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I read it, but I don't get it - Blog Post #10

After reading the book, I found it to be very interesting to read. Tovani talks about how it's important that students learn why they should read certain texts and how they can go about doing it. I like that she talked about the struggles she had as a teacher when teaching students how to be come better readers. One of the tactics she used to get students' attention is to talk to the students about her own struggles with reading. This helped the students understand that even good readers have to take a step back and look at what they have read.

I liked that she talked about the fixes one can do when they have read a text and don't really understand what they have just read. When this happens they should try to make connections between the text and themselves, any prior knowledge, and/or another text. They can make a prediction, they can try to visualize what is happening and retell what they have just read. These are just a few things students can do to help them understand the text they are reading.

One thing that was interesting to me about the book was when she talked about how other teacher at the high school level already expected their students to read full textbooks and understand what was in them. They seem to be bothered by the fact that so many students need to learn how to understand how to read the text and not just pronounce the words. This is something that I have personally seen back when I was in high school. I had a few science teachers who mainly relied on me to read the textbook and understand the concepts of basic chemistry. This of course didn't go well because I didn't know how to read and understand a science textbook. I didn't know what to look for. And this is what students who want to become better readers need to do. They need to know what to look for in the text. They need to know what is important. So reading through this text, I found it a little insightful. I also like a few of the activities that she mentioned students can do while they read. The can, for example, write down what certain parts of the text remind them of something else.

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