine what the most important concept is for your students to learn.  There are five questions that the teacher answers which helps to determine what he or she will teach to their students.  These questions are as follows:

• Instructional Purpose (What is essential for students to know?)
• What two places may cause students difficulty?
• What will you model that will help students negotiate the difficult parts?
• What do they need to do with the information they are reading?
• How will they hold their thinking while they are reading?

     Holding thinking can be a difficult concept to grasp, but in other words, what can we do to make sure children will remember what they have read and are reading?  The students could write down their thoughts on sticky notes and attach them to the page, they can write in the margins (mark their book), or maybe journal about their reading to help them remember.  Another technique that is probably most effective in getting your students to hold their thinking is relating the material to the student.  Show them that this is important and relevant to their lives.  Have them draw on background information or questions to connect with the text.   
     Tovani mentions history teachers again.  They have so much to teach in their content field that they could feel pressured to rush through everything without checking for understanding.  As a health educator in the making, I have certain benchmarks and standards that I need to go through in one semester.  That is a lot of information to teach in one semester with all of the interuptions we face on a daily basis.  It would be easy to rush through, give tests, and move on.  For this reason, Tovani stresses the importance of clear instructional purposes.  Tovani says, "when we share a clear instructional purpose, we give our students a lens through which to read the piece, (pg. 59)."  For example, you could say, "By the time you finish reading tonight, I want you to be able to discuss three causes of the civil war, (pg. 59)."  These techniques help students to hold their thinking, as well as the double entry journal discussed in the previous blogs.
     One last thing I wanted to touch on is the use of voice, specifically two different voices used in reading.  These voices are your reciting voice and your conversation voice.  Tovani says, "Recognizing that readers have different voices when they read is a powerful monitoring device.  If students learn to recognize the difference between their reciting voice and their conversation voice, they will know when they are no longer making sense of the text, (pg. 62)."  So what is the difference between the two voices?  Your conversation voice is the one you use when you are actively participating in the text.  This means, as the reader, you are asking questions as you read, disagreeing with the text, and forming your own opinions about what is happening.  Your reciting voice is when you are no longer paying attention.  This happens when you are just going through the motions, only reading the words on the page.  When this happens, typically you have to re-read a couple times to fully understand what is going on in the text.  To solve this, give students a clear instructional purpose for reading and relate the reading to their lives.  Help students to connect with the text and become an active participant in their education. 
     So... here is what works:

• Be SELECTIVE about what you have your students read, make it important!
• Develop a clear instructional PURPOSE for reading. 
• Give students an opportunity to USE what they are reading.

Chapter 4- Real Rigor: Connecting Students with Accessible Text

     Tovani was given the task, years ago, with figuring out why so many history students were failing their class.  She soon discovered that the textbook was way too hard for the students to be reading and completely understanding.  When she approached the principal with this information, he argued that they cannot get new textbooks.  They spent too much money on those books brand new and they will be staying in the school for at least the next 10 years!  These texts were going to be the student's primary source of information for the next ten years.  She went to all of the history teachers and told them they were covering too much content and expecting too much from the text.  Tovani says, "The course textbook seems like the best solution, but only if students are actually reading it.  The reading material is often above their grade level and inconsiderately written.  Concepts are introduced too quickly.  Too many vocabulary words are thrown at students, with not enough opportunity to use them.  Students' background knowledge on the topic may be limited, so they have nothing to connect the new reading to.
     What do we do about this?  What is our solution?  The solution, according to Tovani, is accessible text.  An accessibl text is a "text that helps students make a connection between school subjects and the real world because it helps them experience reading that is done in the real world."  Just because we give students accessible texts does not mean that it uses any less rigor.  If we give students text after text that is too difficult for them to read, not only will they not understand, but they may resort to cheating or feel defeated in school due to the fact that they feel stupid.  Tovani says that when students are given texts that are too hard for them to read, they begin to feel as though all reading done in school is pointless.
     One idea to help children succeed is text sets.  Tovani got this idea from elementary schools.  These classrooms typically split the reading into different lengths, difficulty, and structure, as well as author.  These sets are accessible to students and are interesting and relevant.  They give students a variety of choices to choose from and helps them to learn content information.  The beautiful thing about this idea is that you can use it in any content field!  As the teacher, you can split the reading into as many different text sets as you would like and have as many as you would like, just make it easy for the children.  Make these texts appropriate in level of the reading, content, and variety of texts.
     So... here is what works:

• Give students a CHOICE in their reading material.
• Make your students see the CONNECTION between what they are reading and the real world: the reading has a purpose.
• Give students INTERESTING and provacative texts, not boring ones.
• DON'T let your textbook do the teaching, you are the expert!        

