Reading+different+genres

=Reading Different Genres=

**From:** pedagogy-request@list.nsta.org [mailto:pedagogy-request@list.nsta.org] **On Behalf Of** Jose Bonner A very important fact to acknowledge -- and probably tell students about -- is that "reading" doesn't mean the same thing in all fields. For example:
 * Sent:** Saturday, January 17, 2009 1:33 PM
 * To:** pedagogy
 * Subject:** Re: reading of textbooks
 * poetry: hear the words and feel the emotions they create; the words themselves may be entirely inappropriate (as in "heavy, doleful clamor" or "starving, naked wind")
 * history, type 1: ignore the details; just try to get the big picture
 * history, type 2: use the details to build a picture of what life was like at that time
 * biology, type 1: use the precise meaning of every word to construct accurate relationships; by the way, ignore any possible emotional associations that some words may have
 * biology, type 2: use the details to construct the big picture; then remember the big picture (you can always look up the details again if you want to)
 * biology, type 3: use the details to infer the underlying principle, then apply that principle to different sets of details to understand their relative relationships
 * biology, type 4: ignore some of the details because they are just the "packaging" through which the important stuff has been presented

The different flavors of biology come from readings in my own course. Over the years, I've realized that I (used to) expect students to figure out on their own which reading style applies to which assignments. The different flavors of history come from David Pace, a history professor here at IU -- and the one from whom I learned that these differences exist. According to David, historians automatically know which texts to read by "type 1 reading" and which to read by "type 2 reading." (the "types" are my designation here, just so I can refer to them) To give his students a bit of guidance in how to figure these things out, David has put some of his readings on his course website. You start reading...and after a bit, come to a little picture of David's head. You click on it, and hear David's voice saying something like "dum de dum...what a long introduction. I wish he'd get on with it." You read some more, come to another little David-head icon, and click on it. "OK, good. He's giving us some background, so we'll know the setting. This is pretty much common knowledge; nothing new here." You read a bit further, click on the next icon: "Ah. Now here's a new idea. He's telling us that the next couple of paragraphs are going to outline his current 'working model' of ..." And so on. He's trying to give his students some guidance on how to distinguish the "packaging" from the important information, or how to pick out the important details. In any event, if students have been taught to read in English classes, and they've been reading novels, literature, and poetry, chances are they have no clue what "reading" in science is like. It might be interesting to try to figure it out ourselves, so we can give them some hints.

I believe the reading in different genres is a key component that many of us don't get in school, or at least for me it wasn't explicitly taught. I sort of picked it up through experience. What can we do in elementary school to facilitate this? CDE Standard 1 is Students read and understand a variety of materials." What do we do to help students distinguish between the various genres and what is required? When should we start?

What other books/readings/communications have different approaches we should teach? =Reading Text Books= From Kathleen Gorski 1/17/2009 pedagogy-request@list.nsta.org (MS teacher) I try to never assign reading just because we have a book. I try to make it relevant, and will skip around chapters and omit plenty of stuff. Then it's not just busy work. Kids recognize this and are more willing to participate. We seldom read aloud in class; and never by calling on kids - yes, I get the same few kids volunteering, but I will not embarrass a child who struggles to read in that public setting (however, I have also found that by maintaining that practice, I eventually will get the reluctant readers to volunteer) We stop often to discuss what's important, etc. And I teach them how to actively read. For MS, early on when discussing the metric system, I give each student a copy of the article and a highlighter and we learn how to pick out just a few words that give us the point. They've never been taught, and I have actually had kids tell me that when asked to do this in other classes, they felt that they'd missed something, been absent that day, not let in on the secret, etc. First couple of paragraphs, I tell them what to highlight and why. Next paragraphs we discuss as a class what should be highlighted and why, then we highlight. And so on, until they can pick out salient points on their own. Then I discuss with them how to transfer this skill (since they can't write in their textbooks); we talk about margin notes which present the same problem, so we experiment with sticky notes. We talk about how hard it is to learn to read with a pen in your hand (by giving credence to their objections, we are on the way to overcoming them), and I distributed 'lined' bookmarks where they can jot down key ideas and page numbers as they go through. One per chapter. Then we transfer these to notebooks, and the Cornell style. Here too, I've had kids tell me its easier this way than 'straight' Cornell notes because it's more practical for them (they might be reading at odd places and times, and it's not easy to have their notebooks accessible.... is the best strategy? of course not, but if they are reading, then I'll adapt! besides, how often do I sit with a journal in hand while I'm reading?)
 * Maps, globes, atlases
 * Tables, graphs, charts
 * Pictures
 * Picture books (even within picture books -- different types)
 * Non-fiction
 * Story books
 * Geography
 * Autobiography, biography
 * Web sites, Web pages
 * Storytelling
 * Wiki's, text messages, phone messages, conversations, emails, meetings