Tovani Chapter 3
In chapter 3, Tovani offers us another personal experience,
which she uses to educate us…again! This time she takes us to a workshop where
she served as an instructor. While presenting one of her attendees (wood shop
teacher) stated that students do very little reading in his class. However,
Tovani brings it to his attention that he does in fact have his students read
via blue prints and schematics. This means that he was having his students read
technical writing, which is quite different from that of our typical
classrooms. Tovani then goes ahead and discusses how teachers from all
different content fields need to focus on reading based on the content
field. This means that instead of
thinking about reading based only on literature books, teachers (like the shop
teacher) should utilize specific texts based on their subject.
After reading about this experience, I began to think about
the teachers whom I work with. I work at a school that is quite different from
others because we have special programs such as nursing, EMT, automotive, and
robotics just to name a few. After reflecting on this, I realized that many of
instructors that teach these courses utilize a variety of different technical
readings. These readings are content based and are at higher reading levels.
This means that although these subjects are different they require students to
read information that is both practical and challenging. This made me think
about a quote in which Tovani states, "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” (p. 26). I think that many
teachers and students only believe that reading in the traditional form is
effective but I have witnessed first hand that utilizing content-based readings
is very effective.
Tovani also goes on to discusses
utilizing Frankenstein with high
school students, who did not have interest in the book. Then she came up with
the strategy of breaking the book up into parts and used some excerpts as hooks
for the students. This led students to be more engaged with the reading as well
as to ask more questions about the book. She also discusses how important it is
to utilize activities with these readings to maintain their interest. This makes very much sense because it is
imperative that we have our students discuss and practice what they have read.
Tovani also discusses some more ways to make our students better readers. The
first thing she discusses is identifying what your students may be struggling
with regarding reading. She also states that teachers should also share an
example from their life where they struggled with a reading. This will help
students understand that we too have experienced their frustrations. All in all this was an interesting chapter with
a lot of insight. Look forward to the next.
Like Tovani, I often teach through stories, which is a very compelling way to teach. And she offers practical, classroom tested teaching strategies. But I was wondering what theories of reading and writing are holding her pedagogy together. In other words, what would Louise and James have to say about what she is recommending? For example, you cite that she differentiates between reading literature and reading other texts and seems to expand the notion of text. But I wonder if she sees those texts as representative of the values, beliefs, and ways of thinking of a discipline? Or if she sees reading as a skill that cuts across disciplines? In addition, do any of her strategies help students explore different stances and audiences and purpsoes for writing?
ReplyDeleteI think as humanities or social studies teachers we also take on the role of story teller. Taking that and utilizing great teaching strategies makes life good for teachers and students. I love it!
DeleteI think you bring up a wonderful point. The use of content based material makes a serious difference in the way a class is taught. Teaching about reading blue prints is unique to more industrial based fields. In history I see the use of primary source material and essential when discussing a topic. It is one thing to talk about the attitudes of white colonist towards native peoples it is something all together different when your student reads it for themselves.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Tovani when he's talking about reading to read and reading in content. Currently my book is also discussing this aspect and the different ways to approach content reading vs reading literature. It's easier to follow along a story than it is to read through a text book but both are important for us to read. Familiarizing students with more technical readings may challenge them but if you create a positive environment where together you can work through the challenges, I think you'll see a lot of benefits from adding in content specific texts.
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