Chapter 1
by Kim Irvine 6 years agoHello everyone,
We are starting this book club to help us curate resources for our teachers. We also wanted to try out this platform to possibly use for book clubs.
Here is our first question:
As you read this first chapter, what side of the debate do you find yourself on? Personally, I am split. I teach both whole class novels and do lit circles. I am intrigued by her description of a “reader’s workshop.” I also want to know how she measures all of the student reading success she sees in her classes.
Chapter 1 reflections:
I am finding myself agreeing with most of what Kate Roberts is saying and yet I am feeling a bit defensive of my whole classroom novel instruction practices. My journey as a reading teacher has been rocky. I have often discovered that the approach I have taken has resulted in very few students actually reading the book. Fake reading!! This is a problem. I am discovering that maybe a reason that I cling to whole novel instruction is that I am a control freak and I want to have total power over what and when a student reads particular materials.
On page 15, when she gets to the section titled, “Transfer,” I can see when my practice needs improvement. Listen to this, “If the main reason we teach is to see our kids improve our time, then each novel we teach should show marked improvement in the ways our kids tackle the tests.” Yup. There it is. This is where I need to improve. I am not sure how to track the student’s improvement over time. This is critical because not only do I want to track the student’s improvement, I want THEM to track their ownimprovement.
As I am looking forward, I am excited to see that she breaks down specific skills for teaching reading. I am encouraged to see the activity on page 21 where the students take a theme idea and turn it into something more “Sophisitcated.” I’m going to try that one out on my students soon. Great strategy. Looking forward to discovering more in the coming chapters. Great reading!! :)