Chapter 14 in WK

One of the points the author made in this chapter at the beginning that I liked was the sentence, "I had to learn to think short." She said whenever she required a long book to read many of the students didn't like this so they just didn't like to read. Also, all the strategies under "Selling the Book to Students" was a very good part of the chapter.

I think this is very important because many students are intimidated by seeing very think or long books. It just doesn't look fun for them to read such a long book. Therefore, they may get a negative outlook on reading all together if a teacher always requires them to read long books because they'd rather read shorter one. This also ties into the fact of letting the students choose their own book to read. If this happens then the students, for the most part, will like to read because they get to read the things they are interested in. Also, in the chapter that included the strategies of getting your students to read different books was very important. It taught different ways of getting students to like to different genres using read aloud, creating book jackets and creating a good book box. Some other ways of getting students to read is taking them to the school library and plainly just knowing their interests. These strategies will help students learn how to read different things and expand their reading material.

Connecting Students to Culturally Relevant Texts Article

The one quote that really struck me as important to students to is:
"Another important reason for using culturally relevant texts is that they help students understand who they are."

The reason I found this very important is because as an adolescent, it is very important to find out who you are. This is the prime time when students are trying to figure out just that like who they should hang out with and what they like best. This is the time when adolescents have many dreams of what they might want to do when they grow up. My dream as an adolescent was to become a famous soccer star and start that out by playing at the University of North Carolina. Even though I'm not doing that I still had a dream to do so. But all of those dreams they do have lead up to what they will eventually be doing. Also, having different cultured books in the classroom also helps other students learn about the different students in their own classroom. This helps with discrimination and other subjects like that. This one sentence was very strong to me because every student needs to eventually figure out who they are to themselves.

Chapter 1 of BK

There have been many definitions of literacy in the past but one has stood out to many teachers. It is a complex, interactive process, using basic skills and advanced strategies to make meaning. It is also said that reading should be interactive and constructive and literacy has evolved to suit the demands of the United States' personal, social, economic and civic lives. Also, reading is said that it should be an engagement for students to be involved with when reading. However, only 15% of students in the United States are achieving higher levels of literacy which is the problem with the TAKs test. Students need to have a real world connection with reading or it won't be interesting to them and teachers can help with this since they are an important knowledge source themselves. Finally, the end result that is supposed to come out of a successful reader is an adult reader can read a variety of materials with ease and interest, can read for varying purposes and can read with comprehension even when the material is not easy nor interesting.

I agree with most of these things that are stated in the book however some them I disagree with. I do not agree with parts of the end result of a successful reader. For example, when it says they should be able to read with interest no matter what they are reading. I do not agree with this because no one will like everything they read and this doesn't make them a worse reader. Also, reading should be evolving around our students and nothing more. I do agree with the problem with TAKs because going through TAKs myself, it does not truly test whether or not the student is a good reader, it tests whether or not the student can read fast enough to get the simple answers at the end of the story. For example, one question might be what color shoes was the little boy wearing? This question does not match up with the definition that the book says is now the definition of literacy. This question does not give a meaning to the story in any way. Finally, teachers need to be giving students who need help in reading and only facilitate to the students who are on track. This will help those students in need maybe want to keep reading and read a variety of things if they are beginning to be more and more successful.

Literature CIrcles

On the website, literature circles are explained how they work. It explains that students are broken into small groups and within that same group they are able to choose their own reading material. Once they read the books, they discuss them with their groups and other groups. It also explains how the teacher is only a facilitator and not part of any group. 

I think this idea can be used in a positive way if it is done correctly. The students are able to learn about all different kinds of books that they may have not read. Also, they are able to hear other students' opinions about different books. After this, they can then decide if they want to themselves read the book so this strategy can really encourage more students to read different kinds of books. Literature circles also help the students become self motivated and helps them figure out how to teach themselves. The notes the students take during reading and after help them become better note takers which is a very good thing and being able to discuss a book thoroughly helps them grow as readers as well. Literature circles are a great way to help students read and keep reading in a fun way.