As and avid reader and writer I seek out more information if I do not fully comprehend what I’m reading. I often wish my students would do that as well. I like that these researchers aren’t saying that these methods will create expert readers, but rather each kid will improve. How much they improve to me is irrelevant because there’s growth. I think creating a visual such as the map on the Active and Critical Reading page will allow students to see how they interpret reading and they will grow from that understanding. Often times when readers understand how they read and what’s necessary for the ultimate comprehension, it is easier to target those specific goals. I was particularly interested in the self-awareness part of the map because I never thought to make them aware of their own personal style of reading by specifically asking them to look or at least explore how they read.

The annotation techniques mentioned made me actually feel like I was doing something right by my ESOL classes. As we discussed in class, annotating texts does truly enhance the reader’s comprehension or lack thereof. Annotating a section you don’t understand and attempting to problem solve why it’s confusing is very useful. I always copy entire chapters, poems and plays to allow my students to highlight, question and really read the texts. Though we are not supposed to write in books, I often tell my students to lightly pencil or keep a piece of paper tucked in the text with page numbers and questions if I am not able to make photocopies. I wish I used this method my first couple of years teaching because they actually use annotations to ask questions in class. I now avoid those terrible, generic textbook comprehension questions and turn their questions into meaningful discussions. With my ESOL population or even any population one question is probably the same question for at least another kid in class.

Another example I enjoyed was Arthur Lau’s students that wrote autobiographies to help them better their understanding of reading autobiographies really impressed me. I do think mirroring styles can help students understand important features that differentiate books, poems and stories. Of course I’m not saying there’s one way for any of these, but having an understanding of one or two ways and then having the skill to expand on that knowledge is a powerful tool for any reader or writer. Reading and writing go hand in hand in this respect. Much like Lau, Patricia O’Connor makes her students create web pages that explore the author’s depictions of Appalachian culture and history so that they better understand why the author wrote so accurately about the location. Making these personal connections by having students create their own writing or research author’s methods will allow students to have a better understanding. Literature is multi-faceted as is learning so it makes sense to find a variety of ways for students to connect with the texts they read and understand it as well.

I really enjoyed Sherry Linkon’s Inquiry Project because my colleagues and I often discuss students who just want to know what to do, how to do it, where to look, how many sources and the end result is stale. She said that her students “wanted to know exactly what steps to take in order to find the right answer of the right amount of material,” and that reminded me of our constant struggle to get meaningful research from students. Because research is one of our SOL strands, we often do it because we have to. However, to use research as a matter of literary exploration is a very interesting and exciting concept for me. Linkon said that without requiring it, students were exploring other pieces of literature and research that enhanced the original text they chose.  They not only explored what they didn’t understand, they used that information to enhance their comprehension. I would use this on a smaller scale in my classes. I’m not sure how, but there are great ideas and points she outlined that I know I could use to meet the needs of my students.