In+the+Middle

//**In the MIddle** by// Nancie Atwell
Chapter 2 - **How to Teach Reading** Dawn Weinman

This chapter begins by listing the approaches taken in a traditional English classroom. •Select text and assign them-one chapter at a time •Give tests to check the reading has been completed •Orchestrate discussions •Lecture on literary topics and require memorization of various literary information

The list, Twenty-one Lessons Teachers Demonstrate About Reading (p28) is painful. . .but so true. (too long to list here)

Staggering statistics: •60 million Americans are functionally illiterate •US ranks as low as 49th in literacy levels among 158 UN countries •Up through WWII newspapers were written at about the 6th grade level – now wire service articles come out at the 11th grade level //No mention of digital but imagine how that will change the numbers.//

Alan Purves suggests that rather than “Great Works of Literature at the center of the curriculum, demanding discipline, accuracy, tradition, and mastery,” we should consider “the mind as it meets the book.” In fostering personal meaning, students will perhaps become individuals who “see reading as logical, personal, and habitual, and just plain love to read.” A new set of priorities: •pleasure •fluency •involvement •insight •appreciation •initiative

All of the components of the workshop model are key to the success of creating a “reader’s life” for students: the minilesson to send students off with a purpose, the luxury of time to read, the conferring to hear, identify, support, and nudge their progress and struggles.

The number one take away from this chapter is the power of choice. Why is that a surprise? Who doesn’t respond to choice? Building classroom libraries, full of good books from which to choose is just the beginning. Building time for “dining room table” conversations, and frequent opportunities for book shares, making sure something happens before and after the reading time, all serve to extend readers.

Should this make us think about class novels? Whether it’s //Moby Dick// or //The Whipping Boy,// does the experience deter the goal of encouraging a love of reading? How can we create environments where our students are not “passive recipients of literature we select and interpretations we deliver?”

Another question, for me, from this chapter revolves around the discussion of dialogue journals. (DW)

Chapter 3 - All

Chapter 4 - Mindy Chapter 5 - Mindy Chapter 6 - Jill Chapter 7 - Renee and Dawn Chapter 8 - Dawn Chapter 9 - Renee

Section III-to come

chapter 3: **“Making the Best of Adolescence”** Jill Lemon

__ What to consider with adolescents __


 * When working with middle school aged students, there are three major considerations:


 * 1) This reality needs to be accepted: confusion, bravado, preoccupation with friends. Cannot be simply viewed as a poor attitude, but rather signify this time of life. As teachers, we need to channel these energies and attitudes rather than ignore or stifle.
 * 2) As teachers, we need to value this period of intellectual development, in the same ways we work to meet the needs of younger students.
 * 3) More of what happens in class needs to resemble “adult reality,” or to mimic what they are seeing adults do in the work. In this way, a tradition classroom setting would not be appropriate for middle school students.


 * Atwell notes the power of poetry to function as a window into the minds and hearts of middle schoolers.


 * Atwell also acknowledges that the adult-like appearance of adolescents can fool us into thinking about them as more adult than they are.


 * Students are antsy, have wide mood swings, view themselves and others with very critical eyes as they work to make sense of their world. For these reasons, what they say should be understood within this context.


 * Students also develop and play with a newfound sense of humor.


 * “Adolescents question adult authority because they are trying to figure out adult reality.” (p. 65)

__ Middle School status quo __


 * Traditionally, teachers’ roles have been to manage kids’ behaviors, teach and refine basic skills, and prepare students for high school. However, students are looking for what matters in life, so in this way, school should not be separate from life.


 * Traditional lecture style, teacher centered instruction does not meet the needs of adolescents.


 * Students need collaboration, input, and activity.


 * By its nature, tracking is detrimental. No research supports the success of tracking. Lower performing students are relegated to more traditional teacher-centered instruction with less room for collaboration, which research shows is the least likely to be associated with academic success. Higher performing students become very competitive.

__ Workshop model __


 * Model supports adolescent learning.


 * This model allows students to have academic potential recognized. They get individualized instruction, heterogeneous groupings and have an input in direction of learning, which all emphasize to students that they do have potential.


 * Students who struggle need more collaboration, response and advice. The workshop provides that experience.

