Chapter 7: Constructing Meaning During-Reading Strategies

This chapter really was enjoyable. As an independent reader myself, I never really had problems making sense of a text. It was humbling to me to realize that dependent readers are not equipped to make sense of  a text, because they don't realize that they can do that. This chapter when right into the classroom. It talked about three students who are having trouble with a passage. The first student is an independent reader. She explained that she reread the passage and decided what she could not understand and looked for answers. The third student did not realize that other readers did all that, and did not do that because the teacher said just to read the passage.

I really liked this chapter because of the strategy they mention. Say Something is a strategy that stops student's while they are reading a text, giving the students a chance to decipher what they have just read and as questions about it. I really think this strategy is a good one, because the students then get to talk to each other about the reading. It creates critical thinking and builds group work skills between students so they do not feel so alone in reading. This chapter mentioned other strategies like rereading, think-aloud, double-entry journals, and many others, but I really found Say something as my favorite. It is important for us as teachers to know all these strategies and find what works in our classrooms.