Before you
read the Haas & Flower article choose one
of the following questions taken directly from Downs and Wardle’s book, Writing
about Writing (121):
a. Ask a couple of friends how they read: When do they pay
attention to who is the writer of what they’re reading? When do they look up
information like definitions or background on the subject? What strategies do
they use to keep track of what they’re reading, like highlighting, notes in the
margins, or a reading notebook? When they encounter material they don’t
understand, what do they do to try to understand it? Keep notes of your friends’
answers and compare them to what you do as a reader.
b. Use an audio recorder of some sort to record yourself
reading an unfamiliar and hard-to read text aloud, and talk aloud as you try to
figure out what it means. When you play back the recording, make notes about
what you heard that you didn’t expect to and what you learn about yourself as a
reader from doing this.
c. Make a quick self-assessment of your reading abilities by
answering the following questions: What are you good at, as a reader? What do
you think you’re not good at, as a reader? Is there anything you wish you had
been taught better or differently?
Then post your
answers as a comment below, and respond to at least one of the comments by one
of your classmates.
Question C:
ReplyDeleteI never have been good talking about myself in positive ways. I find it a bit odd. I do in the other hand know what I’m bad at. When ever I read which is a bit to often, I sometimes loss interest in the book because I predict what the ending will be. So I have own and read over 40 books but just finished exactly 5 books. It’s a bit of a hazel to not attempt to guess what will happen. And I do that a lot. It annoys me personally but I still do it. Another not so great quality of me is a do judge a book by its cover so if it looks boring I wont even find myself reading it at all. Further on with the negative aspect of me as a reader, I have a habit of reading a book and if the first five chapters don’t sound interesting or compelling then I wont continue reading it; it wont even bother myself to guess what the ending will be about. Now to answer the third question I truly believe my parents taught well when it came to reading. They truly enforced me to read both Spanish books and English books. Because of that I honestly adore reading. If I could I would own I library, but that’s just a bit geeky. Anyways, but to improve myself I would of wished my teachers would of assigned me readings that I would not wish to read. All my teachers all ways allowed us to pick a book we wanted to read, so I would pick a book by its cover and read the first chapters and if sounded interesting I would keep it. Of course, if my teachers would of assigned me to read a book that the cover was brown I would of not want to read it but I would of because I had no choice and perhaps at the end of the day that book would of turned out to be good. That way I would of learned to not judge a book so much. So I do have a lot to improve as a reader that I do admit. But good qualities as a reader, that is an answer I don’t know.
... what?
DeleteI can see more or less where you are coming from. I personally like choosing my own books because when I a m assigned a reading, I tend to daze off and not focus. On the other hand, if I had been assigned a book to read in class because I will be quizzed on it and have assignments due over the book of course I would focus and read the text full way through. When it comes to things like that, I feel obliged, but if its just for my fun reading, I might not finish the book because I really don't HAVE to.
Deletec. Make a quick self-assessment of your reading abilities by answering the following questions: What are you good at, as a reader? What do you think you’re not good at, as a reader? Is there anything you wish you had been taught better or differently?
ReplyDeleteAs much as I want to assess my strengths and weaknesses comparatively to others who have posted on this blog, I will refrain and just do the assignment. How can I determine what I am good at as a reader? This is a pretty strange question. If you asked a basketball player what he is good at he might say that he's great at dribbling, faking out the defense and shooting three pointers and he may need to practice his passing and lay-ups. A body builder may see that his biceps are massive and look incredible but that he has chicken legs. Assessing the strengths and weaknesses of one's own ability is not difficult when the subject of ability has many separate components. What components are there to reading? I had to think this one through a bit, but I think that as a reader one's overall goal should be to understand what he reads and to make inferences and draw conclusions. Frankly, I think that if someone is incapable of making inferences and drawing conclusions about something they understand then they have a whole other batch of issues. But what separates Goosebumps from Shakespeare? What separates a first-grade-level reader from a University English professor? I have concluded the difference lies in vocabulary, speed and overall just experience.
To say a person has difficulty comprehending what an article means does not mean they can practice comprehension. Comprehension cannot be taught. If a reader fails to comprehend something, an instructor is responsible for teaching what is not comprehended. If a reader can understand every word in a sentence then they really shouldn't have a trouble understanding what the sentence means if they have common sense. Reading is based completely on vocabulary and common-sense as far as I am concerned. What differentiates readers from each other is their vocabulary or speed. Speed also cannot be taught. There are many SAT prep courses that teach techniques to finding information a reader needs out of a passage and some readers are skilled with "speed-reading," but I believe speed is directly proportional with practice.
