Shannon--your connection to making meaning and what teenagers to in social interactions is very interesting. You make excellent connections b/w the similarities of the process of making mean of text and making meaning of a social interaction. this makes me think about LA and how important it is, then, to read literature with themes relevant to helping them process their relationships/interactions with each other. This way, LA teachers are helping them to construct meaning from text and then to build knowledge and context for their interactions with each other. Just a thought.
I don't think you are straying with your point! I think one very important purpose of reading is teaching us how to interpret our world. Reading is totally fun to just do for the fun of it - but it is always teaching us more about who we are and what this place we live in is like. I definately think teachers should remember that! Thank you for remarking on it.
It had never occurred to me before how many excerpts I have read. I may be the closest one in the class to high school and I remember all the excerpts from great novels and plays and studies that we had to read because that one excerpt was all the teacher needed to make his/her point. In the high school, on the rare occasion that we did read a whole novel or play, it took weeks to do so. I feel high school teachers are a little scared to give homework and only had us read a few chapters a week- mostly in class. There was little discussion, and at the end we had to write a report. This sucked the joy out of reading. I love to talk about what i read, and hearing other people's thoughts helps me to look at things in other ways and to put those lessons to memory. Every test or book report I've ever done has felt like a brain dump- then I never think about the book again. Excerpts take things out of context, and you could miss the authors point entirely. Great reflection.
Shannon, I agree with your point about the down side to reading short versions of stories and spending more time on tests than on making meaning and discussing the literature. The real learning when reading literature that is stretching us is by comparing other people's point of view. Each person seems to pick up on a few points that others may have overlooked. By utilizing the combined observations of others we end up with a more complete view of the reading. Besides it's just more fun to compare notes. - Eric
I think the idea that human interaction is part of the reading process especially at the high school level is a significant point. Students are constantly engaging socially with one another and their readings will influence these social engagements. And their social engagements will influence their readings. I know that it is beneficial to me to talk about what I have read. I appreciate getting feedback and other perspectives from someone who has read the same thing. I thought this was a great point.
Shannon--your connection to making meaning and what teenagers to in social interactions is very interesting. You make excellent connections b/w the similarities of the process of making mean of text and making meaning of a social interaction. this makes me think about LA and how important it is, then, to read literature with themes relevant to helping them process their relationships/interactions with each other. This way, LA teachers are helping them to construct meaning from text and then to build knowledge and context for their interactions with each other. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteI don't think you are straying with your point! I think one very important purpose of reading is teaching us how to interpret our world. Reading is totally fun to just do for the fun of it - but it is always teaching us more about who we are and what this place we live in is like. I definately think teachers should remember that! Thank you for remarking on it.
ReplyDeleteIt had never occurred to me before how many excerpts I have read. I may be the closest one in the class to high school and I remember all the excerpts from great novels and plays and studies that we had to read because that one excerpt was all the teacher needed to make his/her point. In the high school, on the rare occasion that we did read a whole novel or play, it took weeks to do so. I feel high school teachers are a little scared to give homework and only had us read a few chapters a week- mostly in class. There was little discussion, and at the end we had to write a report. This sucked the joy out of reading. I love to talk about what i read, and hearing other people's thoughts helps me to look at things in other ways and to put those lessons to memory. Every test or book report I've ever done has felt like a brain dump- then I never think about the book again. Excerpts take things out of context, and you could miss the authors point entirely. Great reflection.
ReplyDeleteShannon, I agree with your point about the down side to reading short versions of stories and spending more time on tests than on making meaning and discussing the literature. The real learning when reading literature that is stretching us is by comparing other people's point of view. Each person seems to pick up on a few points that others may have overlooked. By utilizing the combined observations of others we end up with a more complete view of the reading. Besides it's just more fun to compare notes.
ReplyDelete- Eric
I think the idea that human interaction is part of the reading process especially at the high school level is a significant point. Students are constantly engaging socially with one another and their readings will influence these social engagements. And their social engagements will influence their readings. I know that it is beneficial to me to talk about what I have read. I appreciate getting feedback and other perspectives from someone who has read the same thing. I thought this was a great point.
ReplyDelete