CH. 8 & 9 in WK

BOOK
Likert Scales/ Semantic Differential Scales (Ch. 8 pg. 140, 141)

SWBS "offers students a framework as they create their summaries...decide who somebody is, what that somebody wanted, but what happened to keep something from happening and so finally, how everything works out." (Ch. 8 pg145)

"Text reformulation/ Story Recycling is a strategy in which students transform a text into another type of text..." (Ch. 8 pg 160)

Subtitle: Learning New Words (Ch. 9 pg 176)

Vocabulary Tree "has to do with how you teach root words." (Ch. 9 pg 188)

RESPONSE
This chapter began with two different types of scales, Likert scales and Semantic Differential Scales. When I saw the examples of each of these I really liked them. I think these would be great to use in the special education classroom. I think it would give them a starting point for making generalizations about characters and conflicts.

Throughout this whole chapter I think the SWBS strategy is my favorite. I think this is such a great strategy to use in the classroom. When I first read the acronym I was confused, however when I saw the examples, it made so much sense. I am currently observing in a classroom with seven autistic children. There is a fifth grade student and I think this strategy could really help her. I am going to try it out and see what happens.

When I read the introduction to text reformulation I immediately made a connection. As I read on to read exactly what it meant, I thought back to history class. The hardest subject for me to understand and remember is history. It is so boring to me with all the dates and different names to remember. In class when the teacher would be teaching, everything was going in one ear and out the other. I remember always leaving the class feeling frustrated and annoyed. When I would talk to my boyfriend, which is now my husband, he would put it into narrative form. He would tell it like a story and I found it so interesting. When the information was presented to me in this way I understood it. Unfortunately none of my history teachers ever taught this way.

Chapter 9 begins with a bold heading that says "Learning New Words". When I read the heading it reminded me of the literature festival I attended. During the morning session I learned about teaching students vocabulary. The speaker of this class was focusing on "Getting the Kids Actively Engaged". What she did was divide everyone into groups and each group had a vocabulary word. Some of the words were: ubiquitous, vapid, supine, fedora...At the end of the class we were going to take a vocabulary quiz and when I saw the words I thought to myself "How am I going to remember the meanings?" Each group had their word and were only allowed to use an action/gesture for their word. There was no talking when defining the word. When each group came up with an action/gesture, we went around the room and the group presenting their word said their word, everyone else repeated, they did the gesture and we followed, and then we all said the word again. Each group did this and by the end of the class, we all made 100's!

The vocabulary tree on page 189 was appealing. I have never seen anything like it. This was also another strategy I think would be beneficial in the classroom. As I have been reading about all the strategies I am beginning to feel deprived as a student. I never had anything like the things I am reading about to help me as a young learner. I wonder if I had had this, would I be a better reader, a better student???