__**Minilessons**__ In this chapter, Atwell outlines how a minilesson works and gives ideas for numerous lesson topics in both reading and writing. Importantly, she describes how she varies her minilessons more than most professional literature will describe. In essence, she is more open with her lessons, acknowledging that at times, the lesson may run 20 or 25 minutes, based upon the content taught. Other times, lessons may be 5 or 10 minutes. However, what stays constant is that lesson topics are derived from what she sees that students need to know, and her planning is flexible and responsive to the students' needs. Also, she reinforces that lessons are not about her imparting her vast knowledge as a teacher to passive student learners, but views the minilesson time as more interactive. She describes that at once, she relied more heavily upon individual conferring time to do the bulk of her important teaching, but that was simply too inefficient, so she amended her minilesson style to become more interactive in order to more closely mimic the connection she has in her individual conferences. Noteworthy is that Atwell presents the idea of not simply using student writing to act as the foundation of her instruction, but that she encourages students to become minilesson teachers. As such, students are able to share what they are doing that works for them in a very powerful way to a large number of students, modeling in a way that a teacher simply cannot. It is an interesting idea to help capture the attention of her students and to build capacity and confidence.
 * Chapter 6**

What this chapter does nicely is reiterate how melded reading and writing instruction can be. She is very fluid in her instructional approach, linking the two in a way then seems to blur the line between them. As it should be blurred, I think. In this way, I imagine that how students read can be instrumental in helping shape how they write, and vice versa. As teachers, we always make this connection, I think, but the way in which Atwell does it likely leads to a more successful transference on the part of students.

Overall, this is a highly practical chapter providing countless ideas for minilesson topics.

As one would guess from the title of this chapter, the topic is Student Response Journals. The bulk of the chapter includes exchanges, written as letters, between students and Nance Atwell, as well as “conversations” between students. On my first pass through the chapter I was disappointed there was not more direction included. When I realized how authentic the “conversations” were, I recognized the value of perusing these exchanges in building my understanding of incorporating this approach in teaching reading/literature.
 * Chapter 8**
 * __Responding to Readers and Reading__**

• the time necessary to guide students to produce quality interactions • the time involved for teachers to notice the details and nuances students document • the power and potential of the exchanges • the knowledge of books necessary for quality teacher responses • how exchanges can support and “nudge” student understanding • (think about) and wonder about the range of students’ exchanges and the changes from the beginning of year to the end.
 * __These powerful exchanges made me think about:__**

• the quality of the responses • the insights seemingly gained by students over time • the incredible “navigating” of the responses
 * __I was struck by:__**

•There are seven pages of examples of “kinds of talk about books” that are included in book responses. These were broken down, by students, into the following catagories: -How the Author Wrote (plausibility, pace, point of view . . .) -The Author (comparisons, biographical information . . .) -Concepts of Genre -Reader’s Strategies (schema, choice, analyzing) -Reader’s Affect -Recommendations -Publishing -The Letter Writer’s Style
 * __Chapter Features:__**

•Readers often use the letters in their journals to: -connect the live of characters to their own feelings/experiences –reflect on themselves as readers -critique the writing they’re reading -refer to themes and connections among books by theme (displaying literary maturity) -identify and eventually select favorite genres
 * __Atwell maintains:__**

Atwell confirms, “There isn’t one set of questions for a teacher to ask students. . .” and certainly don’t read like a teacher manual. She continues by saying her letters are “personal and contextual.” Her knowledge about not only literature, but about her students, allows her to, “affirm, challenge, or extend a reader’s response.” She also warns about the balance of becoming to personal, referring to Toby Fulwiler’s description of journals being “somewhere between diaries and class notebooks.
 * __Writing Back__**

Atwell touches on the differences in the letters between students. Much in the same way their conversations differ from conversatons with a teacher, so too, does their writing. She notices that when writing to a peer, students messages seem to be crafted less carefully, focus more on affect, yet they write more and longer letters and “put the students’ social relationships to work in the classroom.”

Atwell begins the year with a minilesson, sharing a letter that spells out the purposes and procedures (p296). This letter remains in the journal throughout the year. It explicitly states the expectations for the year.
 * __Procedures for Reading Journals__**

Atwell assures us that the time involved in correspondence < time needed for book reports, worksheets, quizzes and tests, not to mention how much more enjoyable.

Now, back to Chapter 7!