Reading+Workshop+09

=The Importance of Prior Knowledge= In chapter 4 of __Deeper Reading__, Kelly Gallagher stresses the importance of prior knowledge."My point is that reading comprehension is tied closely to what the reader brings to the page-to what the reader knows before reading"(26). Gallagher refers to the three types of prior knowledge that are important for students and reading comprehension from //Helping Middle and High School Readers,// '(1) Knowledge about the topic (2) knowledge about the structure and organization of the text and (3) knowledge about vocabulary"(pg 35)'(27). It is the job of the teacher to frame the work for their students before they start reading a text and while they are reading a text, to make sure they can read the text in a confident manner

Frontloading a student's knowledge about a text can be a great help to their comprehension. The more a student knows about the text before reading, the easier it will be for the student to make connections between the text and his or her own life, and to get down to the meanings of the text. Kylene Beers, in chapter 6 of __When Students Can't Read__ outlines several stategies for helping students access their prior knowledge and construct meaning from a text. These stategies include Anticipation Guides, K-W-L Charts, Probable Passages, and Tea Parties. -- Anna =The Process of Reading= According to All America Reads: Secondary Reading Strategies, reading is a process that is made up of three different phases: before-reading, during-reading and after-reading. The before-reading phase is when the student is able to establish their plan/purpose for reading the text, the during-reading phase is when the student thinks about the purpose of the text they are reading, and using their prior knowledge, the after-reading phase is when the student has finished reading and begins to build new knowledge. It is important that as teachers we really help the students to set their purpose for reading and help students to activate prior knowledge. It is also important to build a foundation of key vocab that the students will need to understand in order to push through the reading.

=**Reading Workshop as the Solution to a Multitude of Reading Problems**= If we want students to truly learn to love reading instead of just being able to answer comprehension questions, then reading workshop is the answer. According to the research from Julia Lausé in “Using Reading Workshop to Inspire Lifelong Readers,” having students read 45 minutes a night for the whole year and discuss the “meaning, message, and implications of the text” helps students “see themselves as readers, have a clear sense of their reading taste, and have a list of books they want to read” as well as improve their reading speed and comprehension, and, most importantly, helps them to become lifelong readers (p. 27). ~Amy

=Textbooks=

**Problems**
--“Why Textbooks Aren’t Enough” from Subjects Matter
 * Textbooks are superficial**, because they cover too many topics without developing any of them well.
 * Textbooks are exceedingly hard to read**. Textbooks are reference books written like encyclopedias, dictionaries and thesauruses. However in schools, they are often treated as if they are novels that students are supposed to read cover to cover, while retaining and memorizing the information within.
 * Textbooks are authoritarian and often inaccurate**, because they are often used as the only source of reading for several years at a time (even when new studies come out proving them wrong).
 * Textbooks are not written for students**. They are designed for state approval boards (especially Texas and California) to make a profit for publishing companies.
 * Textbooks cost too much**. They may be a bargain for the number of pages and amount of material, but they leave no room in the budget for other reading materials like newspapers, journals or classroom libraries.

Solutions – Use textbooks strategically and sparingly.
--“Why Textbooks Aren’t Enough” from Subjects Matter
 * Order one classroom set** as opposed to one book for every student and give them more engaging homework assignments without the textbook.
 * Prolong ordering new editions** if you can. Fields like British literature that rarely have new discoveries can be kept much longer than most textbooks.
 * Don’t splurge on the extras**. Save money for other reading materials by skipping the extra transparencies, handouts, CD-ROMs, videos and audiotapes.
 * Stop having textbook centered courses altogether**. Make your own collection of poems or readings instead so you can tune them to your students interests and levels.

Use **multiple genres** mixing fiction and non-fiction, primary and secondary sources classics and contemporary works. Reading materials should run the gamut from textbooks to poetry, news articles to historical novels and biographies to historical accounts. Teachers should **allow students some choice** in their readings. Guide students in their choices, but use a mixture of assigned and chosen readings. Students reading should be a **mixture** of easy and hard, short and long. Sometimes you just need a short easy piece to get them the background, but use other readings to challenge them and build their vocabularies. Finally, teachers should build a **classroom library** using all of these types of reading materials to create a wide variety of readings available to students. --“Toward a Balanced Diet of Reading” from Subjects Matter

Suggestions for Teachers
1. Have empathy. Just because it’s easy for you (a subject matter expert), it won’t necessarily be easy for students to grasp. 2. Help kids get started. Teach before and during the reading to help kids understand. 3. Don’t leave kids alone with their textbooks, but have kids work in pairs, groups or teams. 4. Choose wisely. Make strategic choices about what kids should learn rather than trudging through the whole book. 5. Supplement richly by using newspapers, primary sources, novels and other readings. 6. Check the state exam. Don’t make kids read the whole textbook, because it will be on the state exam. What if the state exam focuses on the 21st century and you didn’t even make it to World War I in your history course? 7. Flip through the textbook on the first day so kids know how to read this book. 8. Help students adjust to new vocabulary before the lesson by mixing new words with words they already know. --“How to Use a Textbook” from Subjects Matter