Why a good book is a secret door

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Series and Miller

Series and Miller

I adored Keena Ford. I loved that she was a spunky little girl, with thoughts of her own. She reminded me of so many students I have had in the past. Keena is a relatable character! I love the relationship she has with her brother and her mom. It is playful, but also with a little fear of disappointing. They whole story begins because her older brother taught her how to write the date wrong, so she gave her teacher the wrong birthday on the first day of school. The teacher begins to celebrate Keena’s birthday the next day of class. I love chocolate cake just as much as Keena, so I understand why she felt she had to lie. Keena ends up telling the truth after her mother catches her dead in the lie, while being sung to by the entire class. I would use Keena Ford in my own future classroom by having an Honesty Wall, or mandatory apology notes. Keena Ford would be a great way to teach students how to get themselves out of a web of lies, by just telling the truth. Keena Ford will be on my classroom bookshelf.

Donalyn Miller and Susan Kelley sum up how to get students to read in one sentence, “I knew that given class reading time, the opportunity to choose their own books, and teachers who read and promote books to them, the children would read.”

I completely agree with this statement. Dr. Jaxon has implemented this into her own classroom, and guess what! I am actually reading, because I would fall in love with the books that we start reading in class. Through Dr. Jaxon’s recommendations, I have actually taken ownership over reading for the first time. For me, reading has always been something to check off of a list. But now, this gives me hope that I can change my student’s perspective on reading.

I am a U course mentor and after hearing all the groans before the reading of a scholarly article I asked my students, “What is it about reading that you guys hate?” (My students and I are more friends than anything) so they reply to me, “I know I am not going to even end up reading this!” All heads started shaking in agreement. So I said “Shit okay, well if none of you are going to read this then lets each take a paragraph and summarize it for each other real quick, you have 5 minutes! So I shared with them that since it is scholarly they MUST read the intro, headings and summary to grasp it fully. These students are fake reading because they never were given the skills to read properly. They never learned how to read a scholarly article, so they just hate it. They never learned good strong reading habits, so they avoid it. My favorite ways to implement in my own future classroom were, reading groups and reading communities in the class with different books, while they get to choose those their own books.

Taking students out of class because they are not the best readers, takes them away from a community. It takes away their reading identity.

 

One Reply to “Series and Miller”

  1. Hey Sydney nice post! Keena Ford sounds interesting and it is a great example to set for children of not being afraid to be honest no matter the situation. I like your idea of mandatory apologies and honesty wall its a good way to remind children about honesty. Also from Millers book you brought up a great point of giving children choice, this makes a great difference in reading.

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