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I have always thought that student choice is important, but after reading the Glen and Ginsberg article it helped me to see the actual effect of student choice. When students are given simple choices such as books to read, places to do work, etc. they are more productive with their work because they can take ownership. As an educator I am always growing and learning more about the choices I can be giving my students. -Lauren McGregor

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In Resisting Reader's Identity Reconstruction, there was a quote that stuck out to me. The student described teachers' roles in these words: "They positioned teachers as rule makers and

referees and students as captive players". This extended my thinking because very often teachers are setting the boundaries for rules and expectations in their classrooms. How do we make sure these rules are not restrictive? -Lauren McGregor

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I found the assessing motivation article to be very informative. During my first year teaching third grade, I had a literacy coach in my classroom. One of her suggestions at the beginning of the virtual year was to do one on one reading conferences where I could gauge how students were engaging with reading and what their interests were in. This was very informative when it came time to planning small groups. -Lauren McGregor

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During my first year of teaching 3rd grade, I had a reading specialist who coached me during the school year. At the start of the covid/virtual year, she suggested that I start to get to know my students as readers. She suggested that I pull students individually to have a "reading conference" where I gauged their interest in reading and what they liked to read.

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As an early elementary teacher, think/pair/share or a simple partner share are simple comprehension strategies I use in my classroom. Even though this course is geared toward adolescent literacy, Brozo shares several comprehension strategies that could be adapted for use in the elementary classroom like inside/outside circles or line ups. These discussion strategies can be used with comprehension questions asked during our read aloud time to get peers to interact and talk through their understandings, even with students as young as kindergarten!

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Changing the way students think about reading

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Changing the way students think about reading

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In the Ortlieb and Majors article, a quote from teacher candidate Erica extends my thinking about how we set up students to think about reading. "Although we do DIR for ten minutes every day, it's not because we want out students to love to learn reading. It's because we are worried about Lexile scores." WHAT IF?! What if we switched that thinking about reading for our students and instead of a "have to", it's a "get to" read what they want to read. We create time in our day for students to "get to" read from vast collections of books right in their own classrooms. This backwards thinking could spark students interest in reading and thus improve their reading level without the focus being on levels.

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While reading the study by Glenn and Ginsberg, I wondered how a teacher in a secondary English classroom integrates choice into their instruction. The study showed the students who were provided more opportunities for choice had high levels of reading engagement. Additionally, Pitcher et al. shared that students were excited when their teachers gave them more choices in what they were reading. As an elementary school teacher, I have independent reading built into my language arts block. My district as a has an entire unit for the beginning of the year to "build a community of readers." Based on these studies, this option is not as readily available in secondary schools. How can secondary teachers include some of the recommendations from these studies?

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Brozo and Buehl provided an in-depth explanation of all the skills needed to comprehend a text. When teaching my students comprehension strategies, I primarily teach strategies that support comprehension in language arts. Students need to know these strategies, but they also need strategies for comprehending text in all content areas. The examples of the comprehension skills needed to understand each of the texts in the chapter from Buehl changed how I thought of the comprehension of reading. It is not confined to the walls of an English or language arts classroom but is used across disciplines.

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Chapter 3 of the Brozo text says "effective teachers of the disciplines cannot help but be effective teachers of processes for reading and communicating about the disciplines." I feel like there is often a disconnect here when students move from elementary to middle and middle to high schools. Even in math, science, and history departments as middle and high school teachers, these teachers are still helping to teach the reading process. The work of reading is not solely taught in elementary school, but reading is taught throughout middle and high school as well. I've always heard that you learn HOW to read in elementary school but you read to learn in middle and high schools and I don't think this is always the case, especially in the times of COVID.

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I immediately connected to the assessment given to adolescents to gain insight into their reader's identities. At the beginning of every school year, I give my students a reading survey, and we spend time "creating" our reader identity. I have conferences with them to get to know them better and build relationships with my students.  I use this to guide the types of books I use during my small groups and in the classroom library. Most of the recommendations given by Pitcher et al. are practices I currently use in my classroom. Interestingly, the assessment was modified for adolescents, but the results showed many of the practices established in elementary school classrooms.

