Blog Post #9: Tovani's I Read It, But I Don't Get It

I love this book, quite honestly. I appreciate that straight from the beginning, Tovani clarifies that this is not a book that will give readers direct instruction on how to teach reading, but will instead give readers tools to help build up their students. It reminds me of Gallagher's "Teaching Adolescent Writers" at some point because of the modelling strategies Tovani uses through the book. For example, she makes it clear that students need to know how good readers read before they can become good readers. I especially liked the Signs of Confusion; I think I would make an anchor chart with students of those signs and hang it in the room. As I read this book, I realized that a lot of the suggestions are already being used in my placement classroom. As soon as school starts, students begin learning how to annotate and communicate with their text (she suggests using symbols for annotating, and my students do this). Throughout the year, I have also given students a variety of different note taking strategies that help aid them in understanding. I have several students in 7th grade classrooms that have between a kindergarten and a 3rd grade reading comprehension level. I think many of these tools could definitely help students, especially the chart of identifying confusion. I also like all of the fix-up strategies that are provided through the text that are short and quick ways for students to check themselves for understanding.
I also think that the list of "what to do when you get stuck reading" can tie in with critical pedagogy. In order to make students have connections with the text, it's important to compared it to something that they do understand. Whether on their own or through teacher guidance, I think that is one of the main tools that will help students learn. I also think that by incorporating reading in the classroom to "real life," students will become more invested in what they are reading, and more eager to understand. Some of the metaphors and analogies she uses are perfect for getting students to think like this. I especially like the car metaphor, where she says that just like a driver is trying to get to their destination, a reader should be trying to come to understanding. Of that list of what to do when you're stuck, I might make a graphic organizer of it for students to log their thoughts into during different texts.