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Ch. 11

This chapter spent some time talking about subjective and objective Test, the effect of homework, and then spent a lot of time going over tons of studying strategies. It was fitting for me to read this chapter after having discussed developing new study strategies with my girlfriend. She has mentioned how she needs to learn the art of studying better to help improve her grades because it is something she never had to take serious until college. After this chapter, I have tons of strategies to discuss with her.

From SQ3R to several graphic organizers, I learned that there is some kind of strategy out there that can be adapted no matter the situation. It is funny to me that so many strategies have to have some little name or catch phrase to go along with it. Sometimes I felt like I was reading the next big diet gimmick they wanted me to try out with their fun name like INSERT (Interactive Notating System for Effective Reading and Thinking). At least in this situation they have good intentions. The more strategies the better since there are so many different situations to apply them and so many different people to utilize them.

I have learned how to use chapter mapping and other variations before along with some of the other note taking strategies. The structured note taking was VERY structured. I honesty feel I would get bogged down in the process of the strategy trying to implement something like this, which would be counterproductive.

I have used matrixes several times in my life and they can come in handy. This can really help you understand the relationship behind topics and can turn a lot of random information into some nice organization. Ending with Internet search strategies was a bit random. It did not fit the rest, but I guess it is necessary by todays standard. It is also odd to me that this idea has to be developed since I grew up as the Internet grew. This is a skill that has to be taught to the students of today.

Ch. 12

This last chapter explains the need for literacy and reading in all content areas. Although the chapter goes on to share in all the different ways each and every type of literature and such can be incorporated in the classroom, I feel like the first section of the chapter did the best in summarizing the book while validating itself. The list of 7 benefits of using literature in content areas did a good job of convincing the reader of their point to the book while backing it with several sources. This also sums up what I feel like our teacher hopes for us to get out of this class. Literacy is extremely important across the board and is at the core of education. This book has explained how that is true, why it matters in every content area, and how to incorporate it into each content area.

As the book concludes on all of these notes, I feel like the rest of the chapter just becomes a rehashing of earlier parts of the book. I feel like I am not covering any new ground at this point. I do feel this last chapter was better fit as a summarizing chapter to the ideas presented within the book. They did give some specific information relating to certain topics, but I still feel the overall ideas had been covered.

They did cover some new ground at the very end when dealing with multicultural literature. I do understand that this has become ever more important to incorporate in education today, and I do understand it is a topic you may have to be careful when approaching. I do think that the author sourced a good reference on this topic. I like the guidelines given at the very end on choosing the correct book.

I would leave this book and this class agreeing with the last chapter summary. I believe that books are wonderful things. I agree that they can be much more beneficial than just textbooks. Also, have the opportunity to read good books will definitely help students prepare to be lifelong readers.