Chapter 3- Parallel Experiences: Tapping the Mother Lode

     In this chapter, Tovani opens by telling a story about teaching content tachers, in a workshop, about teaching reading in their content classrooms.  One teacher she encounters in the workshop is an industrial tech teacher.  This is basically "shop" in high schools.  He wants to know why he has to participate because student's "do not read" in his class.  Tovani thinks about this and explains to the man that of course his students read, maybe he is so good at it that he doesn't realize it!  In his class, students read blueprints and directions on how to build birdhouses.  They do a lot of reading, it is just a different kind of reading.  Tovani stresses the importance of teaching reading in your content field; as content teachers, we need to teach students how to be better readers in our content field.
     One thing Tovani says in her book is, "I'm a pretty good reader of literature, but just because I can read and understand poetry doesn't mean I'm an expert math reader, (pg. 26)."  We have to make sure that we are teaching our children how to comprehend the information for our content area.  For example, I will be teaching health.  I cannot give the children an article from the Scientific American and expect them to understand and write a comprehension essay on the article.  They need to learn how to disect and pick out what they need and don't need.  They also need to be able to see the significance of the information to their lives and connect with the article in some way.  Another important step in teaching reading is to model.  Make sure that the child knows you struggle as well, but use different techniques to get through and understand the reading; then model the techniques for your students. 
     My favorite part of this chapter is when Tovani talks about the example of reading she gives to teachrs in her workshop to make them think about how they read.  She gives them an article called, "Di Tri Berrese, (pg. 126)."  This is not written in Italian or nonsense words, but when reading aloud, you can actually understand little bits of the reading.  This is a story about the three little bears, but twisted a little bit.  By reading this story, it teaches teachers that sounding out words is not enough to grasp the concept of the reading, but you must draw on what you already know about the story and reading and dig into your background knowledge.  Students need to be taught that you think while you read.  If you do not think while you read, you will not be connecting to the story or tapping into your background knowledge and therefore, you will not understand the reading.
     The last thing I wanted to mention that Tovani talks about is staying with the text.  She uses the example of the book Frankenstien.  The high school class that she was talking to about the book could not seem to get interested in it.  She connected with the students by telling them that she really couldn't get into the story either until... she found a technique that separates the book into three parts where the last part is the most exciting.  She then took an exciting paragraph from the book and gave it to the students to read.  They were suddenly interested in the book and began asking questions which made them want to read to find the answers.  By doing these small activities and gaining the students trust and interest, they will learn to be better readers and enjoy reading.

So... here is what works according to Tovani:

• Always IDENTIFY what your students are struggling with.
• MODEL reading a challenging piece of text for your students that will let you experience the difficulty they have as students.
• SHARE with your students ways to overcome their struggles in reading with ways you overcame the struggle.        

Chapter 2- The "So What?" of Reading Comprehension.

     Tovani, so far, starts each chapter with a personal experience.  I think this is so the reader can better connect with her and what she teaches in her book.  This story was about an activity she was doing with her class.  Her class would read a book and write on sticky notes where they felt a connection and what that connection was.  They would write their connection on the sticky note and turn it in to Tovani.  There was one girl in the class that always would ask, "so what?"  Everytime smeone would share their thoughts about a book or raise present something they felt important, this girl would always say the same thing, "so what?"  While Tovani was reading the sticky notes, she was disappointed.  The students were not making deep connections to the story and their superficial connections they did make were not helping them read and understand the story.  Tovani decided that it was time for her to ask all of her students, "so what?"  She gave all the students a double entry diary to use while they read.  The left side is where you write the quote from the book and the right side is where you would write your connection, or your "so what."  The children were to take their sticky notes and elaborate.  It was difficult for the students at first, however once they really found the deeper meaning in their connection with the story, they were able to better understand the story.  A double entry diary could be a really useful tool, esecially in a different content field.  Different content fields can use these tools easily becuase they are more interesting than just reading a book, can create interest in the story, and help the children to connect or identify with the text.
     One problem I think we have today, and have become all too okay with, is stopping children's thinking too soon.  Tovani said that this is exactly what her sticky note activity did.  She was not giving the children the time they needed to explore and connect the way she expected.  By giving them the diary and having them expand, it helped the student's to make an honest connection with the reading. 
     Tovani gives four principles that she uses in her instruction.  These include:

• Assessing the text that the students have to read.
• Providing a model of the thinking process you, as the teacher, use.
• Defining a purpose and reason for the students to read and write.
• Teaching students to hold their thinking and give them plenty of opportunities to use that information.

