Keeping Students Involved

Richardson, J.S., Morgan, R. F., & Fleener, C. E.. (2012) Reading to Learn in the Content Areas. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

                Assigned this week were the second and third chapters of our textbook (cited above). Chapter two focuses on teaching in the affective domain. This means that teachers should be paying attention to what interests their students and how the readings make their student feel. Finding works that are directly applicable to the students make the material easier to remember. I am the same way, if I find something that I am interested in reading, I am more likely to follow along with the story line and even do my own research about whatever it is I am reading. How many books do you remember that you were forced to read in high school? How many books do you remember that were read casually, for fun? If you ask me, it is much easier to recall the lines from Harry Potter or the Hunger Games than Romeo and Juliet.

Another good strategy for teachers to follow is to keep a positive classroom environment. Students are more likely to succeed in the task at hand if they do not feel as though they are being pressured into doing it. Positive classroom environments also promote an internal locus of control where the students feel more like they are in control of what they are doing versus an external locus of control where outside factors come more into play. Using the GATOR (gaining acceptance toward reading) system can also create an internal locus of control by involving the students by asking them how a certain part of the reading makes them for or why they think it is important.

Chapter three looks at preparing to learn and puts a main focus on prior knowledge in reading. While many students may not think they remember about the role a tree plays in an ecosystem, a quick preparation activity might jog their memory. Getting the student into the right mindset to learn a specific topic is almost always necessary to get their full attention and participation. Using activities such as KWL, Think-pair-share, or even a set of analogies, students can redirect their attention to the new material with which they are about to learn by activating previous knowledge within their minds.

What are some ways that you know to keep your students involved in class?