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.