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Something that I consider challenging and am concerned about is the consideration of how to adapt content with labelled EL learners. If a student is labelled as ‘struggling’ or ‘at risk’ in an EL context, how can the content be adapted if the focus is on ‘reading/writing/listening/speaking’? I’ve had previous experience with adapting the lesson topic to engage learners that were normally disengaged, but, in a language learning environment, there can’t always be an adaptation of content as there are general lexical or grammatical lessons to cover.

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Glenn and Ginsberg’s article furthered the discussion of labels in a way that I had not fully thought over. Rather than seeing a label as someone to either disregard or ‘work with,’ they suggest that labels may propose that there is another approach that teachers can implement to engage with these learners. They place a focus on “content” as a means of demonstrating that these learners have the motivation and engagement that is necessary for them to excel rather than disregarding or adhering to a label (102).

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When reading Glenn and Ginsberg’s article, I immediately thought about Brozo’s discussion in chapter 2 about labels and their dangers. Learners may be incorrectly label simply due to their disinterest in the content being discussed in a ‘standard’ English class, but they prove to excel and engage in a class that has readings that interest them. As Brozo had discussed, these misinformed labels can harm the learning process as some teachers have specific expectations when they are interacting with a student with these labels. Brozo had mainly connected this to linguistic and cultural identity, but this idea translates to Glenn and Ginsberg’s discussion of reading identities as labels in the classroom can affect a variety of learners.

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I loved the pre-reading strategies (the KWL's and opionnaires) and class discussions that happened to engage what students know before they even begin reading! I also loved the teachers who were using graphic novels or articles outside the text to connect students to a lesson after the reading had been done. However, I can already hear my teachers asking me "Where do I find the time to fit these strategies in?" How do teachers, already rushing to squeeze pre-determined lessons headed towards an admin created test find those precious minutes to engage with students?

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I had never considered that texts required for each discipline may require readers to think very differently! Students are asked on a daily basis to bounce between factual evidence in science, an author's fact finding abilities in history (an interesting idea stated in the Brozo text), and the often predictory nature of mathematics concepts. All this has to happen while students also navigate complex vocabulary, moving between text and visual mediums (graphs, pictures, etc), and making connecting with an author who may be presenting material that is not of the highest interest for each child. Texts really require a sophisticated set of skills that I'm not sure all teachers take into consideration when using. I know where I teach, many teachers outside the language arts department see books as places to simply "gather facts" and not as mediums for moving students from making meaning to using meaning!

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I loved the Brozo's continual mention of pairing kids together to discuss thoughts, predictions, reading, etc., before having whole class discussions. This technique is something I am always excited to do as a teacher, whether in a KWL activity or in an anticipation guide questionnaire (as mentioned in Chapter 5), and I have often found students more willing to share with the whole group if given the chance to discuss with a peer beforehand. It seems to validate their feelings on a topic and gives confidence to what they are thinking (which I think I knew inherently, but never really considered deeply before this week's readings).

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Chapter 5 of Brozo really spoke to me. The more I read the more I picture things I would want to incorporate and the fact the learning is so social. I have always taught little kids and this year I have an upper grade class and they are so much more social when it comes to learning. I have also noticed that when I am excited about something I’m learning like it states on page 183, they are more willing to listen and want to hear more about it.

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In the Groenke article, the idea of the AMRP tool is mind-blowing! To be able to survey adolescents to know their motivation and their interests at the beginning of the school year would take all the guesswork out of reading lessons. Teachers would be able to spend more time creating lessons tailored to student understandings and start working with students in similar groupings and get more learning and comprehension done. It’s always great when something is created to make teachers’ jobs easier.

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On page 180 in chapter 5 in Brozo, it talks about how books that students are interested in might not be in school libraries. Why are there books in schools that kids aren’t interested in, why not keep up with the times? There are so many great new authors out there, what is a school’s rationale for not updating school libraries. I had a lot of wonderings about this because if we want kids to read, why not get what they will read?

