Tovani Chapter 3 & 4

Summary: All teachers should find out what their texts are and show their students how to read them. Teachers need to model their thinking and reading processes. When given textbooks, students find that they are hard to comprehend. Teachers need to find additional texts in order to meet their students' needs. 

I wonder about the motivation behind teachers wanting their students to learn. It seems that teachers do not like  to expand their methods or learn how to teach better. Maybe this is a matter of pride that I hope I will not fall into. Personally, I love going to seminars, and I would have a positive reaction to someone coming into the class to teach new things--not the negative reaction that teachers that Tovani has come into contact with:

"It was obvious that these teachers weren't too pleased to have me there, since they were giving up their planning period." (23)

I would agree that many teachers do not know that the different items they use to get the materials they use are labeled as "texts". Once they realize that they are, however, I think that the teachers will put more thought into how their students are to go about teaching with those texts, and they will be sure to explain how to properly read them in more detail.

"... If language arts and English teachers are the only ones teaching reading, students aren't going to learn how to read different types of texts." (25)

Many people give up on reading because they were not taught methods to learn how to read better and with more efficiency. Students, when trying to read, may think that they are dumb because they aren't immediately comprehending what is going on when they read a text straight through. There is MUCH thinking that is involved in reading--thinking that can be fostered.

"Merely sounding out the words won't help--they discover that they must also think hard as they read." (28)

Patience is key, right? I would say, "Yes," especially when it comes to reading. We live in a fast-pace society today, and we may not even think about slowing down in order to get what is going on in different texts. Modeling Patience in the classroom is a great virtue that will show students that it is okay to slow down and think through what is going on.

The selection of the text seems to be another key aspect in the classroom. If students cannot understand the piece or cannot connect to it, there is no reason to have it at all. The author suggest supplemental texts (such as "text sets") that will help with the connection barrier. Texts sets sound really interesting, and I may add them in my own classroom. We need to show our students that there are things to learn in the texts that is worthwhile.

"My intention is to give students something to read that is worthy of their time, something that they actually have the potential to understand--and maybe even finding a piece of text that will turn kids on to the content." (40)

"When students are always given text that is too hard for them to read on their own, they begin to associate school reading with reading that is pointless." (41)

Another thing teachers need to do is connect to their students personally. All teachers should know their students and their students' ability in their classroom(s). Knowing their ability will allow us to adjust our instruction to meet each student's need.

"When we don't know our students as readers, we have unrealistic expectations for rigor. We've got to figure out how well they can read and base the reading on that." (42)

Tovani, Cris. Do I Really Have to Teach Reading?: Content Comprehension, Grades 6-12. Portland, Me.: Stenhouse, 2004. Print.