Reading in the Disciplines - vol. 3

I'm sorry this is taking so long, but there is SO much meat here!

Reading in Literature

1. this section primarily focuses on high school literature, but there are things that could also apply to middle school classes.

2. "Reading in Literature" at first seems sort of obvious, but the research shows that there is a vast difference in the level and variety of texts used from AP classes to remedial, from affluent to poor schools.  the underlying problem remains "insuficient attention in literature classrooms to the nuts and bolts of how to read a range of literary texts (Lee, 2011, 2004; Smith & Hillocks, 1988)".  For instance, teachers may ask students to find the symbolism without sufficiently modeling for the student.

3. the writers then present a laundry list of items students in high school literature classes must have prior knowledge of : recognize irony, use of unreliable narration, magical realism, science fiction, allegory, fable, myth, mystery, haiku, sonnet, ballad, epic, how emotions can lead to actions (good and bad), symbolism, satire, problems with point of view, inter-textual links / allusions, character types, and archetypal themes.  Whew! Satire is particularly hard, evidenced by trying to teach A Modest Proposal to my 10-12th graders.  They SO did not get Swift was being sarcastic!  I had a lot of convincing to do on that one!

4. Archaic language presents a problem when reading older works, even for good readers.  I really like the NoFear Shakespeare series by SparkNotes.  They're side-by-side translations - really helped me teach Romeo and Juliet to 9th graders. Greek tragedies are a bit difficult for students, as are other works from times with different class structures from what students are used to today.  Oedipus was mentioned specifically as a difficult text because of the elements of a tragedy.  My students were shocked we were reading a story with incest in it, even if it was not known at the time it happened.

5. A good argument for reading literature is made on the basis that major challenges to the human condition happen across times and lives.  In reading these, students may get insight into their own challenges.  Often the poor readers see themselves as having challenges in their lives, and can thus relate to characters who also have challenges.

Reading in Mathematics

Oh, my goodness!  Did this section ever blow right by me!  Let's just say this section was definitely written for math teachers at the high school / college level.  I get math has a specialized vocabulary and skill set, and some books have more opportunities to read than others.

1. "...by successfully navigating high school mathematics courses young people will typically form a lifelong habit of reading newspaper adn magazine articles that draw on mathematic evidence more critically, and this ability will help them to act as informed citizens."  I agree with this.  As a matter of fact, I've heard several commentators over the past couple of years talking about economics issues and the fact that some of the numbers don't add up.  Citizens were urged to take closer looks at stories and be sure they were presenting accurate statistics. Can't do that if you're mathematically illiterate!

Summary
1. Box 9 on page 16 of the aritcle give a summary of the generic strategies, and discipline specific reading strategies the writers believe should be taught to students, and the types of texts that should be used (texts, newspapers, magazines, historical documents, etc.

2. CC writers also ADMIT the pressure of teaching standards and helping struggling readers is complex and will require teachers to map out ahead of time the selections they will use.  The suggested plan is to start building prior knowledge with little reading over the first part of unit, then increase in complexity and use more reading as you move forward.

The last bits of the article are thick with suggestions for teaching content strategies - you pretty much just need to read the section and take notes on what you think will owrk for you.  A listing of existing interventions and the groups promoting them are also included.

2nd 9 weeks we will be focusing on nonfiction so this will be a perfect time to have them bring content textbooks to class and work on the strategies.