Download And Enjoy What Readers Really Do: Teaching The Process Of Meaning Making Conceptualized By Dorothy Barnhouse Supplied As Print

blown. Every literacy teacher needs to read this, Heck, anyone who loves reading should read this, Taught me so much about what I do and should be doing when I'm reading, I read A Little Life simultaneously and as it turns out, that was a great decision, It helped me think about the work I was doing as I read a challenging book,

This text turned what I knew about teaching reading upside down, I will be coming back to his book over and over, I really like the authentic approach to wondering about what you're reading and having the author release information through the plot, The portion about front loading before reading makes me question how that coincides with giving ESL kids the vocabulary support they need, LOVED IT. Such interesting thinking about reading and teaching, Really liked how the authors presented scenarios in which they modeled discussing books with the kids helped me see step by step how you might do that.
Made it clear I ran the reading groups a couple of years ago without opening them up for genuine inquiry by the kids.
Lots of post its in this, I'm not sure I'll ever be finished with this book, As I implement the ideas in this book with myth andth grade readers, I find I need to go back and revise my thinking often.
This book is just the place to do that! I love that there are classroom examples that help me to see what I might do in my own classroom, and that the best model of these strategies is.
. . me! Reflecting on what I do as an adult reader is a powerful way to think about what I ask my students to do.
Excellent book. Gets away from some of the rigidity teachers impose upon themselves to get it right like the experts say, A new look at minilessons and comprehension strategies,


Update: More, because this book has deeply influenced the way I am thinking about teaching reading,

Also,
New blog post by V, Vinton that describes some openmindedness necessary for a strong reader,

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"It seems unadvisable to me, as well, for a reader to know where he or shes going at least the first time through a text for if we did know, there wouldnt really be any need to keep turning the pages.
Not knowing is what keeps us engaged its what propels us forward, And its what helps us keep our minds open and receptive to whatever surprises the text holds, If you think, after all, that you know where youre going, theres little incentive to attend to the words, especially to those subtle shifts and hints that herald changeuntil, perhaps, you find yourself lost, which happens to students all the time.


"Unfortunately, however, many of the strategies we teach children to use, such as predicting and picture walksand even connecting and accessing schemawork against this open mindset by encouraging students to form ideas before they even start reading.
And as Murray says in yet another line that has implications for readers: “Beginning writers make the mistake of looking for ideas before beginning to write.
”



As readers, however, we cant revise the clues or patterns the writer has laid down what we have to keep revising instead is what we think those patterns and clues reveal and what insights they might be leading us to.
And to do this, once again, we have to apply Murrays writing words to readers: “You discover what the text has to say by letting go of preconceptions.
”" This book is the perfect companion to Opening Minds and Talk About Understanding, The three together have made me a better teacher, The Know/Wonder chart will be a staple in my classroom from here on out, Trying the strategies while reading a fiction book for book club made all the difference as I read this text over the summer, without the benefit of having students in front of me to try things out with.
This is a wellwritten book with some excellent strategies e, g. , Know/Wonder charts, but unfortunately it wasn't quite what I had expected, I highly recommend it to middle grades and secondary teachers, but it's not as helpful for the primary grades, Rarely do I include a professional book in Goodreads, but this was such a smart book that I'd love to share it with my teacher buddies.
Barnhouse and Vinton take what we know about reading as meaning making and deepens that understanding, In the process, they challenge some typical beliefs and practices: is inferring really a strategy "inferring is really a sophisticated skill masquerading as a strategy" Is modeling what students really need or can it limit their agency

At the same time, this book reinforces beliefs that I hold about literacy and, in the process, honors the teacher as a thinker.
For instance, the authors stress the importance of reflecting on who we are as readers/thinkers/writers, As they explain the best way to create a vision about the meaning making process for students, they argue that attending to our own intellectual work is more important than any research or program: ".
. . read attending to what we do as readers, noticing and naming and making visible the work we routinely and invisibly do, Doing so, were convinced, can deepen and strengthen our instruction more than any compendium of tips or even researchbased theories, because it authentically grounds our teaching in our life as readers.
"

Even though the writers use examples from elementary and middle school classrooms, I'm convinced that their ideas apply directly to the high school setting.
A high school English teacher could use their ideas to teach students how the detail leads to understanding theme "details are the building blocks and lifeblood of texts", how literary elements are tools for making meaning and not "ends in and of themselves," and how to critique or evaluate a book.
Consider this ending quote and it's clear how the book speaks to everyone: "This is the vital work we have to do as teachers, for each student who crosses our path is in the process of forging an identity, not only as a reader of books but as a reader of their world.
Showing them what agency looks and sounds like while making meaning in a text to notice what's to be noticed and make something of it is a microcosm for what that can look and sound like while making meaning in their lives.
" "Readers do not read words and then wait for someone else to tell us what they mean, nor do they read words and then identify literary elements.
We read words and build living and breathing ideas from themideas that matter to us and continue to develop as we talk with each other, keep reading, and talk some more.
"

Enough said. This is a good approach but I could have used more in the way of specific examples and practical applications, The abstract portions somehow had me glazing over, The examples it does give are certainly good, though few of them were for the specific age range Im interested in, There just could have been more, This book really challenges the way I viewed reading, It offers great Ideas for the classroom, However, they only offer scenarios in

which the student is willing to read, I strongly recommend this book to English teachers, especially juniorlevel, I felt like my "English methods" courses were missing exactly the kind of insight this book offers into the kind of work we ultimately want students to be able to do when they read and the kind of approach that can help them get there.
I intended to use these ideas this school year, This book will give you a great deal to think about concerning the process of reading, It is a book all teachers should read to understand what it means to truly read, It will help you explain the process to parents so that they can better support their children reading, .