I Read It, But I Don't Get It

            I never realized how much of a difference graphic organizers can make to a student’s comprehension while reading. When I first began my practicum, I didn’t have students take notes of any kind while reading, they just used annotations in the text to mark items that stand out. After reading this, as well as a few Gallagher books, I have begun introducing graphic organizers as the norm to use while reading. Students are no longer just reiterating parts from whatever we are reading, but actually making connections and conclusions. After reading about how Tovani implemented graphic organizers to change the way her at-risk students viewed reading, I became completely sold on their necessity with seventh graders.

            I loved how Tovani described “fake reading.” I’ve wondered about some of my students who read very well by never seem to recall anything from what we read in class. It gets kind of frustrating at times to know they are so close to making great connections, but are just not quite getting it. I now have a term for that as well as a few great ideas to help students overcome “fake reading.” I especially like Tovani’s idea of helping students make connections from new reading to their everyday life. Connections are made to the student’s life, or movies they’ve seen, or music they’ve heard. Personalizing texts really seems to help students understand or want to understand more than just reading the words on the page. I feel like when I was in school, teachers wanted to see more text-to-text connections, but that’s hard to do for most students because they aren’t “well-read” yet. The act of making those types of connections strengthens the mind. It’s not as important what the connections are being made between.

            My favorite of Tovani’s graphic organizers are the ones in appendix B. Right now my students are beginning to go through sources to start formulating their own opinion about endangering wolves. My students will then write an essay about how they believe wolves should be handled in our state. Using the graphic organizers to help students connect the issue to their own lives has really helped students get on one side or the other of the issue. It’s been great to see the discussions my students are now having, and the tactics they are using to try and persuade the other side into agreeing with them.