EDRL 524 Course Readings

Provide evidence of reading widely from the course articles and texts. Share the highlights in
your opinion of each piece. Points are given for quality, not quantity, as well as for genuine
the risk taking of idea sharing.

Cover To Cover
Book reviews must go beyond a personal response
Audience matters. Kids? Adults? Author?
Books are considered successful if the book is successful in both the consumer
and institutional market
Rodgers Reflection: Book Reviewing
The only book reviews Ive ever written were for a high school English class. We had to publish
our reviews to Barnes and Nobles as well as Amazon. In that moment, audience was a very real
piece of the puzzle. I guess I never really thought about the pieces that make a book review
valuable for others.
Books for information
accuracy , organizations, illustrations, design, prose, and documentation
Respect for intelligence (when directed toward young readers)
P 47 When you evaluate nonfiction
What is the authors authority
How is the material organized?
Does the design clarify the sequence of ideas
Illustrations extend tet
Writing style?
Rodgers Reflection: Book Reviewing
Informational texts are my teaching expertise. I have spent many years working with West Ed on
using Genre in informational/nonfiction texts to help me not only read, but write as well.
Informational books have so many pieces that work together to create meaning. Even lower level
informational texts instruct the reader without being condescending. Authors authority and
credibility is also right where I want to be due to my ed tech and media literacy focus in this
masters program. How and why authors create messages is to further a viewpoint, no matter
how neutral that message may seem to be.
Picture Books
Illustrations and content together
Every word counts

Fiction
Newberry medal was created so good books were created for kids
Writing a Book Review
Choosing a book to review
Reading thoroughly
Using outside sources
Citations
Writing the review
Descriptive, analytical, and sociological
What to include
Writing it all down
Analyze other reviewers while you find your way
Rodgers Reflection: My Book Reviewing Style
I have learned so much from reviewing others book reviews in this class. I have found that book
reviews do entice me to want to read certain books and not read others. I like to focus on the
analytical pieces over the descriptive bits about a given text, because the lasting memory of a
book is far better than the intricate details.

Reading: The Grand Illusion How and Why People Make Sense of
Print
Study Literacy as meaning making and therefore humans think symbolically to
learn and create language in all its forms
Reading is not reading each word on every page
Reading is the dynamic meaning making process
Language is personal and social
Human Characteristics
Social beings
Think symbolically
Intelligent species
The grand illusion is that we read every word
We use our incomplete sensory information to create an illusionary world
Our brain makes sense whether the information is distorted or not
Our brains are inaccurate with our perceptions
The sense we make depends on prior knowledge
Rodgers Reflection
I get this but I dont get it too. I find errors in the slightest of places. If there is a misspelled
word, I see it before Ive even read it. However, I do find it incredibly fascinating, and true,
that we use what we already know to fill in the gaps of what we dont have. Our schema and

background knowledge is so vast and even if we ABC, someone else will picture something
else entirely. This reading reminded me of instances in which my students read something and
are unable to get anything out of it. They cant connect to certain texts in the same way I did/do,
and I cant connect to certain texts that resonate well with them.

Perception, Sense, Belief

Making sense trumps being accurate

A synonym for see = perceive
No, you dont know what you see. You see what you know.
We see but our brains perceive
Think we see > what we see
We make the sense FIT
For example, the moon on the horizon is the same size you just
have a tree reference to put it in perspective
Misconception occurs because the brain constructs a concept from experience
within a social context
Make sense > getting every word right
Proficient readers construct internal texts alongside the author
Rodgers Reflection
How often we confuse seeing with truth. We can claim that we saw something that didnt
actually happen that way (given a video recording). Our perceptions are heavily influenced and
created by what we already know. I know the moon is bigger on the horizon than it is in the sky. I
know it, I know it, I know it. Yet it is simply not. Making sense of the world is more important
than seeing each and every little detail. I have been so guilty of doing this with students and
reading. I want them to decode and know the meaning of words in a text with one hundred
percent accuracy because if they dont then there is NO WAY they will understand. This
reminded me of when MaryAnn yelled at the Five Finger Rule, and gave the great example of
Harry Potter. Shoot. There were about twenty words per chapter that left me baffled, and yet I
was waiting at midnight to purchase the final three installments to the series.
Teaching students to co-construct a text alongside the author that aids in comprehension is such
a powerful tool. Telling students that without teaching them to do it- that their brains are
ACTUALLY DOING IT ON THEIR OWN is an invaluable life lesson.

