Week 2- Reading Strategies

Tonight, I learned about new techniques that I can use as reading strategies in my classroom.  The RAFT method was new for me and it took me a bit to understand how it worked.  I like that it gives students options that they can choose from for writing assignments.  I think when students are given a choice, they perform with high success rates because they were allowed the freedom to make it their own.  With the RAFT method, students may try out several different options before finding the one that best suits them and that's great too!  I think that I could use this method when discussing point of view or character analysis, too.

The method that I can see using the most in my classroom would be the Anticipatory Guide.  I have used this method before when introducing a novel.  I was able to ask questions and lead class discussions on topics that would be later discovered throughout the book.  The book I chose was The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.  It carries a lot of heaviness and very raw/real emotion that I wanted my students to be prepared for.  Throughout the book, there were mentions of organizations and groups that required some background knowledge to fully understand its importance to the book.  So, I used an anticipation guide paired with non-fiction texts to try to break preconceived notions while educating students on these organizations/groups so that they would have the necessary knowledge when they came across the information in the novel.  I thought it worked very well!  It created dialogue and thoughtful discussion among learning partners and the group as a whole.