Beuhl Chapter 1 and 2

Every secondary teacher wants to see his/her students succeed in the classroom. As Chapter One of Beuhl points out, it is difficult for many students to succeed in the classroom if they are not given the foundational support needed to read at a disciplinary level. I remember history teachers at my high school being upset with middle school teachers for not teaching students how to read/write historically, and needing to move back to the basics of reading historical texts before jumping into much of the course work. Meanwhile, the middle grade teachers were upset with the elementary teachers for sending students to middle school without being able to write in complete sentences and having very low vocabulary. The entire district was trying to play "catch-up," and the students were not able to move as quickly and as far along as the teachers had hoped. Scaffolding, as Beuhl points out is extremely important to helping students read at a disciplinary level. A student first must understand the basics of reading before diving into more complex reading activities. Beuhl begins the chapter by discussing the idea of a literacy identity. I can honestly say I have never heard of this term, but found it intriguing. Of course it makes sense that each student has different reading preferences, just as students have preferences of subjects and classes. However, I have never taken into account that those preferences may be related to learning abilities. A student who dislikes reading non-fiction might find it difficult and therefore chooses not to read this kind of work. I personally do not like reading manuals, instructions, or graphs. Therefore, I remember having a very difficult time in my science classes in both high school and college. My patience usually grew thin and I would give up, start procrastinating, and save any science reading until the very last day. If we can remember back to our struggles in high school, we can also understand how our students might be struggling in the classes we are teaching. As secondary teachers, we should recognize different reading strengths and weaknesses our students have and help them build up from where they are at and help them set and achieve literacy goals.
Chapter Two builds on the commentary of Chapter One. I smacked my forehead when I read about how students who constantly skim their reading in order to gain quick answers as I realized that was exactly what I was doing in that present moment. I stopped to think and then went back to actually read the article with a close eye. Many high school students have become very skilled at answering questions quickly and efficiently, and go through an article in order to finish an assignment, yet they completely miss the big picture of the article itself. I believe teachers should steer away from worksheets to follow an article. Activities such as this (writing a blog), having class discussions, and writing summaries would force students to read through the articles/reading materials with greater attention to the whole. My favorite part of this chapter was the section about what we can read. The author noted that reading is much more than comprehending words written on a page. Reading includes comprehending the people and places around us. It is about gaining understanding. Going back to the concepts mentioned in Chapter One, I wonder if it is easier to help students gain understanding in disciplinary reading if we can first read things that come more naturally to us. For example, would reading a breakup letter make more sense to students than the Declaration of Independence? Could hashtags help students remember important concepts and ideas? If we first started with the natural, easier readings, and then moved onto the more difficult readings, could students be more motivated to read and have a better understanding of the content? I appreciate how on page 49 of the textbook, the author has an example of a history book that includes pictures, headings and diagrams. These tools, which are more simple to understand, help guide students on their path to understanding the content. The picture especially is a visual representation of the written words in order to help create more meaning and make the information become easily memorable. While the reading is more challenging, the pictures and diagrams help aid the students to comprehend that which is more difficult. This is a perfect example of starting with the more easily "readable" forms of communication and moving onto the more difficult.