An Urban School Shapes Young Adolescent Motivated to Read.

Motivated (hardworking/capable) vs. unmotivated
How does a school influence reading motivation?
Culture of reading

Constant opportunities to talk about books

Book clubs
Record of pages
30 minutes of free reading schoolwide

Rodgers Reflection
This culture of reading within a school is something that we have tried hard to have.
Unfortunately, we have done this through AR and word counts. While not the worst thing in the
world, word counts have surpassed the pleasure and joy of reading. While there are a few
teachers that will talk with students about books, there are not countless opportunities for
students to talk about books. Recording pages has been something a few of our classrooms have
tried, but without the other components of a well balanced reading diet, this is just another
chore. We do have thirty minutes of free reading, and it has allowed me as a teacher to really get
to know my students and their interests in books.
Kids describe their school as a reading school which means they are big on it,
that everyone is always talking about it, which therefore means that it is important
Students and Teachers Talk about books
A teacher recommends
They know my taste
You read this? You HAVE to read this, -reading friend
Rodgers Reflection:
This reading community is something I have had before and would like to have again. It is
important to note that it is simply impossible to be a nonreader if your peers and friends are
readers. There are people that talk about books. Readers talk about books. When I am reading, I
cant go three sentences into a conversation without wanting to recommend the latest book I
read. It is that simple. When the whole school (or a large group) is hooked on reading, they will,
without a doubt, hook the rest of them. We are working our way toward a true culture of reading.
Unfortunately, there arent many teacher readers at our school. I recently put Reading in the
Wild in the hands of a few people who put it in the hands of very important people in our
district. I cant wait to hear what they say.
Book Talks
Few minutes
Captivating, quick summary
Major themes
Suggestions for readers
Rodgers Reflection
Our eighth grade ELA teacher is an avid reader. She has done book talks every day in her
classroom (after attending Pacific Coast Literacy this summer) and it has made an insane

difference in her classroom. She is touching on so many key points of wild readers. Number one?
She had to read all of these books. What an example to set for her students.

Teachers examine student logs and decide what is next for their students
Understanding student interests
Principal has a library and runs a book club
There are coordinated efforts across the school

Rodgers Reflection
In order for the entire school to get on board, my staff has to work together to be on board
together. It wont be easy but there are too many case studies and too much research that
supports a good literacy foundation for students to become readers. It is the most important
thing that they become!

21st Century Literacies A Policy Research Brief Produced by the

National Council of Teachers of English
A Changing World for Literacy Teachers

Problem solve, collaboration, analysis, word processing skills, tech

Computer compositions
33 states have adopted educational technology
Electronic courses
80% of kindergarteners use computers
50% of children under age 9 use internet
Digital tech enhances writing and interaction
Metacognition, reflection & audience awareness

Myths About 21st Century Literacies

1. Tech only (NOT) critical thinking
2. Digital Divide closed because schools provide computer and internet access
(NOT) used academically
3. Teachers who use tech personally use it in class
4. Teachers must be experts
5. Automatic essay scoring will replace human readers
Affinity groups are communities online of shared interests
Hypertext- multiple links

Research Based Recommendations for Effective Instruction in 21st

Century Literacies

Student reflection about technology in learning

Class website for online discussions
Evaluating quality of life
Open about technology strengths and weaknesses (personally)
Explore student technology and find ways to incorporate them into your teaching
Wiki for readers guide to class text
Media
Create a podcast to share with authentic audience
Explicitly teach- how to avoid plagiarism

Schools
More devices, access to tech, professional development for teachers, teacher prep, protect
privacy, tech literacy standards

Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do
About It
By Kelly Gallagher
For those educators who resist the political in favor of the authentic
Introduction
Read-i-cide: the systematic killing of the love of reading, often
exacerbated by the inane, mind-numbing practices found in schools (p2)
Class Time = best time
Love of reading dies down WHY? Because...
Test Prep > High interest reading
Good Books < Magic Pill
SSR = NOT ACADEMIC
Academic reading = only reading
Test takers are more important than readers
No authentic reading experiences
Overteaching and underteaching
Chapter One: Elephant
Testing
Test prep is shallow
Obvious why we choose to teach to the test
Mile wide/ inch deep

