I Read It, But I Don't Get It

Reading Chris Tovani’s book one of the most poignant sections for me was “Purpose is everything”. I myself have never thought about what the purpose for reading was outside of the very basic thought that is was because it was part of being educated and of course as a lit major for pure enjoyment. With Tovani expressing that many kids in school believe that the purpose for reading in school is “because the teacher made them” speaks volumes. It especially is noteworthy that when speaking about a student she calls “Michelle” when teachers assign reading be it for homework or a test the reasoning is too vague. Telling students to read a few chapters for a test but then not giving them specific things to identify in those chapters can easily become frustrating and overwhelming for the student who attempts to remember the chapters as a whole or to the student who quickly gives up because they feel that it is just too much work to attempt to remember all that information so why do it. The students who attempt tend to glaze over and end up retaining little to no information from the text at all. Giving the students purpose for reading, helping them identify what it is they are looking for, will ease the overwhelming and frustrating feeling that they get when they feel the teacher is just making them read to read and that the teacher has some unrealistic expectations for retaining information in the process.

Tovani mentions a lot of strategies throughout the book to help struggle readers. One of the most powerful ones in my opinion she talks about in the book is the “connecting the new to the known”. This is basically connecting the new reading material that may not be fully comprehended to something the reader knows. I always love being able to take novels and poems that I am reading and feeling a connection to my own personal self it seems reassuring and important that there are others out there like me who have had similar experiences. Another part of it talked about in the book that I never thought about was connecting to things the student knows but doesn’t necessarily have personal connections to like current events, or things throughout history. Another great may in making these connections is to use the themes as a jump off point for the readers to go off. The book as a whole was extremely insightful and well thought out is definitely a book I will keep on my shelves in the classroom for future assistance in helping the struggling reader.