Blog 4

This section of reading has allowed me to reflect on the literature that I read growing up. In the chapter 6 of Adolescent Literacy the author discussed how schools are starting to change which age students read certain books. I couldn’t help but notice that the books that the author was saying were being read in lower grades are the grades in which I read them in. For example I read The Giver when I was in eighth grade and The Outsiders when I was in seventh. Even when I was in high school I could see the changes. As a senior I read To Kill a Mockingbird and at the same time the senior class was reading it so was the sophomore class because that book was being moved down to a lower grade. Seeing that made me realize that the literature we read in schools is constantly changing and that the teachers need to be aware of this. If the other book, Reading Reminders, it brought up to use SSR in your classroom. When I was in middle school we used SSR, however we had absolutely no discussion with it and no way to write about what we read. The class was specifically called SSR but we did nothing other than read. Reading that section made me think back to how little I got out of the class, I do not remember reading any specific book. One other thing that book talked about was reading out loud. I think that even at the high school age level that it’s important. Students often get a better understanding when they are following along silently and also hearing it allowed. These techniques can easily be used in any type of classroom. Reading these selections had made me see how the times are changing and how important literature can be in any classroom.