Literacy in the 21st Century; chapter 2

When reading Chapter 2 in “Literacy of the 21^st Century” it talks a lot about the stages and process one goes through when reading and writing. The five stages include pre-reading, reading, responding, exploring and applying.

When a student is in the pre- reading stage they are looking at the words and trying to draw connections to the text with out actually reading it. When a student is in the second stage, reading, he/she is not only reading for comprehension but starting to make connections; like we did in class last Wednesday. In the responding stage the student reacts to the reading by either talking about it in a discussion or writing a reflection about the text. The Exploration stage is the connecting stage. Here the students are drawing their own conclusions and rereading the material for a further look. The last stage, application, the students apply the new knowledge for the text. This may include writing a report, doing an art project, any culminating activity that reflects what he/she has just read.

I feel like I am in a definite advantage when reading this chapter, because of my placements. On Tuesday I am a part of a second grade classroom where I can see all of these levels. There are students who struggle with each word and there are also students who can read a chapter book with comprehension. Right now it is exciting for me to see all of these levels; however, I would feel very apprehensive if it was my own class. Since there are so many levels I know it is a constant struggle to meet the needs of all of the students, but I believe Mrs. Walker is doing a great job with the task at hand. Some literacy groups seem to work the best when trying to meet all the goals she has for her students.