Chapter 11 –
Learning with Trade Books
What sorts of books
are trade books and how should they be integrated in the classroom?
Students spend hours engaging in
literacy, such as when they read fantasy novels like Harry Potter and Twilight series.
Students also enjoy other literary activities such as blogging, texting, and
note writing. Therefore, we know students do not dislike literacy, but there is
something that needs to be altered with the literacy that is set forth at
school, or the stigma around it. As educators, we must align the text we use in
the classroom, to the interests that students have outside of class. As the
textbook explained this, I was physically nodding in agreement. I am a fantasy
fanatic! I love all the popular fantasy book series, but unless assigned text
is over a topic you’re really interested in (ie education!), assigned texts can
often be daunting and difficult to get through. Integrating a variety of trade
books could cause students to become more interested, and understand material more
thoroughly.
The example of the trade novel, Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story
About Brain Science, is about a man who had an iron rod blasted through his
head and survived. Simply hearing one sentence of what this book was about had
me hooked. The novel describes how this injury caused him to undergo a drastic
personality change, and relating to what neurologists have learned about the
brain. I think using this novel is just the coolest way to get students
intrigued on how the human brain works and how this happened to Phineas Gage. Using
an extremely shocking, real life example is an awesome way to get kids excited
to understand, and absorb information that they won’t simply memorize and
forget.
It is exciting reading about all the
benefits that can arise from integrating trade books into ones’ curriculum. I
find it especially beneficial that it can be a perfect opportunity to
differentiate instruction. I love to read and learn about tangible examples of
how differentiation can be practiced in the classroom because I find this so important,
but a definite challenge. If I have a large class size, especially in my first
years of teaching, it will be such a challenge to try to tailor the lesson to
each particular students needs. It is hard to know what degree of
differentiation is feasible, and hopefully it will become more apparent and
natural to do with experience.
I also found it particularly
interesting how many positives can come from using picture books. As they are often
misconceived as children’s books, but I do believe that using a picture book
would intrigue many middle and high school students. I’m sure numerous students
dislike their textbooks because of the length, and that would cause a short
picture book to be attractive. As well as the level of reading associated with a
picture book, which would allow for much more comprehension, including the
assistance to understanding with the pictures as well. ELL students and
struggling readers would find the pictures particularly helpful in their
comprehension. Lastly, I think it is wonderful to use picture books as an
opportunity to celebrate diversity, as there are such a vast variety of picture
books from all over covering such a wide range of topics. I would love to use
picture books as an anticipatory set to a lesson to get the students
interested. It could be a fun way to introduce a math lesson if I read it aloud
to the class. The text also describes how read-aloud experiences can stimulate
classroom discussions. Having a more free verse classroom discussion in
mathematics I think could be a really cool introduction to a topic and to get
students thinking about a mathematical topic brought up in a picture book.
After reading the text about this, I went straight onto the Internet and found
numerous math picture books that I would love to page through! I am writing a 10
day Unit Plan for my curriculum and instruction class, and now I am excited to
incorporate a children’s book into it.
The text made mention of using the
Jigsaw Method with trade books. This would be an excellent opportunity to
differentiate reading levels, as well as have students work in small groups and
practice presenting and teaching material to each other. There are several
picture books from a series of “Sir Cumference”, and it would be a fun activity
for small groups to each have one and talk about how their book applies the use
of geometry, and then present to the class. This way, students are developing
reader response strategies and working on developing important critical
thinking skills. Also an important classroom management point is brought up in
the text regarding these sorts of activities, or in “idea circles”. It will
definitely pay off to set goals and clear expectations of what should occur
during these activities. The students can take ownership and compile these as a
class.
Chapter 2: Writing
to Learn
When would it be
most ideal for “writing to learn” to occur in a mathematics classroom?
As I was reading the text, I was
constantly looking for how I could use these “writing to learn” methods in my
own classroom. Having to put mathematical thoughts into words is a challenge,
and would be effective to work on critical thinking in an informal manner. I
would love to have my students’ journal on a daily basis and be able to read
how they are all thinking through the material and how they feel about it,
however, that isn’t possible. However, once or twice a week would be doable.
Possibly Friday Journal days and they reflect on the week, as well as doing a
problem-solving problem where they explain their thinking.
An advantage to having to explain a
mathematics problem is putting it ones’
own words and then writing it on paper. People generally remember 70
percent of what they say and write, and then 90 percent of what they say and
do. Thus, explaining ones’ reasoning is crucial to retention. It also doesn’t
have to be a long writing activity either. Students could simply take a couple
minutes to write down what they have learned thus far in the lesson, or pick
out what they’ve found important, challenging, or anything to reflect on their
thinking and what has occurred. Taking a moment to gather ones’ thoughts and
reflect is a wonderful idea. This is also a time to assess how students are
retaining the material and decide if there is something that should be
explained further.
This type of activity can also be
done at the end of class as an exit slip. I had my students do this last summer
at my teaching internship. I believe that exit slips also provide a nice
closure on the class, which I find important. It can also be a nice springboard
into a lesson the next day, by providing some review and going over what was
challenging. I liked how the text said to read off parts directly from the exit
slips. This keeps students engaged and participating when they hear their card.
I believe that some credit should be given for these also, or students may not
believe they are important, and not take the time to write thorough exit slips.
The text also discusses “admit slips”. I’m not sure I like the admit slip as
much as exit slips. I like the idea of students possibly reflecting on what is
hard after they have done their homework, and then explain why that is hard on
the slip and then make mention at the beginning of class the next day. However,
I feel that many students may forget to do the slip if I am not consistently
doing an admit slip every night, then they could become more of a problem than
anything.
There are numerous WTL examples
throughout chapter three and four. Beyond journaling and exit slips,
brainstorming is another that stuck out to me. Simply writing down as much as
they know about the subject prior to learning would be a beneficial resource
for me. This is a nice way to get students thinking about the topic. Drawing an
illustration can be an effective way for students to grasp the material in a different
manner, which can be effective to have a diagram or picture to represent a
problem. There are numerous writing activities available in the text to
integrate into ones’ classroom. As a mathematics teacher, I need to not lose
sight of the importance of writing, and how much it can enhance the
understanding for my students.
No comments:
Post a Comment