Blog Post #2

How can you help struggling readers?

In my first post, I spoke about how I was not aware of the literacy rates in classrooms until the first class of LLED. I wasn't even sure what content literacy meant before this class. In the few weeks of class time, I have learned how important my role as a teacher will be, being a content area teacher. Chapter two in Subjects Matter taught me about all the different strategies that good readers have and showed us the three stages of reading. I found one specific strategy that stood out to me; it is building engagement with the text while you read. I'm not too creative so I loved that this strategy uses "activity rather than exhortation"(pg 285). There are many different things that can be done to make reading an activity. I'm going to talk about a simpler strategy to begin with called the "textbook walk." This strategy can be done in any classroom. The teacher goes through the new unit with their students as they read they look for the headings, illustrations, and other highlights in the text. Teachers can also ask students to write down any questions or confusion they may have to be more engaged while they read. One strategy that may require more time and planning was the hunger banquet at Downers Grove South High School that involved their entire freshman class to role play poverty. All the students were divided into high, middle, or low income categories and they received food based on their social class. This kind of an experience really gives kids a new perspective and understanding of poverty. Both of these strategies would be just as effective as well as any activities that are reading before, during, or after reading. Using this idea of building engagement with the text will allow kids to be more engaged as they read, and used more of their physical, visual, and auditory involvements to remember what they read instead of being on their devices or not listening at all during class time.

(338)