Blog #2

The authors presented a neat exercise involving passage reading. Reading these three passages was… pretty overwhelming, but I became very aware of my own thinking strategies as I tried to dissect the jumble of words I read.

The Batsmen were merciless against the Bowlers.
(Batsmen and Bowlers? Are these teams of some sort?[picturing two teams])
The Bowlers placed their men in slips and covers.

(Hmm, definitely don’t know exactly what “slips” and “covers” are.)

The Batsmen hit one four after another along with an occasional six.

(This is a sport. [imagining baseball game at a baseball diamond])

Not once did their balls hit their stumps or get caught.

(It looks like the Batsmen are very good at this sport.)

Passage two comes along and boy, was I taken aback. So many names, what was going on, what were they all doing? (I even got one of my roommates to read this passage so I could see the look of confusion sweep over her face). Reading the words on the page did little to aid my understanding of the context. It takes much more than reading words to comprehend text.

           

Learning the importance of reading skills does not mean we are “turning into reading teachers.” The first two chapters of Subjects Matter emphasis the importance of reading and how it evolves into critical thinking that is beneficial in all subject matter and life. Being aware of this allows all educators to use “methods, tools, activities that are particular to our fields of learning, and engaging” to “help our students understand and remember our content better – and maybe even, dare we hope, get interested in it.”

What an interesting book! I continue to appreciate this writing style for I feel quite engaged as I read on! (293 words)