Chapter Thirteen: Creating the Confidence to Respond

I really liked in this chapter how Beers made the text relevant to the students. Instead of providing worksheets or answer logs about what the text meant, or what it was supposed to mean, they let the student decide. By asking "What do YOU think..." instead of "What happened in the story that caused..." you are allowing the student to interpret the text the way that they perceived it. This is very important to me. I want the students to feel connected to the text in any way that they can. Like Chris Tovani's videos mentioned, you need to be a selfish reader. You need to take what you want or need from the text, and not what a test tells you to take. This is one good reason why varying the types of assessment you use after reading is important. If the student has to answer questions to a test that are basically just there to prove that they have read the book, then they probably are just going to memorize the character names and the plot. If you provide them with either a different form of assessment or with questions like Beers suggests, they can SHOW you that they read the text through their personal connections and answers. These questions that she included in the text are definitely something I will take with me when I teach.

Chapter Ten: Fluency and Automaticity

While reading Antwan and Sophie's parts, I can easily say that fluency is something you might not know you have. Antwan thought that just because he could read the words, he was a good reader. He obviously comprehended what he was reading too, even though he thought both the children at the park were boys. He was able to understand what was going on, and he read all of the words properly, but not very fluently. Sophie on the other hand, had a hard time pronouncing things and she did not comprehend what she read very well at all. She thought there were many children at the park, when in reality there were only two. Due to the fact she was still struggling with decoding, the odds of her being fluent in her reading if she can not yet decode the words are very slim. Antwan should be able to improve his fluency soon, since his comprehension is at a good level. I just thought it was interesting how different the two of them read, and how fluency did not matter to them. Antwan thought he was a 'good reader' because he could say all of the words. The more a student reads, especially at a younger age, the better their fluency will become. This is another reason why having students read more and more out loud or even silently will help them improve their reading; especially their fluency.

Chapter Nine: Vocabulary

This chapter focuses on the use of vocabulary and how we can teach new words to students. It shows us how to make these words stick, and how to make students forget them. I loved the 'Vocabulary Casserole' and the 'Vocabulary Treat' recipes on the first few pages. They were very true, and it was nice to see how if you make the students apply and actually use the words, they will remember them, versus just regurgitate them in the text. 
I really liked the Word Scroll worksheet that Beers has provided for us. It not only shows the definition, but also has students fill in both synonyms and antonyms for the words as well. I think that this is a great way to help them learn. It they know what it is, what it isn't, and what it is like, they can easily use it in future writing and reading. I know that instead of repeatedly typing the same word in an essay, I really enjoy using synonyms to convey my message. I think this is important for students to know too because then they will not be using the same word over and over again. Not only could this exercise help spice up their writing, it will also improve their reading. I really think that vocabulary is important, and I feel that students do not learn as much of it in high school as they did in middle school. I think that if we continue to give students an arsenal of new words to use, their speech, conversation skills, reading and writing will improve.

Chapter Eight: Extending Meaning

One of the things I really liked about this chapter was how Beers suggested using scales as either anticipation guides or as assignments for after reading. I think that this was a great idea because there really is no right or wrong answer as long as the student can back up their answer. I feel that you could really see if the students are understanding the text or not, and that the various forms of scales she shows us could help with this. I also like how Beers seems to always provide a model to show the students. She says that she will do a scale on something she read with the students in class and defend her answers with things she found in the text. 
This will show students how to do the assignment and to draw their conclusions from evidence provided in the text.
I also enjoyed the 'Sketch to Stretch' strategy a lot. I feel that students can incorporate art into this as well as understanding what they read. After they do this, Beers suggests putting the students into groups and having them discuss why they drew what they did and wrote what they wrote. Also, you could even hang these on the wall afterward and maybe keep them up as a study guide for a quiz or test. If you had the students write their response to the picture on the back, I think it would be neat to have them remember what their peers said. This I think would be helpful because students could be reminded of their discussions as well as have to remember what the drawing meant. -Katie May

Chapter Seven: Constructing Meaning

I would be lying if I said I was not horrified when I read what the student Lavern's perceptions were about reading. He thinks that you just read the words of a text and that is it. He feels that if you can 'answer all of the questions' then you are a good reader. He did not understand that reading is deeper than that, and that it takes work to understand and think about what you read. For instance, I don't read or speak French but I could sit there and read a passage in it, probably not pronouncing things correctly, but I could actually read the words, even though I have no idea what was going on. 

Beers precedes to tell us that if you have students do something like reread the text and tell you why it makes more sense the next time, they will be able to understand why rereading helps. I really liked the paper that the student Brad wrote about rereading. His score went up after he reread the text, and Beers made him write down why. I think that is a good idea because it lets the students apply the knowledge to themselves, and they will better understand why it helped them. -Katie May