After surveying the students in my class, about 90% of them don't like to read or don't find reading important. However, when I probed a little deeper, some students do enjoy reading magazines, sports pages or comics. I agree that offering independent reading where they can choose what they like to read is a good way to encourage more reading and begin to introduce reading strategies, however, I would like to know if it would be appropriate to do this with their independent reading choice. On some days, I have given students time for independent reading (where they can read what they want either from home or from a selection of books in the class), however not done a specific lesson plan with it. Is this an opportunity to teach or should I keep it as a time to allow students to just read?
"Alternatives to "Look it up in the dictionary!"
Haha. I was always taught to look up words in the dictionary and I thought that was a strategy for vocabulary development. However, I ended up experiencing exactly what was in the text. Students wanted to write down the shortest definition or didn't know which one was appropriate to the reading or assignment. Then students looked up words that defined it such as the act of that word. So that wasn't helpful at all. I get a little nervous teaching vocabulary because I am unsure myself what roots, suffixes, affixes, prefixes mean. I know it could be a way to learn together, but at that point, who is supposed to teach us the correct answer? Also, how do you brainstorm meanings of words when my students are already limited in their English?
What specific words in the next unit do you foresee students having difficulty with? How did you go about choosing these words?
For now, I'm not sure what words I will be selecting for vocabulary development with my students. Prior to this, we were doing a mini projects with revolutionary
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Um, both. In other words, yes, this is a chance for students to practice their reading strategies, but would I use this as a time to have students keep track of text-to-self connections? Probably not. If we're trying to promote enjoyment of reading, what's the balance between making sure they practice certain skills and giving them a chance to just read without being assessed/task-mastered? However, having said that, it IS a balance, because some students need a certain amount of structure to help them access books or reading they will actually enjoy.
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