Book Blog for EDUC 438

I have just read some super information on teaching students how to read tests the week before the PARCC testing. I will be using this chapter on Monday to assist them before testing begins on Tuesday. Here are a few items that I would like to share for y'all to pass on to your students; 1. Eliminate the questions that you know are wrong 2. Do easy questions first 3. Read all the answers before choosing one 4. Read recursively- re-read what you just read to check for understanding. There is also a super chapter on teaching students how to read information that has a list of questions students (& all of us) should be asking themselves to assess the quality of the information they are reading. 1. Accuracy of fact & content determining this takes research and practice but a necessary skill, for sure. 2. Labeling & Sourcing of information so that readers can know the limitations and biases of the information. 3. Conflicts of Interest information should be free of ...

After reading the first 3 chapters of the book "Illuminating Texts" I came away with some really good "nuggets" (my Sociology professor terminology) of knowledge about how to teach students how to "read the world". The first is "nugget" I got from the reading is that as a teacher it is my job to teach my students how to read history and how to make sense of what we see and hear. This requires teaching students how to build upon their prior knowledge and skills so they can move along the continuum of complexity in literacy.  My job is to teach students how to read a range of texts in various ways for different purposes. The second "nugget" I received from the book is that students need to learn how to read the internet with a critical eye. Students need to be taught how to evaluate what they are reading by knowing what to ask themselves in regards to the veracity of a website. Who wrote it? What is the purpose? What are the biases? How...

High school students are swamped with information whether it is from teachers, parents, tv/newspapers or social media making sense of all this information is critical for their understanding of the world they live in. In this book, Jim Burke gives educators the tools to help their students learn to untangle the mess of information (or disinformation). Jim Burke gives teachers the tools to help their students not only learn what to read but how to read it so that the world they live in will make more sense.