Dr. Ries and New Literacies

1. During your observations, in what ways have you noted  teachers using new literacies?    Have you found these approaches to be effective or ineffective?  What factors do you believe need to be put into place in order for these new literacies to become effective?    

2. What are your experiences with new literacies (as referenced by Vacca & Vacca).     Are your experiences positive or negative? How might these negative experiences been altered so as to provide a positive learning experience?      

Dr. Ries and reading-writing connection

There are two quotes in Chapter 9 that I would like you to think about and to which I would like you to respond.  Be prepared to discuss these quotes in today's class.     Those quotes are:


1.    "Sometimes reading and writing are taught in classrooms as if they bear little relationship to each other.   The result has often been to sever the powerful bonds for meaning-making that exist between reading and writing."  


2. "Writing activates learning by helping students to explore, clarify, and think deeply about the ideas and concepts they encounter in reading."    


Can you think of writing assignment that, from you own experience, enhanced meaning-making?     Be prepared to list those assignments and discuss them in class.    

Dr. Ries poses a question on assessment

1.   What is your understanding of high-stakes v. authentic assessment?    

2. List a few ways in which you have been assessed by your high school teachers.     What was your reaction (both positive and negative) to this form of assessment? 

3.   Have you ever been asked by a teacher to assess yourselves?   How did you feel about that approach to assessment?    


(You may choose one of these questions to answer).

Dr. Ries has a question about trade books

Share with us some memories that you may have of trade books that teachers read aloud to you and your fellow students.  What did you learn about a particular person, event or subject through the trade book read aloud?    

Dr. Ries poses a question with regard to study habits

Take a few minutes to recall effective study strategies that teachers have taught you along the way.    Share those with us.   

Also, where do you find it most comfortable to study and when do you find it best to study?     

Dr. Ries poses a questions for Chapter 8

Let us assume that you are a middle school teacher in your specific content area and you have students who are struggling with the reading of new words.     Skim through Chapter 8 in our classroom text and locate two (2) specific strategies for "working with words"  that you think might help your students.     Why have you chosen to use these particular strategies?  

Dr. Ries poses a question about difficult texts

Think back to your days in junior high school and high school.   What experiences did you have with texts that you found too difficult to read? In which of your classes did you find the texts most difficult to read?   How did you approach the task of reading these texts? Did your instructor use any strategies that helped you to better understand the textbook?     Share those experiences with us.    

Dr. Ries poses a question about your reading interests

Think about a topic or topics of interest to you.   What motivates you to read about this topic?  What motivates you to pick up a book or a newspaper or a magazine and read about this topic?   Share that information with us and then comment on the following quote:


              "Schools do not pay enough attention to students' curiosity and imagination.    As a result, students disengage from active participation in the academic life of the classroom..there is little satisfaction to be gained from it."   Agree?   Disagree?    Why? 

    

Dr. Ries asks a question about collaborative learning

Recall collaborative learning activities in which  you have participated while you were in middle and high school.    What aspect of these activities do you recall positively?    What aspect were not useful at all?    How might these experiences influence your own approach to engaging the students that you teach in collaborative interactions and/or projects?    

Dr. Ries has a question about effective teachers

Take some time to recall a middle or high school teacher who, you believe, was effective in teaching his/her content subject. What strategies did that teacher use that engaged the students in the class?  List at least two strategies used by that teacher that you remember as being highly effective in helping you learn the content being taught.