Bakken and Whedon
This article focuses on the difficulty of reading for students because of the organization and structure of texts. Textbooks and other academic texts tend to have layouts that are unfamiliar for students who are used to the structure of narrative prose (clear beginning, middle, and end). The article argues that students need explicit instruction on differentiating texts and deriving meaning within the different formats. Frankly, I think that modeling strategies from texts as I introduce them into my classroom would be more effective than a compare and contrast-type unit of different text types. It seems confusing and removed from reality to approach it as a general unit.
Tovani
I really enjoyed the practicality and probable application of these chapters into my classroom. My favorite idea from the chapters was that of including text sets in curriculum. In science, I could collect texts for each unit that range from poems and illustrations, to magazine and journal articles. Then, I could have students choose a text to delve into and give an accompanying assignment for the text of choice. Grouping students by the texts that they have chosen, they would work together to complete their assignments and analyze their texts, while I monitored the class.
I totally agree with your assessment on text sets. I think they could generate more interest in the subject, especially since the idea behind them is for the books to be more accessible.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that you could easily group them through the sets. That is a great idea that would be easy to implement in the classroom.