Chapter 11 in the D&Z book discusses what teachers can do to help struggling readers. The main point that I took away from this chapter is that the student-teacher relationship plays an integral part in the student becoming a better reader. In order to effectively help students improve their reading skills, a teacher needs to learn about the students and tailor instruction so that the material is the appropriate level and also that it is interesting and relevant to the student. "There are hundreds of ways for teachers to make supportive connections with their students, and the individuality of these is what makes the message powerful." For me, this one sentence really sums up the message of this chapter. All the other strategies discussed build upon having a strong foundation with the students.
This chapter also emphasizes the importance of choosing materials that are appropriate for the students. If a text is too difficult, the student can easily become frustrated and discouraged. Students need to gain confidence and learn reading strategies in order to continue to improve reading skills on their own. Helping struggling readers has little to do with helping students understand a specific text. It's about giving them the base knowledge and the skills they need to learn to decode and understand a text on their own.
Catherine,
ReplyDeleteI really like that quote that you chose to sum up the entire chapter! You are so right... the importance of the student-teacher relationship cannot be overstated when it comes to students who struggle to read. As the chapter eluded to and as we have discussed in class before, the shame and embarrassment that a struggling reader feels can be overwhelming. If they trust their teacher, then taking those steps to grow as a reader will come more easily. I also thought that choosing appropriate texts for one's students was a huge theme that really stood out to me, because I really want to grow in this area. We have to know our students well enough to choose texts that are on their reading level, which takes hard work, and it's difficult for me to imagine how I can differentiate the texts I give students at different reading levels while also keeping a consistent assessment measure. I hope I continue to learn how to do this better!
Good thoughts!