This
week I decided to take a step back and comment on the book club reading we did
a few weeks ago. It was of high interest to me, but I decided to focus most of
my attention on the inquiry chapter that week. So in an effort to really digest
the book club chapter here are my thoughts.
I actually
don’t like that the chapter was entitled “Book Clubs.” I might be getting too
nit picky here, but another term the authors used in place of book clubs was
“reading circles” (201). I like this more generic term, because it made me
realize you can apply this to many other types of text. For instance a shorter
text like a times magazine article could still work. I am really happy the
authors used a different word choice to help trigger the transferability of
this structure. I always envisioned my classroom with some sort of current
events learning center, but I never really knew how I would actively
incorporate it into my classroom. Doing this center in terms of the literacy
circle described makes sense to me because I can now carry out the discussion oriented
aspect of my initial vision. For me the current events center was important for
the students to read about, but also have a meaningful conversation because the
information I would provide would typically be a policy or topic that could be
debated, i.e. immigration, voting rights, war, environmental issues, etc.
Although, this now leaves me wondering how I will engage the students with the
more weekly happenings of the news. The two might become blended with the use
of a researcher, which is my favorite role out of all the different assigned
jobs students can have (208). I love it because this student has the ability to
really engage more in depth with the news to see how history is alive.
I think using a book in class can
be a great idea too though depending on the choice. It will take more time;
however as long as I have the right book, I am fine with taking some time away
from the traditional curriculum. One of the books I actually really want to go
read right now, and potentially use, is Fail-Safe
(203). It would fit into a unit on the Cold War quite well given the
circumstances of the time. Though, what I like most about the book is that it
has such a provocative ending that provides for great discussion as D&Z
described. It definitely doesn’t sound like a dry text. I had a freshmen
history teacher who gave us a list of books to choose from and they were all
just a boring recreation of facts regarding the war of 1812. It was like another
boring text book, which as we saw through D&Z’s prior chapters, doesn’t
help encourage reading. Unsurprisingly to D&Z at least, I along with
majority of the class, sparknoted the assignment. Although, what is stopping a
student from doing this even with a book club? A quick solution is just making
students reference the pages of the information they address in their notes (though
I am sure there are still shortcuts there too). I think better solution relates
to this experience for it shows just how careful I do need to be when picking a
text in order to motivate students. This just reaffirms how I will need to read
the books ahead of time myself with a critical eye to the content. Although, l
sometimes wonder what it is students will actually like to read. So I am happy
I came across good reads, it’s a website that reviews books. Some of the
reviews are from high school aged individuals (my target audience)! So getting
actually feedback from this age group will also help me in making my decision
of what to include (see below link). I am also thinking I might have a
suggestion box early on in the year. It is another way to get feedback on other
possible motivating texts. Though I would make clear to students that they
can’t pick a book they already read. Having the student write their name on the
suggestion would help me coordinate to avoid that issue.
I also enjoyed how D&Z suggested
the assessment be used so as to keep students motivated. As the authors were
bemoaning the need to assesses, I had to laugh when they said let’s figure out
how to do assessment “without wreaking them (the book clubs)” (211). At first,
I thought they were exaggerating about how assessment could harm a student’s
reading. Then thinking back on some of my experiences in English class, I
realized they made a good point. I had a few teachers that made me read a book,
but in order to see if I was doing the reading I would have random quizzes.
Rather than read for what was interesting, I was forced to read for mundane
knowledge level questions. Those classes always tended to bore me because we
were being forced to regurgitate information rather than really think about the
text. So using assessment like the checkbrick provided at the end of the
chapter is so much better because it actually encourages discussion thereby
acting as a sort of intrinsic motivation (214). This also made me realize that
the goal of my lesson under the UBD structure will probably have to be vague. I
say this because when I give the students control of the lesson to make
connections and question on their own, there really isn’t much I should be
specifying to them aside from my desire to have them think about a certain
content critically. At least that is how I am interpreting it. At the same
time, I am thinking students do need some guidance in order to relate the
content to why the book was assigned or was important. By guidance, maybe I am
thinking more along the lines of a proper structure or procedure like the
variety of strategies D&Z provided in chapter 5. For instance, coding the
text leaves everything to the student’s opinion, but it is based on codes
previously taught (115). At some point though, I feel the reading should have
some final activity that puts into focus why so much class time was spent on
the book (an issue D&Z didn’t cover that deeply). So at this time, I wonder
just what assessment to use to meet my more specific goal under the UBD method
of planning without “ruining” the reading?
I am sure the first time I ever
run one of these, I will come away asking many more questions given the
intricacy of this task. However, this chapter made me excited to use a
technique that has such a great potential to motivate and incorporate current
events.
Side note: what is the difference between a reading learning
center and a literacy circle? I realize the skills one works less on content,
but how does this differ from the expository learning center? None of my searches come up with a clear
explanation (see link #2).
Links
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