The readings for this week were really relevant to me because in my classroom we have just went over both of the skills of visualization as well as questioning and how they can be helpful while reading. Through our Making Meaning mini-lessons both of these techniques were covered using the picture books that followed along with the lessons. My teacher also incorporated anchor charts based on the students understanding of how to visualize or "make a movie" in their mind, which is now hung up inside of the room. In Strategies That Work, the lesson that develops the understanding of showing not telling was one that I found to be very important. A lot of my students have difficulty in description in their writing and have a lack of use of sensory details, which is something we have begun to work on as well in our classroom. I like how this chapter explains that students should be able to visualize while the read as well as how they can transition this skill into their writing, it should be something that should be a skill for both areas.
I really liked the strategy that was described that helps students to understand and define unfamiliar words. I feel in my class it is very likely for the students to continue to read without understanding a word and then this will mess up their entire comprehension of the passage. I liked that this was something that they could do individually while they read and can look back on later in case they encounter the same word in a different context, it is like making their own dictionary. The modeling of this lesson I feel is extremely important so students can see first hand that it is not something to be upset about if they encounter a word that they find unfamiliar, but that there are other strategies that can be taken to understand the definition of the word beside a dictionary; which more times than not provides another definition that they will not understand.
History is a very dry subject in my classroom and it usually consists of lecture and notes followed by a discovery channel movie that reinforces the content that has just been discussed. I would really like to try the introduction of a picture book to teach historical content because I want to further develop my student's abilities to draw inferences and ask critical questions. I think that this would be a great way to change the pace of the way social studies is working in my classroom in order to develop a greater interest and ability to remember the content. Students are more likely to remember information if it is presented in a way they will enjoy instead of a way that bores them.
The use of sticky notes in books while my students are doing Independent Reading Time is a skill that my teacher encourages, so they can remember their questions later. I liked the introduction of the I learned/I Wonder chart because this causes the students to think on the next level and to begin to question text at a deeper level and not just rely on asking surface questions.