 No wonder content is uninteresting

Curriculum is narrowed for test prep
#2 Rather than lifting struggling readers, MC prep ensures they will continue to struggle
Is the test a good thing? Yes? Then teaching to the test is a good thing
Kids need deeper levels of thinking not JUST MC
Which students pay the price? (terrible cycle)
Texas Miracle
Statistically flawed
Cheating
Harm in the long run (Ex: SAT scores dropped)
Chapter Two: Endangered Minds

Students need authentic reading

Lack of interesting reading in our schoools
Poverty gap = bridge to prison
Removal of novels and challenging works in the classroom
Not enough reading in schools
SSR is to make reading A HABIT
Overnight newsweek (page 50 great questions)
Waiting list
Challenge all students with difficult text
Liking a text is different from getting the value
Students need to be challenged by longer works

Chapter Three: Avoiding the Tsunami

Over-analysis of literature messes up the flow

Trivial > meaningful
Overteaching is damaging student chances of becoming lifelong readers
AR drops reading after the fact
Recognize the value in reading academic texts
Topic floods

3 Ingredients to Build A Reader:

Must have interesting books to read
Time to read in school
Places to read
Chapter Four: Sweet Spot
Sweet spot of instruction

 Hamlet is not the problem the problem lies in how the work is taught- or not
taught
Students should be directed to read small chunks of text closely (but delicate
balance)
Pencil, annotate, how/why
What do good readers do?
Skills, reread, change speed, chunk, ask questions (p 105)
Teach reading AND the reader
Chapter Five: Ending Readicide
Test scores go up states decrease standards
Are we fixing the wrong things? Students are suffering from too think instruction
In most countries, education feels like a car factory in Finland, the teachers are
entrepreneurs.
Appendix- 101 books my reluctant readers love to read
Rodgers Reflection: Five Key Ideas and One Question:
Key Ideas:
1. Teach to the test is not necessarily bad
2. Paradox is that struggling readers will continue to struggle
3. Academic reading is the only reading in our schools no wonder they hate it
4. Overanalyzing messes up the reading flow
5. Difference between liking a text and finding the value
Question:
AR? Is any of it good?

Reading in the Wild

Want students to read in the wild?
You must be a wild reader
& be able to point to pedagogical underpinning of classroom structures
Making connections from chapter to chapter, book to book, and reader to reader
Creating independent readers that continue to read after they leave
Developmentally appropriate
Books can touch us deeply and elicit laughter and tears
BOOKS CAN TRANSFORM LIVES
If a seed of lettuce will not grow, dont blame the lettuce. Instead, the fault lies
with us for not having nourished the seed properly.
I blamed new teachers when my students lost their motivation to read

 Impossible to be a nonreader in your class. *Used to be a compliment not

anymore
Children who read will always outperform
CCSS adopted without a single research study and dismisses psych. and reading
instruction
Rodgers Reflection: Reading in the Wild
So much of her philosophy is what I have done in the classroom without even knowing it. I
cultivate reading in my classroom by creating a community of readers. I always know what each
of my students are reading. I always have another book of interest to throw in their hands. I
always link kids together to get them hooked on similar series. The main piece I was missing,
however, was the fact that my students never saw me as a reader. My students never asked me if I
was done with a book, and they never had time to read and I couldnt blame them because I
myself didnt have time to read.
This book, which I purchased on audiobooks and was read aloud during every long car ride,
opened by eyes to the possibilities and subtle changes I could make within my classroom. For the
first time ever, I didnt totally level my reading group books but instead went off interest alone. I
didnt have daily questions that went with the assigned pages but asked for genuine reading
responses. My students now have a page log. They write their own reading reflections, whether it
is an independent reading time, a read aloud time, or a reading group time. There is a time and a
place for in depth literature response questions, but the most important piece is being self
reflective as a reader each day.
My students are beginning to cross examine books and compare them with each other. They
relate our character quotes to characters in books and they are excited about read alouds. They
are beginning to be on fire for reading and Im beginning to make slow changes to my
classroom.

