Sunday, February 17, 2013
Double Entry Journal #4
Quote:
"When we let him choose the specific topic he would read about, however, he selected a grade 12 text and performed at independent level. In other words, when he got to choose what to read, he read four grades above his diagnosed reading level, not three grades below it"(Steinkuehler, 2010)
Response:
My initial response to this is Wow! Its an argument for allowing more choice and self selection in school based text and projects. However, the article does admit this is an ancedotal example, which immediately raises red flags for me. Although, I agree with the setiments of this article - that english class assignments tend to reflect "our" tastes, I do not believe that ancedotal evidence is the best way to make this point. I question what the larger results of this informal study were, and would like to read more of their findings. This article also did not make clear whether his interests resulted in a higher reading level. Julio chose a 12th grade text that interested him, but it did not make clear whether he was able to understand the complexity of the text.
Additional Resource:
Dad uses "Call of Duty" to teach son history, military ethics
This is just a short blog post that talks about how a Dad was a little hesitant to let his 13 year old play a "teen game" that was violent, so he compromised a bit. He and his son looked up the Geneva Convention and discussed the way to treat non-combatants and prisoners of war and his son agreed to play the game using those rules. I thought this was an interesting way for a father to deal with a violent game, and also use it as a learning opportunity.
References:
Steinkuehler, C. (2010). Video games and digital literacies. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 54(1), 61-63. doi: 10.1598/JAAL.54.1.7
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I was also surprised by the quote about the boy reading four grades above his level when he was allowed to choose his text; I was debating between that one and the one I chose for my blog post. I do agree with the article that a student's interest in the subject matter plays an important role in their learning; if it is something they are truly interested in, they will likely put forth a greater effort. I know that I personally comprehend what I am reading better if it is something I like. If it is something that I find boring, my mind wanders and I don't read it as closely. I think as teachers we should keep this in mind, and make an effort to give our students choices about their reading materials whenever we can.
ReplyDeleteLike both of you, I also was intrigued that the boy read four grades above his level when he was allowed to choose his own text. I can't speak on behalf of Reading/Language Arts teacher (because I'm not one), but there has to be some modificaitons that can still cover the content standards, yet give students the flexibility to make choices.
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