     "I want to lose 30 pounds and and eat chocolate cake all the time.  It's not going to happen."  This is how Tovani approaches teachers who want their students to "do it all."  Tovani says that this is a trade off.  The teacher must decide what is important enough to keep and what can afford to be dropped for the benefit of the students.  Maybe substituting something more interesting for the students to read that would teach them the same thing would be more beneficial to the students.  They would enjoy reading it, maybe make a connection to the reading, and be able to explain what they have read and learned from it after reading with an opportunity to do so. 
     Lastly, Tovani closes with some teaching points that work.

• Always be asking yourself WHY you are doing something and HOW it will help students think, read, or write even in a certain content field.
• There is NO one right way to introduce comprehension tools to students.
• Make your activities GENUINE and AUTHENTIC for the students.
• Use the STUDENT'S work and comments to plan lessons from day to day.

     I personally love the idea of the double entry diary.  I am going to be a health educator and a lot of articles out there in cirrculation use complicated language.  Viruses and diseases have long and hard to pronounce names, ingredients in medications are almost impossible to read, and there are so many different topics in health to cover in one semester.  With this double entry diary, it can deepen the child's understanding of the reading, possibl the severity of the topic, and most importantly, maybe the student will connect with the reading in a way where they can share the information with friends and family.  My goal would be to create an atmosphere where the child then becomes the peer educator from a deep understanding and connection with the content through reading.           

Chapter 1- "I'm the Stupid Lady from Denver..."

     Eventhough the first chaper of my book is only 9 pages long, there is so much information and so many examples that I would love to share.  The author, Tovani, starts the chapter with a short story to explain what she does... teach reading skills to children and teach teachers how to implement these strategies in their content fields.  Her example took place in California in a high school science class.  The children were learning about viruses in a long, boring, and complicated chapter.  She was able to connect with the high school students in the fact that she sat by a big sick man on the plane and when this sick man sneezed on Tovani, she immediately began to ask herself questions about what this man might have that he could have given to her.  By questioning, she was able to pull out the chapter and read intently, looking for the answers to her questions.  One strategy that Tovani teaches is developing a series of questions about the chapter to further interest in the topic of reading.  If children are not interested or do not want to learn anything about the topic, it is harder to get them interested.
     Tovani also stresses that learning to read does not end in elementary school.  As students move through their schooling, reading becomes more complicated and complex.  Another srategy that Tovani uses with the children is to use a highlighter or sticky notes to find important words, or words they do not know the meaning of, and with a different color, look for the meaning or importance of those words to further not only understanding, but to remember and reuse what they have read. 
     I really connected with Tovani when she said that content teachers teach in their field for their passion of the content area.  These teachers do not want to focus on teaching reading because they have so much to teach in so little time.  However, when teaching in your content field, if the students cannot understand what they are reading, will they really be interested in what you are teaching?  Tovani suggests using reading materials that will really catch the student's attentition and interest, even if they are not part of the typical lesson plan.  Sometimes using something outside of what was planned will do the trick to get the students interested and learning. 
     One last strategy to try would be to draw a picture about what the student's have been reading.  This picture would demonstrate what they student's took from the reading and show their understanding of the material.  The line that Tovani closes with, that sums up the whole chapter is, "Meaning arrives because we are purposefully engaged in thinking while we read." 
     I learned a few new strategies that I am very excited to implement in my content field of health education!    

Blogging about blogging

     I wanted to start by saying I have never had a blog before, but in saying that, I am excited to start my first one now.  I found it appropriate to name my blog after the title of the book I am reading called "Do I Really Have to Teach Reading?"  When I first discovered that I had to take a class to teach reading and writing, I though it was a little silly and immediately thought of the title of my book!  After all, I am going to school to be a health educator.  However, after only a few short weeks of this class, I am already seeing how beneficial this information is to my content field.  I never knew that learning the skills to teach reading and writing would open new opportunities for me to use in a health setting or classroom.
     This is my first blog so before I started, I wanted to go online and look at some other blogs that I thought looked interesting to see what they were about.  I always thought that blogs were like a journal for people to spill their emotions that other people really don't care about; much like facebook.  Going online and looking through other blogs, I see that some can be very informational and fact based like medical blogs.  I feel like any blog has the potential to be a good blog if it is honest and fact based.   
     In saying all of this, I am so excited to start blogging about my book, hearing other ideas and opinions about my book, and completing this class so I can have even more beneficial information and ideas to be the best health educator I can be!