"Why Am I Reading This?"

I am not a speed reader. I am a speed understander. 
                                      - Isaac Asimov


As teachers we seem to forget that we excel in the content that we are teaching and tend to speed teach and leave students behind without ever knowing it! Part of this chapter brought up a really good point that gives students the ability to tell the teacher what is working for them and what is not. With this we can change things around only to improve our teaching. I believe it is VERY important to have students input in our classes because they are the ones that we are teaching.The book gives examples for all different types of contents, such as Spanish, Science, and Math. This work sheet that we give to students can be used in classes but it does look like a worksheet for a teacher to fill out.

                  Instructional Purpose 

1. Instructional purpose: What is essential for students to know? 
2. What two places may cause students difficulty?
3. What will you model that will help students negotiate the different parts?
4. What do they need to do with the information they are reading? 
5. How will they hold their thinking while they read?   

What is your instructional purpose? 





As teachers we have to sit and ponder on what is our purpose and that is the instructional purpose of the content that we are teaching? The Book Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? gives teachers some questions for teachers to help answer there question.

• Dediide what students should know after reading the pece. Focus on essential information only. 
• Anticipate what might cause students difficulty 
• Model how you would negotiate difficulty. Try thinking out loud at one of the places where you anticipate students will experience difficulty. Give them a tip on how to negotiate the next part 
• What do you want them to be able to do with the information once they have finished the reading? How will they hold their thinking so they can return to it later to use in a discussion, a paper, or a project? 
• Model how they should hold their thinking and provide tools. Should they mark text, use sticky notes, complete a double entry diary? 

Determining possible purposes 
There are some examples that the text gives in order to provide the "tools" for teachers and students on how to hold their thinking. 

• Look for interesting details that could have multiple meanings 
• Ask questions about the title and subtitle 
• Ask questions about the piece 
• Look for the authors opinion. Compare his or her opinion with your own. 
• Read a piece to learn new information from. Is there anything in the reading that helps you understand the topic better better? 
• Make a connection to the piece 
• Who is the author?