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Glenn and Ginsberg (2016) pointed out in “Resisting Readers’ Identify (Re)Construction across English and Young Adult Literature  Course Contexts” that students are more likely to participate in reading when their individual reading preferences are honored. I can agree with this finding and also see it to be true within my own teaching experiences. However, as an educator I am limited by choosing titles that have been approved by the county and then within those options, offering students choice to select their top three books they would like to read during bookclub. So, I wonder is offering this choice in preapproved texts enough for adolescent students?
-Cinnamon Whiteley

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According to Groenke (2017) “the value that one places on reading is an important determining factor in motivation to read” (p.702). As Groenke lays out in “ I Had No Idea He was a Reader!”, educators play a critical role in showing students that what they value in terms of reading is considered, as well as providing text choice, and creating an environment for social assignments around reading, and learning about their students through a survey is of significant value. This further extends that staff beyond the language arts teacher can show how important reading is and the possibilities available if students feel they can access the literacy and content in their classes. It reminds me of the library at the middle school my children attend and how the three individuals on staff also play an influential role to the student body.
-Cinnamon Whiteley

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Brozo’s Chapter #5 and “Assessing Adolescents’ Motivation to Read,” Pitcher, et. al (2007) share a similar philosophy in the importance of improving students’ motivation. By learning about students, educators can better implement practices that will engage students and will create improved self-concept of themselves as readers. Using a tool such as the Adolescent Motivation to Read Profile (AMRP) can be conducive to educators aiming to learn more about their students and different instructional practices that appeal to their student. I connected with the idea as it was a similar activity a third grade teacher I co-taught with did when we started book talks. We wanted to know which books out of the titles we offered they were interested in reading and different technologies students felt comfortable using so we could incorporate that technology during our book talks.
-Cinnamon Whiteley

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As I read Chapter 5, the section that got my attention was Expand Student Choices and Options and Assessing Adolescents' Motivation to Read, students decide what they read, and it helps build their self-confidence. When students can give input on their task, they read more and are engaged and motivated to share what they read. As an ESOL Specialist teacher teaching reading and writing, I saw the benefit of having my students select their books to read. My students are more engaged and motivated when they choose the types of books, they want to read for the literature circle.

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Chapter 3 Personal Dimension Strategies 

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Chapter 3 Personal Dimension Strategies 

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The reading I connected with most was the section on opinionnarises because, as the author stated, every adolescent has an idea. And once we as educators allow our students to express their opinion on what is happening in and out of school, it gives them a sense of identity; this made me connect back to the identity perspective in Chapter 1. When I allow my students to express themselves, they feel empowered. For example, to engage my students to think critically about reading, writing, and discussing, I asked them if the principal only allowed classical music in the cafeteria. Do they believe it is fair? My students had all kinds of opinions about this topic. Some of my students went as far as to say that our school is a melting pot. We need to listen to all kinds of music. I provide a respectful and safe environment to foster this response from my students. As stated, adolescence identifies them with their interests and desires. Alvermann et al. (2012) and Lesko (2012) said that adolescents seek contexts to support their growth and identity development as they become more cognitively astute and self-aware.

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As I read Assessing Adolescents' Motivation to Read, the challenge becomes when students do not see themselves as readers, and some teachers fill that fallacy. Like teachers who instruct students like KeShawn, not trying to understand their students. Another is how teachers ask students about reading and questions that do not align or connect to the student's background. I had a couple of students struggling in social study reading but excelling in Science and English, and I asked the students why they stated that the topics were dull.

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An area of comprehension within adolescent literacy that is still challenging for me to understand is how to teach the process of synthesizing.  When students struggle to make meaning of complex readings/arguments, what instructional methods can be used to support their learning?  I noticed graphic organizers were included in the science and history texts book excerpts.  I wonder if graphic organizers are a methodology for helping lead students to synthesizing information.  How else can teachers support students who struggle with understanding texts beyond the literal information on the page?

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Domain Literacy Requires Code Switching and a Motivation

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Domain Literacy Requires Code Switching and a Motivation

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The Buehl chapter detailing the ways different discipline texts were written extended my thinking and helped me have a more critical lens in the types of texts adolescents are being asked to read and comprehend.  I now understand more clearly how each discipline is written, beyond just utilizing a lot of tier 3 specific vocabulary.  The structure, organization and layout of disciplinary text examples are very different than a fiction literature book.  They tend to be more disjointed with captions, boxes, side-commentary, visual aids, and graphic organizers.  I was also thinking how certain domains may even have sub-threads.  For example, within science, a chemist may approach a reading different than a biologist or physicist.  A typical high school student is learning multiple domains every day. They need to be code switching constantly.   Reading across multiple domains requires effort and motivation to engage in thinking patterns that may be challenging and outside their comfort zones.

