Reflection 5: Purposeful Reading and "Holding" Thoughts (Tovani Chapters 5-6)

Some reading in life is just...boring.

Chapter 5 of Tovani's book Do I Really Have to Teach Reading argues for giving students a purpose for reading as a way to help inexperienced learners/readers focus on the big picture. Students, who are relatively novel learners in the content area, need something to help them focus on the main concepts--instead of being overwhelmed by all the ideas in the reading. One point Tovani brought up that I think we all can relate to is having to read materials that we find uninspiring. In many cases, not only do we have to read and process those materials, but we also have to come up with something productive to share with our superiors/peers (in Tovani's case, it's being assigned article readings by a former employer). And unfortunately, we cannot simply leave in the fashion depicted in the video below when we encounter unappealing reading assignments (as much as it might be tempting).

Tovani then suggests a productive and less painful way of getting through boring or challenging readings is finding a purpose (purposes such as asking questions, making connections, comparing your own opinions to the author's, or learning about new information) and developing a "conversational voice" with the text (instead of a "reciting voice"). A comprehension constructor (basically a worksheet that helps the students interact and have a conversation with the text) is then suggested for helping students develop the conversational voice with the text. In secondary math classes, the text that students read the most (if at all) is probably the math textbook and the problems in the book. As a math teacher, one could help identify what the student needs to pay attention to when reading a certain type of problem (figure out what information is necessary and what isn't). The teacher could promote a "conversational voice" by modeling her thinking and how she "interacts" with the text/problem.

In Chapter 6, Tovani continues with the importance of "holding" thoughts while reading and suggests a number of strategies for it. Tovani starts off with that we can't simply remember everything we read--especially if the text is challenging. As a result, students should know when and what thought-"holding" strategies to use. A few strategies that are given include using highlighting, sticky notes (to jot down thinking), whole-group thinking, comprehension constructors, double-entry journal/diary, and quad-entry diary. With secondary math, the teachers can use these strategies to help the students make sense of possible textbook reading assignments. In addition, these strategies can also be used to help students organize their learning in class.

Reading is a conversation with the author.

Something that was repeatedly stressed by Tovani is that good readers don't just read a text, they talk to, relate to, and even attack it to make sense of it. Luckily, I have access to a Kindle version of Tovani's book so highlighting and commenting is really easy and sticky-notes/highlighter-free. In the spirit of Tovani's suggestion to interact with the text, I've highlighted the parts in the chapters that I found important, amusing, or that I can personally relate to. One point that I found interesting is Tovani's account of the student Aaron. After re-doing his assignment, Aaron erased his previous mark and wrote "erased" by the erased spot. I found it interesting that Tovani not only went into enough trouble to come up with two possible interpretations (one possible interpretation that Tovani found offensive), but also the trouble of writing this out in his book. It seemed a little odd and doesn't really serve the purpose of this chapter.