I thought the Langer article brought up some good points I had never thought to analyze. First it was interesting to see the difference between reading literature and reading informative readings. We have a different relationship between the two types of reading. For informative reading, we usually look at the piece as a whole and gain insight through a linear fashion. We get on one track and expand our knowledge. When it comes to reading literature, the process includes envision-building. This describes the readers questioning and understanding the text at different points. Langer describes four different ways readers develop envisonment. These are not in any linear fashion but can be random. I thought it was very interesting to see these different envisonments, however I found it difficult to differentiate them at times. I found it helpful to read the possible ways for instructions with literature reading. These prompt question will really get the students thinking about the text from all angles and not just for comprehension.
I hope to teach in a school similar to the ones I attended. I would love to have a classroom with students who wanted to be there and wanted to learn. It would be great to be in a classroom that had newer technology so I could incorporate this in my teaching. Like my other TE courses, I am sure I will find new ways of making learning fun for the students and particularly literacy with this course. I also believe that I will learn new theories that I can incorporate in whatever type of classroom I end up in. I would love to learn more about the literacy standards for what grade and how to incorporate them in potential lessons. I would also like to learn more techniques for literacy with younger children who are just learning to read and write.
I am in a Kindergarten classroom for my placement. In my placement, the learners are very diverse. Many of the students are above the Kindergarten literacy level and many are severely below. There isn't much in between. This poses a problem for my CT. In order to keep her high students where they are at and bring up her lower students, she does small reading groups. These groups are based on their literacy level. In doing this, she is able to focus on the needs of that learning level. It seems to be an effective way of teaching.
I also liked how the article by Langer talked about the difference in reading informative and literature. I never really thought about how I read those differently but after reading the article I kind of thought to myself about it. It turns out that I do in fact read them different because I am looking for different aspects in each reading. I guess it is just something I did without thinking about but it made me wonder about when I teach. Should I show my student how to read them differently or see if they pick up on it? I’m sure that I was told at one point how to read and analyze them differently however will students notice if we don’t?
ReplyDeleteI also want to teach in a school like ones I attended and by that I am not surprised. I think that it is natural for people to want to go back to where they learned and pass on to students their experiences. I also think that we tend to want to teach in grades in which we had the most positive experiences in since it is something that makes us feel good about school.