Tompkins Chapter 3

When reading this chapter, I could draw on a lot of what the book was saying from experiences that I have had in the field this year. The book at one point talked about shared reading and how the teacher will read a book that is important to the children but would be at to high of a level for the students to read themselves. In field the CT reads aloud to the students everyday, usually the book swirls around an issue that is being talked about either in class or in the real world. For example, she read a book on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during his birthday celebration, talking about diversity and equality. The students really got into the book, but would be unable to if they were reading it themselves because they would not be able to understand some of the words.

I think the most controversial and interesting thing talked about in the book was the Language Experience Approach (LEA). In this approach the students tells the teacher a story and the teacher writes down the student's experience. From there the student will read back their own story as a book. I think this is a great idea to get students excited about reading and also stay engaged. I think in teaching making the content personal is a great way to make the content meaningful, and by doing this the student will read more and learn more. However, I think for this to be successful this is only the first step in a semi scaffolding practice. Eventually the students should start to be writing their own stories, whether it be from memory or talking into a voice recorder than writing their story down. Then reading and writing are directly linked while still keeping the personal meaningful idea behind the context. Although the first step would be a great way to teach a student how to read in a lower grade level.

GO GREEN!!!!