I have been trying to think back to when I was learning to read and what helped me become a proficient reader. After reading this chapter, it was clear that new challenges were one answer. I will never forget my attempt at reading Uncle Tom’s Cabin. It was the hardest book I had read at the time. I might have been in 4th or 5th grade; it’s hard to remember. The book itself was full of big words, challenging dialogue, and sometimes detailed imagery, all things that I struggled with. It took me months to finish the book. But it taught me dictionary skills, new words, and inference skills. The reason this book was so effective at developing my literacy abilities was because it was so challenging and beyond my reading level. Hinchman writes, “Quantitative measurement tools can be used no only to select texts based on a reader’s present level of ability but also to select texts that increase in complexity” (p 103). We must always be challenging ourselves if we want to improve.
If schools do not have high expectations, students often hit a “skill plateau” (p 108). I remember feeling as if I had hit this plateau in high school. I would consider myself an avid reader in high school. But, rarely, were we ever required to read outside the classroom. We usually read in groups or silently. I look back on that and I am disappointed that my high school education did little to prepare for the vigorous reading load of college. Hinchman quotes a CCSS document, “Most of the required reading in college and workforce training program is information in structure and challenging in content” (p 100). I couldn’t agree more! And was I ever exposed to the amount of reading or the level of reading that college? Absolutely not!
So , where does mathematics fit into this? Well, I was looking at the “Qualitative Measures o Text Complexity” and thought to my self, “How does this help me as a math teacher?” After all, most of the criteria on the chart was quite biased towards english majors. That being said, I attempted to come up with my own criteria for the four categories as they pertain to a math textbook etc..
Levels of Meaning:
• Lower Complexity
o Single level of mean; nothing hidden
o One process, concept, equation is taught
• Higher Complexity
o Multiple levels of meaning
o Interpretation required
o Teaching the different parts of a process
Structure:
• Lower Complexity
o Step-by-step is easy to follow
o All explanations can be easily seen by anyone looking at the textbook
• High Complexity
o Switches between words and numbers
o Multiple sections that combine to one answer
o Ex: Proof
Language Conventionality/Clarity
• Lower Complexity
o “Layman’s terms”
o All words and vocabulary can be understood by most everyone
• High Complexity
o Vocabulary is unconventional and must be introduced
o Word meanings and usage are unique to mathematics
Knowledge Demands
• Lower Complexity
o Can be read and learned with out previous knowledge
• High Complexity
o The information is built off of previously learn information
As I read the conclusion of this chapter, I asked my self this question: What are my Reading Goals in a Math classroom? After this first week of reading and blogging, I think I am ready to answer that question. Maybe not fully, but at least in part.
1. Challenging
a. I want my students to be challenged by what they read and learn. This is the only way to improve capabilities and confidence.
2. Independence
a. My students should be able to read a textbook or math related book independently.
3. Inference
a. If in doubt, I want my students to be able to make inferences from the text about what they should be learning, what the answer will be, and why the answer is important.
4. Analyze and Synthesize
a. Finally, my students will be able to analyze a situation, text, or problem logically and rationally as well as synthesize any and all information learned and come up with new ways to use information.
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