**FRUITS**
-When her students complain about not having any background knowledge about a text, I love it when she says "there are many topics they will have to read that didn't occur during the last fifteen years. It's time to call on the information that they do have."(71) Then she introduces these eight steps:
1. Relate to characters
2.Visualize (which was mentioned in some of the other techniques)
3. Avoid boredom
4. Pay attention
5. Listen to others
6. Read actively (also mentioned previously)
7. Remember what they read
8. Ask questions. Questions often lead to inferences.
**WEEDS**
No weeds for me. This is actually one of the most important chapters because when students feel as though they can relate to a topic they they tend to delve deeper into it and extrapolate more meaning than they would have if the topic is boring or unfamiliar. This reminds me of my passion for SOCIOLOGY. I love the discipline so much that I spelled it in capital letters for no apparent reason. But when I read about it I get goosebumps and by mind starts to play a three way ping pong match between each of the three paradigms, as I try to conceptualize what theorists from each sect would say about certain societal issues.
**BASKET**
Everything goes in the basket! I refuse to surpass the word minimum but I will also take the tips that she offers from pages 76-78. Good stuff!
It is true that often times students have difficulty reading texts to which they can not relate. I've read many complaints of this in the journals of students who are now reading Jane Austin's "Pride and Prejudice". The students (who attend college) speak quite frankly about hating the book, especially the language and the time period in which it is set. They find the text stuffy and wordy, and feel that they can not relate to anything in the story.
ReplyDeleteClearly, all students will be expected to read literature that may be boring, difficult, long or simply ridiculous. However this is academia! The point of higher education is for students to be exposed to something outside of street signs and text messages. Teachers need not make excuses for the readings they assign; simply provide students with strategies that they can apply to make reading less stressful.