Weekly Reading 9/23

The focus of Chapter 1 in the Content-Literacy reading is on adolescent literacy and its importance. The first thing that caught my eye was this statement: "Learning to read is the main focus of primary school education; reading to learn is its logical extension and must be the responsibility of middle and secondary school teachers." Many teachers are assuming today that learning to read and reading to learn are the exact same thing, but that is only true in very general terms, not when you take into account subject-matter texts (expanded assignments, required notetaking and increased dependence upon multiple textbooks with varied and complex organizational patters and graphics) as the text states.

Another thing that I found interesting was the point the text made about emphasis and reemphasis. Texts were not meant to be read in isolation, because then there would be no need for us. Anyone who could read could just pick up a text and read it, no problem right? No, the texts are meant to be facilitated by someone who is promoting interaction between the reader and the text. The text provides a few techniques to do this: tailoring the message, activating prior knowledge, focussing attention and monitoring comprehension. All of these actions can help promote interaction between the student and what they are reading, and most of all this will focusses on the reading to learn side of the coin.