D&Z Chapter 9 and 10

After reading chapters 9 and 10 of Daniels and Zemelman, I have a deeper appreciation for book clubs and inquiry units. I have always envisioned a book club as a bunch of older people sitting around, reading a book. It can obviously be much more than that! I have never actually been involved in book clubs/reading circles, but I think they can serve as a useful learning tool. I could definitely see myself using the strategies proposed in chapter 9 and 10 in my future classroom. Now, there are a couple of things I really liked in each chapter that I would like to touch upon.

First I want to touch upon chapter 9. I like how D&Z emphasize and stress the fact that book clubs should be student-centered. They tell us, “kids must take responsibility for running these discussions; we cannot get tricked into spoon-feeding them topics.” Granted, the teacher’s role is to assist, observe and facilitate, but it is the students’ role to run the discussions. I think this is important. Talk about releasing responsibility… this is a great way to do it! I especially like one of the tools specifically designed for reading circles (book clubs), referred to as the role sheets. Although D&Z suggest that role sheets be used for only a brief training period, I think this is a great way to set a purpose for reading and ensure that each student is contributing to the discussion. This tool also encourages students to focus on one particular kind of thinking that smart readers use (247). I never thought that I would be able to implement book clubs/reading circles in a science classroom, but I could easily have students read biographies of scientists, or science articles from www.sciencemag.org. Many times, scientific writing is extremely difficult to get through. However, if students are discussing and working together in a reading circle, they will be able to interpret and understand scientific writing in more detail. So thank you, D&Z… I am now an advocate for reading circles!

Now I want to share something that stuck out to me in chapter 10. I really enjoy the idea of inquiry units. I especially liked the example given towards the beginning of chapter ten, in Jacqueline Sanders’ class. She has students choose a job with a salary they think is adequate, and subtract taxes, rent, and utility costs from the gross pay. Then, they use the IRS instruction booklets to figure their final income tax return. How cool is that!? This example, in particular, gives students a snapshot of the real world, and opens their eyes to things they’ve never really sat down and thought about before. In the end, they often find that money is tight after subtracting the costs of living, and they have a greater appreciation for their parent’s hard work. Luckily, I can relate to this project, as I did something similar to this in my junior year of high school in my business skills class. The project had to do with budgeting. I forget the details surrounding the project, but I remember computing numbers based on a given salary (what type of car we could afford, the mortgage on a house etc).  We did a lot of stuff with resumes, researching colleges, etc in that class…stuff related to life in the real world. Overall, I think inquiry units grant students a unique opportunity to explore life outside the classroom and dive deeper into historical and current topics and events. I would definitely like to implement this strategy in my future classroom, as there are plenty of topics in science that could be researched in such a way (vaccines, medications, disorders etc).

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

D&Z Chapters 5 and 8

After reading chapters 5 and 8 of Daniels and Zemelman, I literally want to photocopy these pages or purchase my own copy of the textbook (I rented it from Chegg). Although it was one of the longest chapters, their strategies for before, during, and after reading are great for any classroom!

I have read a handful of the blog posts already, and a lot of people spoke about the strategies themselves. I want to touch upon them as well, but I think it is important we understand the key to teaching the strategies. D&Z explain that an essential step in ensuring that the reading strategies in this chapter truly help students to comprehend and make use of what they read is a process called “gradual release of responsibility (89).” I remember learning about this in one of our previous classes (if I remember correctly, it was the Wilhelm chapters that spoke about the gradual release of responsibility). Just to recap, the idea is (as the title suggests) gradually releasing responsibility from teacher to student. It follows four different steps:

1.     “I do it, you watch”

2.     “We do it together”

3.     “You do it with my support”

4.     “You do it alone”

Following these four steps will help students internalize a reading/thinking strategy until it becomes habitual. So, model, model, model and gradually flip the roles.

Now, I will touch upon a couple of my favorite strategies. First, I like the idea of coding text. However, I would probably have students annotate the text (book or supplemental materials) using sticky notes. Then, I would have them leave them in the book/on the page and read their comments and questions. From there, I would compile a list of questions and revisit them next class, answering any of those questions (only for about 10 minutes or so).

A second strategy I liked was “sketching my way through the text.” I think this would appeal to all students, whether or not they enjoy drawing because it is simply a rough sketch. I really wish some of my teachers used this strategy because when I draw things out, (especially in science) and try to walk myself through the concept; I tend to remember it more. Although it sounds fun and enjoyable to me, it may not be enjoyable to all of my students, so I would use this strategy sparingly.

Now just to touch upon chapter 8… I like the idea of reading workshops. I think they could be used as a form of assessment, especially if you conduct the one-on-one conferences during reading time. According to D&Z, these meeting will enable you not only to assess students, but also to inform yourself about their learning needs and their achievements. Then, you could focus more on the topics students are struggling with, and less on those they seem to have grasped.

D&Z Chapters 6 and 7

After reading D & Z chapters six and seven, there were a couple of things I wanted to touch upon. I wanted to talk a bit about the jigsawing activity presented in chapter six, and the idea of creating a classroom community presented in chapter seven.

I really enjoy the idea of jigsawing as an activity that can be implemented in the classroom. I remember doing a jigsaw activity last year in SED 406. I enjoyed it, but I felt it went a little too quick, and I didn’t have enough time to formulate my thoughts. For that reason, if I were to implement this strategy in my classroom, I would ensure students have enough time to read the article, understand it, and be able to formulate their thoughts in such a way that they are able to present it to the rest of the group. I didn’t like the way it was implemented in chapter six, in the english lesson. I feel as though a novel is best understood when read individually, from cover to cover. I feel as though if I did a jigsaw activity with a novel, I would miss some key facts, events, and characters.

However, for history, I think it works a bit better. I liked the history example in the book, and I think it would also be useful when learning about amendments, laws, and historical figures (etc). I’ve been trying to think about ways to implement jigsawing in a science classroom… I was thinking something like constellations or elements from the periodic table. If anyone has any other ideas, I am eager to hear them! I’m finding it a little difficult to come up with something biology related, as I feel a lot of the content is important for every student to study and know. Overall, I think jigsawing is useful in the classroom once in a while, but it definitely should not be used constantly.

A second point I wanted to elaborate on was creating a classroom community. In chapter seven, Daniels and Zemelman explained that “we need to make the classroom a community, a place where students feel safe to take the risks involved in learning, where they see it connected with their lives, and where they help and learn from one another instead of working only as isolated individuals. And we do this not just to make students feel good, but to enable them to learn meaningfully in our subjects, through reading as well as the many other avenues we use in our teaching (204).” I think this is really important because I have sat in various classrooms, where I’ve felt intimidated to speak, or scared that what I say might be laughed at or critiqued. I think we have all felt this way at some point… it definitely isn’t a welcoming feeling. I think it is important to form some type of contingency contract where students know the rules of the classroom, and they collaborate along with the teacher to create these rules. When I was at URI, I took the equivalent to CEP and the professor I had was amazing. She brought up something she did in her own classroom in order to create a strong community. She took poster paper the size of the entire wall, and the class came up with rules in a collaborative manner. If they agreed to comply with the rules, they signed the paper that the rules were written on. This way, they understood exactly what was expected, and helped create their own classroom climate. I have considered doing this in my own classroom so that all students feel welcome and comfortable. I want my students to be able to voice their opinions without worrying whether or not they are being judged. This way, my students will be interacting, engaging, and learning in a meaningful way.

Here is an example!