Chapter 6: Frontloading Meaning

I really enjoyed this chapter a lot. It gave me great methods to help my students and make Language Arts more exciting. Instead of just reading to the students and asking questions, this chapter really made me think of creative and critical thinking ways to get the students more engaged in the texts we are reading in class. My favorite method is the Anticipation Guides. An Anticipation Guide is a tool used in the classroom  to get students thinking critically before they even read the passage. It "[i] s a set of generalizations related to the theme of a selections. Students decide whether they agree or disagree with each statement in the guide" (Beers,2003, p. 74). I really liked this method because I think that high school students would find this really helpful before they started reading something. It would maybe make them more eager to read and find out what it is about.

Another method I liked that was mentioned in this chapter was Probable Passage. This is a method where you pick key words from the selection and present them to the students. The students will then put them into categories and come up with their own version or prediction of what will happen in the story. I found this method to be very intriguing because I had never heard of it before. I think it is the best way to get people talking and get creative juices flowing. Although all the methods mentioned in this chapter are awesome those two are my favorites.

Chapter 4: Explicit Instruction in Comprehension

Okay, so this chapter is by far my favorite one. I have never been taught how to teach comprehension to students, and I have to say this chapter sort of scared me at first. What I really liked about this chapter is the "And Just How Do I Teach Any of Those Strategies?" section about teaching comprehension strategies. It really put me at ease, and showed me just how to teach comprehension. I think the most effective method is the "think aloud" method of teaching. I followed along really easily with it and thought it would be a perfect way to teach comprehension, even to high school students. I also liked how she told the steps to achieving teaching it correctly. It made me feel more confident about teaching to students who aren't good readers.

Again, I liked the transcripts she used as well. It gave me an example of how not to teach and how to teach it correctly. I feel that looking back at the section I will be able to effectively teach comprehension strategies to my students without embarrassing them, or confusing the students. I also found figure 4.1 to be very helpful in identifying the difference between direct instruction and scripted instruction. I had never heard of scripted instruction before, so it made it easier for me to understand the differences.

Chapter 3: Assessing Dependent Readers' needs

This chapter starts off right where the last chapter left off. We went over this chapter a little bit in class, but what I really like about this chapter is that it lists some behaviors of dependent readers. It also goes into detail about how all students don't struggle through the same readings. I really like that, because I would never have thought about it. If someone likes to read outloud and seems to be comprehending it doesn't mean that they are not struggling. Again I like that she uses real life examples and explains how to help after the example, and I like how she gives multiple examples of different types of dependent readers. This way I get a broad view on the types of behaviors I should be expecting. Not just one example of one particular students. I really like this book, because it shows all the different types of students, and that it how it should be. There is no one way a person struggles with reading.This chapter helped me realize that there is more than just one type of student with reading problems.

Also in this chapter, she goes into what good readers do, their habits and how students should be reading. I liked the list of examples that she gave. The last part of the chapter was called underlying beliefs. This is where she goes through and says her beliefs about teaching and struggling readers. I especially enjoyed this part because as a new teacher I will have my own beliefs and I will grow in them. I like how she is using her real life experiences when writing these chapters, instead of just spewing out useless statistics that would make it more difficult for me to comprehend.

Chapter 2: Creating Independent Readers

Chapter two in "When Kids Can't Read" is all about how to help dependent readers become independent. The first think this chapter does is explain what a dependent reader is. I found this very imformative and I particularly liked it because it explained to me the behaviors of a dependent reader and an independent reader. Throughout the chapter Ms. Beers goes through scenarios with students she has taught and explains how to help them before independent readers. I really liked that. It gave me an example and an explaination right after the example. The chapter starts off with a story that really explains how one phrase can mean so much to one person but nothing to another person. I really learned that I have to listen and keep asking questions of students so that I can figure out exactly what they want help with. I really liked all the visuals in this chapter as well. The first visual is an early model about how Ms. Beers thought it works with struggling readers. I found that to be really helpful in understanding what she was doing wrong as a teacher. I really found this chapter helpful for me, and I like how it is structured.