➺ This chapter was full of different ideas of how to teach literary elements. Jago brings up a good point that if a student doesn't understand something he or she has read, they automatically say they hate the book. Jago "tries to teach students how to navigate difficult texts" (Jago 60). If teachers help students with a text, then fewer students will be prone to saying that they hate the book.
➺ The elements of literature section explains the different elements in a text. I liked how Jago broke up the who, what where and so what to the different elements of the text. I think students get confused at times of what to look for or what the text wants readers to get from it, and this is a great way to question students about the different elements. I agree with Jago when she says, "readers need answers to these questions in order to plot their position in a story" (Jago 61). If students can't comprehend these questions then of course they are going to hate the text and find it boring. This is where teachers come in to help guide students in the right direction.
➺ In the "Story Structures" section Jago brings up Freytag's Pyramid. I remember filling these out in high school and it being a great tool to keep the events of a story in order. Although this was a great tool, I feel it got tedious at times. Reading Jago's suggestion of how she uses Freytag's Pyramid is something I would like to try in my future classroom. I like the idea of charting the events as they are read so that students who were absent are able to see what they missed. Students are able to complete the pyramid when they finish a text so that they can see what happened from beginning to end. I think this would work well with difficult texts to help students comprehend what they read.
➺ In the "Literary Devices" section Jago suggests using literary term frequently to get students familiar with these words is better practice than giving them a quiz and having them identify the definition. I agree with Jago because students can just memorize the information for a test and forget the material if it is not continuously taught. Jago suggests that knowing these terms help students become more articulate. If teachers continuously teach these elements and have students use these words in their reading, then students will remember these literary terms for many years, not just for the one test.
Amanda,
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jago, also. I still hear people saying that they hated the novels teachers chose in high school, but I'm certain that with a little more guidance, they would have loved them.
Also, I think that Jago brilliantly demonstrates for us how to teach vocabulary in a text. It has been said to us so many times that reading improves vocabulary, but Jago shows us how to teach it so that students can use and actually apply these words. If we teach vocabulary well, the way Jago instructs, our students wil really know the words rather than temporarily memorize them.