Banned Books Week is A Crock by Ruth Graham

Local school boards cant remove books from their libraries simply because they
are offended by them
If your local library doesnt carry a certain book- there are about a million other
ways to get your hands on it
Actual bans remain very, very rare
Difference between giving parents a say in what their children are reading and
something different to have access to that book in a local library

Six Word Memoirs: Life Distilled

For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.

Life stories are told in six words. No more. No less

There is something about the number six.
Not quite what I was planning.
Funny, sad blown away power of personal storytelling
Less is more
Brought it to a boil often.
Very personal almost painful
Willing to share with strangers
Life themes Religion. Babies. Children. Regrets.
Symmetry
Connect with others
Rodgers Reflection: My memoirs
Too much to do, nap time.
Church on Sunday. Bar on Friday.
Coffee and Jesus no bad days.
Teach what I know, know nothing.

The Acid Test for Literature Teaching

Larger classes in trend creates teaching that can be done for large groups
Transactions between readers and books
Living through a moment (Ie: Julius Cesar not facts about Rome)
Before students appreciate the insights of literature, they need to have meaningful
and personally satisfying interaction with literature
Creating lifelong personal relationships between books and people
The relationships between teacher and peers needs to allow a personal connection
to what is read
Creating a Live Circuit
Shuttling back and forth between words and past experience and new
understanding
Many in school dont connect the text to the ongoing stream of life
Reader needs emotional and experiential readiness

 Youth seeks to understand itself and its world, to feel from within what it means
to be different kinds of personalities, to discover the possibilities in human relationships,
to develop a usable images of adult aims and roles.
Primary role of choosing books is to find a vehicle to create a meaningful circuit
between reader and book
Initiating a Process of Growth
Certain texts can move readers into themes that are carried within greater works
Finding the right book for growth
Avoiding Substitutes for Literature
Even the most proficient of readers go to college without care for the authors
biography
Students think talking about literature and knowing about literature is more
important than their response to literature
Literature becomes an object to be described, manipulated, catalogued, and
categorized
High school
Personal sense of literature as a mode of experience
Historical and social approaches second
Context is provided by the reader
Analysis of the Literary Transaction
There is no method to dissect a piece of literature (routines of dividing fractions
for example) DANGEROUS
Sometimes it will be authors life
Sometimes it will be time period
What happened within me as I read the story? What struck me forcibly? What
were the clues that added to meaning for me? What puzzled me? What meanings did
others see?

Rodgers Reflection:
Reading is not a process apart from all else. Students can not delve deep into literature
responses when they have a harsh dislike towards text in general. Becoming familiar with text
will allow young people to not be scared of it when it comes along. There are connections that
are woven into any piece of information, and it is our job to show that connection in real time to
students. Taking the reader out of the reader will not create learning but a disinterest and a
disengagement.

How Can I Tell if a Website is Reliable:

1. Authored by?
a. Google the author
b. Credentials provided
2. Site published by?
a. Domains tell a lot
3. Purpose of site?
a. Sell something? Persuade?
4. Intended audience?
a. Who would benefit? Who would disagree?
5. Sources cited?
6. Does it all make sense?
Rodgers Reflection:
Credibility is my jam. Ed Tech is my favorite. NAMLE is where it is AT!

Poetry
Rodgers Reflection: Poetry

This poem reminds me of every fork in the road of my life. How I remember standing at a
crossroad without the slightest clue as to which path I should take. How I think back on the
choices I made and how grateful I am that I made the choices that I did.

Extensive reading: why it is good for our students and for us.
The characteristics of extensive reading:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

Students read a lot and read often.

There is a wide variety of text types and topics to choose from.
The texts are not just interesting: they are engaging/ compelling.
Students choose what to read.
Reading purposes focus on: pleasure, information and general understanding.
Reading is its own reward.
There are no tests, no exercises, no questions and no dictionaries.
Materials are within the language competence of the students.
Reading is individual, and silent.
Speed is faster, not deliberate and slow.
The teacher explains the goals and procedures clearly, then monitors and guides the students.
The teacher is a role modela reader, who participates along with the students.

Rodgers Reflection:
The heart of reading is to read. Not to answer questions, not to read quickly, not to deliberately
learn new words.. But to read. To get something out of it. By yourself. No tests just reading.
THAT is the reward.