Reflection #6

Chapter 11: Help for Struggling Readers

1. What was the chapter about?
This chapter was primarily filled with many suggestions for teachers on how to help their students who are struggling with reading.  Daniels and Zemelman discuss the approaches that Kenya Sadler (a social studies/reading teacher), her students, and the experts all claim are paramount.  Teachers should build supportive relationships, model thoughtful reading, use activities that build engagement with the text, promote self-monitoring, use materials students can successfully read, and provide books and articles on tape.  After reading through all of these different strategies, I definitely believe that teachers can help improve their student's reading level and comprehension by implementing these techniques.

2. What does this chapter tell you about teaching students?
"Show students that you care intensely about their reading, believe they can succeed, and won't accept anything less."  I absolutely loved this quote from the article because I think it is so important for teachers to remember that students, especially ones that are struggling, need this type of encouragement from their teachers and need to be reminded that they do have the skills to succeed.  Teachers have to show their students that they really do care about them and their education!  Also, I think this chapter reminds me about teaching students that just because we are familiar with the information does not mean our students do!  "Another issue is the sheer unfamiliarity of the content for these students.  They lack background knowledge."  We have to remember to choose readings and materials that students can actually relate to and successfully read on their own.  Finally, it is crucial to promote self-monitoring within the classroom because if we don't push this type of responsibility our students will never grow towards being a successful reader.

3. Can this chapter be applied in your content area?
As I was reading about the situation in the freshman physics class, I was immediately able to relate it and apply it back to my content area.  "First and foremost, they aren't accustomed to turning the words they read into mental pictures.  They don't see what's happening in the problem until considerable amount of discussion brings the picture into focus -- exactly the problem that researchers say is characteristic of struggling readers."  Exactly!!  This problem arrises almost every time my students try and complete any type of word problem.  They have such a hard time gathering the information from the problem and putting it into mathematical context and I now understand that this may be due to their reading level and not even math!  My students also have a hard type completely reading the directions before they begin their work, which causes them to really struggle while completing the work.  In these situations, I believe my class should "model thoughtful reading" to assure that everyone understands what the problem and/or directions are actually saying!