I found this chapter informational, yet drew upon several questions as I was reading. I agree when Jago states that “many skills need to be revisited and reinforced over time” (p. 2). I think it is important for students to relearn material, yet new instruction needs to be added on. Jago says that by revisiting skills it does not help students to develop in terms on Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development. If students are relearning something it is not helping them grow academically; instead they are stationed. It was amazing the literature lesson comparison of the fifth grade and tenth grade classes. Ultimately, I feel the tenth grade teacher was being lazy and not wanting to challenge his/her students. As Jago states, by tenth grade students should already know how to identify who, what, where, when, why questions and theme. The challenge is for students to think beyond the simple questions and dig to draw inferences, analysis, and instructions that are geared towards their grade-level.
I found the two types of books very interesting. Mirror books are books that are what I would consider “safe” books. They are books one is interested in and doesn’t necessarily pose a challenge. While all reading is good, mirror books are not meant to be “taught,” because, face it, students will lose interest in the book the second you begin talking about character analysis, foreshadowing, symbolism, etc. These books are for pure enjoyment. However, window books are more of the classic texts. To be cheesy, they open a “window” to new learning of the world, cultures, other times, and a deeper meaning. Many times these book pose a problem to students because they do not go in with an open-mind to the text. If students had the same open-mind they did about mirror books, then they might have an easier time understanding the window books. But how do you tell that to a high school student. I feel like as a teacher it is my job to help students find meaning in a book they might otherwise not. I like how Jago said she presented her students with tough texts. She was honest with them and straight forward. She told them they may hate it at first, but she would help them through it.
One thing that I feel like I have witnessed, read, and heard a lot about is regular classes versus honors classes. The right for someone to deny students the ability to read a text because it might be too “hard.” To me it seems like you do not have faith in the them or your ability to teach them. From what I gathered in order for students to grow academically, they need to be challenged. If you have poor readers who say read at an eighth grade level, why would you keep giving them eighth grade level texts when they should be reading at a tenth grade level? Ultimately denying these students does not help them in the long run. That is one of the issues with mirror books. Students are not challenged enough, whereas a classroom texts should challenge students. This will make them stronger readers and improve them intellectually.
I understand where Jago is coming from when she states that YA literature is not rich in dialogue. YA literature is based on young adults and a majority of the time the dialogue reflects that. I am a huge fan of YA books, that is a majority of what I read, but I noticed when I first started college I did have a hard time reading “classic” texts. I was not used to that type of reading; however, after four years I do not have as hard a time. I think it is finding the balance between YA literature and classic lit. With the assignment we have comparing classics and modern text, would you suggest reading the classic and referencing the modern text. Or reading both and doing an analysis?
I think it would be a good idea to show short clips of a text to help students better understand a scene. If students are having trouble relating to the time period then the teacher can show a short clip that emphasizes the scene, yet doesn’t give too much away. It is about incorporating all types of media into the classroom to help students better understand.
My final point that I want to address is, there has to be a way to modernize classic literature to make it more enjoyable to students while not taking away from its timeless.
