It is disapointing to know that many students are not getting this type of support in these key grades because I know that I am able to credit my love of new discoveries and just the pure ability to engage myself in those types of readings to the practice that I received long ago. For some people reading expository text is a "complete and total borefest." However,I love to read articles and such, especially the articles pertaining to animals. I credit this to my second grade teacher. Throughout the year that I was in her class every week a student would get to pick an information book about any animal from the library and the class would read it. We never took tests on these books and now I see that it was just to help us practice with this type of literature.
In the article what really stuck out to me was the section about how these types of texts motivate students to learn and that is so true. Last semester, Dr. Boyce showed us some great resources to use in the form of expository texts that I beleive would mesh very well into younger grades. For example, when teaching the class about amphibeans you could have informational text sets for the students to read that would be interesting such as 3d books. When the students are able to enjoy these types of readings not only are they preparing themselves for the future when being able read this type of text wil be more vital but the are motivating themselves to learn more.
I feel that I have gained a wealth of knowledge just by reading this article. I know that it is vital for these students to have the exposure to expository texts and it is exciting to think of the possiblilities when incorporating this type of learning in the classroom.
I found this picture and I know that it may not have much relevance to the expository texts but it looked like a fun animal encounter and I talked about animals in my blog.. RANDOM...but funny!
First of all, that picture is funny haha it caught me off guard when I got to the end of your blog! But after reading your post, I see that you also had an early exposure to expository texts in school. When I was in school, we always had copies of National Geographic, Zoobooks, and some other outdoor children's magazine that I cannot remember the name of at the moment. My teacher made sure to have expository texts that went along with what we were studying and I feel like it made a difference for me and my classmates. I also agree with you on the fact that when students are exposed to expository text and enjoy reading them, they are setting a foundation for themselves and are becoming motivated to read more. I believe this is so important and can make all the difference in the transition from learning to read and reading to learn.
ReplyDeleteJordan,
ReplyDeleteI completely laughed at the last picture! You are too goofy. Concerning your post, I wholeheartedly agree with your opinion on how you are sad that children do not get exposed to early books. To be honest, I was one of those poor, unfortunate students who did not have the exposure to a variety of books. Instead, it seemed as though we focused heavily on story books. It really is important to have children exposed to all types of books, especially expository books that fits the child's needs and likes. This will motivate students to want to read more about the topic at hand.
JZ,
ReplyDeleteI really was able to take a better understanding of this article away from reading your perspective on it. I do believe that informational texts are so important and are just a valuable or maybe more valuable than narrative text. I like how you applied this article to your past and were able to remember the books that your first and second grade teacher used. I was not that fortunate. We had Highlights which was a big deal back in the day, but they are being better developed these days.