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Process/Content -> Teacher "Think Alouds"

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Process/Content -> Teacher "Think Alouds"

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The Buehl chapter talked about adolescent readers as seeing their reading tasks as something to do and get done, rather than engage in (p. 30).  When we read on topics of interest, we are more motivated, engaged and can comprehend better.  This week’s Brozo chapters connected to my learning in EDRD 630 and EDRD 634 on comprehension in elementary reading.  The purpose of reading is to make meaning.  Many of the strategies for making meaning discussed in Brozo chapter 3 are connected to strategies we implement in elementary settings, including making and checking predictions, using contextual strategies for word learning, imaging and linking prior knowledge to text (pg. 87).  The examples of “process/content” statements reminded me of the way ECE teachers would demonstrate a ‘think aloud’ and model their internal thinking processes for using the strategy as a skilled reader. This method is something I am familiar with as an ECE teacher and It was reassuring to see this practice carries over for effective literacy instruction with adolescents.

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The article "Resisting Readers’ Identity (Re)Construction across English and Young Adult Literature Course Contexts" was most interesting to me this week. I loved hearing the student perspective on their traditional English class compared to the Young Adult Literature (YAL) course. The students were highly motivated by the YAL class, they were engaged in reading choice texts, and they read significantly more during this course than in a traditional English course where many of the students admitted that they did not even read the course assignments. What this article left me wondering though was how a teacher holds student accountable in a class like YAL. In the study the YAL class was a small group of students. In a traditional classroom in elementary school I have 20-24 students. In middle school and high school teachers have multiple courses and hundreds of students. Is a model like the YAL course possible when you have that many students? It made such an impact on the students, but I don't know how one teacher can keep up with that many students reading different texts and still hold them accountable.
-Suzanne Rodgers

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“When it comes to reading challenging text, not enough attention has been paid to understanding the steps we can take to provide effective scaffolding for our struggling readers." This quote comes from the Buehl text about teaching students to read complex texts. This extended my thinking because as an upper elementary teacher I feel like we often gloss over or completely skip any textbook reading, but it is highly referenced in our social studies pacing guide. 18 or my 20 students are language learners, so I know that personally I tend to skip the text book because it seems overwhelming to go over with students, even to read it aloud is often a daunting task. This quote reminded me that I need to teach my students strategies that will scaffold the text for them. It is my job to help them learn how to tackle these complex texts before they reach middle and high school. As an upper elementary teacher I feel like I now need to be willing to help scaffold these experiences for my students to prepare them for later years rather than just giving them the information in simpler terms.
-Suzanne Rodgers

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The idea that connected with me most was from "Resisting Readers’ Identity (Re)Construction across English and Young Adult Literature Course Contexts." The authors referenced a 2011 Kirkland study in which Kirkland stated, “youths are not failing to engage texts; many of the texts we teach in schools are failing to engage youth.” All three of the articles really emphasized student engagement when texts are personal and not chosen by a teacher. This quote from the Kirkland study really connected with me because of the student attitudes and ideas I hear constantly in my classroom. My classroom library has nearly 1,000 books in it, but I consistently hear "there's no books here. There's nothing to read." The books in my classroom library are not my students' favorite types of books or genre or are outdated and therefore there is no student buy in. They are not engaged in the library books and therefore are not reading the texts that are available to them. It reminds me that even though many of these books are things that I may have enjoyed and I constantly try to purchase new books, they do not always reflect current interests or fully reflect all the cultures represented in my classroom.
-Suzanne Rodgers

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I am still left wondering how teachers can motivate students and ensuring that they address all standards as well as standardized test needs. How can teachers use multiliteracies, implement more engaging instructional methods, and provide students with increased choice when they also have demands from the state placed on them.

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Having only taught at the elementary level, we rarely use textbooks, so I have thought very little about the complexity of them. After reading, my eyes were opened to all of the different ways that these texts are made more complex, particularly science, social studies, and math. In all of these, readers must be able to manage new academic vocabulary, references to assumed knowledge and other references, and many different formats of visual information. It is important that students are not only asked to read to learn from textbooks, but they also need to be taught to learn to read textbooks. The textbook preview variations are one way to do learn this process.

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One thing that really connected with me was the idea that there are so many different formats of text that a person can read, but not all are widely accepted by educators. For example, at the elementary level, many teachers don't support graphic novels as much as the traditional novel. I think, based on the studies about student motivation, that we should emphasize to students that there are many ways to read such as magazines, online articles, etc. and all are acceptable.