Cont:
ReplyDeleteThe beauty in reading is that you don't necessarily have to practice it as a basketball player would practice lay-ups or a bodybuilder would practice squats to build his legs, but a reader only needs to read. Reading anything and everything. The nutrition facts on the back of a box of cereal, the morning paper, a chapter assigned for homework, an article online about a new movie -- anything! Experience can be gained anywhere and a reader matures his whole life assuming he never stops reading.
Now, what are my own strengths and weaknesses for reading by my own definition? Well, I don't have the world's most refined vocabulary and I often get distracted when I read. I can't help but notice a fly buzzing by a window in a room I'm sitting in or by other people turning pages in their test booklets when I'm taking a test in class. Distractions pop up anywhere and everywhere and one of my biggest faults as a reader is allowing them to distract me. When I focus on something, I have no problems with comprehension. I grew up in a house where vocabulary was pumped into me and I spent my summers at the library instead of on the football field. That's not to say that I was a hermit. I played many sports but I never allowed anything to overpower my studies. I believe I am a great reader. I've read my whole life. When I was in 4th grade my teacher was fascinated that I was reading at a 12.4 level (12th grade, 4th month apparently.) I never saw reading as intimidated. I saw it as fascinating. Words on a page can be dragons or a whole world full of witches and wizards; they can be information on brain research or a story of betrayal. Open any 5 books you find in a library -- any! Some may have pictures, some may have larger font than the others, but in the end every single book's intestines share a commonality - they are ALL simply words on a page. As a reader, I take pride in being able to see them for what they really are. I get distracted easily and I'm not the fastest reader and I'm no Webster, but I'm always maturing as a reader. The only thing I wish I had been taught differently was to never STOP reading. There came a time in my life when I started attaining responsibilities, when I started playing video games, I started doing drugs, I started playing sports: I stopped caring about reading. My only wish is that I had never put books down for such meaningless things. Reading can be a leisurely past-time or a profession. It can be punishment for some. I wish I had never stopped reading for enjoyment and replaced it with reading for a purpose -- homework, studying, etc.
I know what you mean, reading can seriously be anything you choose! Through all its different varieties, its crazy how interesting some things can really be. And yeah, books don't always have my full attention, its actually happens to me all the time where I'll be reading, and somehow my mind will doze off somewhere else, and before I know it, I've read through three paragraphs and not even know!
DeleteThis used to happen to me as well, so what i do is that i reflect on what i read. I enjoy reading quite a bit, but it has to be compelling, or interesting enough for me to continue reading. For some reason, if i'm asked to read for class, i wont do it. I have to force myself to read, unless its compelling enough for me to read. I just figured that i should reflect on my reading. I dont take notes or highlight, i just sit back and think about what i read.
DeleteC)
ReplyDeleteWhen I read the one thing I know I'm good at is learning where the writer is coming from, from the first few chapters. I understand different points of views and am able to write good notes for each passage and chapter. I would have to say though the thing that I'm really bad at would have to be my short attention span I give a book or passage if it doesn't interest me. But because of my good note taking I will be able to finish the book or passage and a good understanding of it whether or not I enjoyed it. The thing I would like to have learned better would have to be to grasp difficult readings easier because sometimes it takes me a few more tries than needed to fully understand the reading.
Question C:
ReplyDeleteAs a reader, I am good at taking mental notes about significant characters in a book or novel and keeping them there for later use. I do feel that I am not good in staying focused while reading if I am with other people. I used to be able to read a good novel with out being distracted by the people around me, but now it is as if my homework and studying have to be done in a quiet environment. I wish I had been taught how to directly focus on a reading. Why? Sometimes I catch mysely, as I read, thinking about the days events and how they could've gone differently.. WHILE I AM READING! So by the time I realize that I hadn't been focusing on the book, I am already at the end of the page and don't really remember what I have read.I really wish I had had at least one teacher along my educational path to tell me that they relate to the problem and give me pointers on how not to daze off. It's odd because I truly don't even know when I start to go off in another mindthought while I read the book. Maybe it's a story in the book that I relate to which causes for me to have a flashback, but I truly don't know. I can memorize though, while I read, but sometimes the understanding is a difficulty for me.
Man, I WISH I had a good memory like you! Another thing is that, oh my goodness, I thought that I was the only one who did that where I am reading and I space out, this made me feel slightly less weird haha
DeleteY'all are not alone I too daze off when I read especially if it is a boring book. I also need to be in a quiet environment to keep my focus on reading, but on everything else I can watch tv, talk to friends and still be focus on my homework.
Deletec. What are you good at, as a reader? What do you think you’re not good at, as a reader? Is there anything you wish you had been taught better or differently?
ReplyDeleteTo be rather honest, I believe I'm an excellent reader. I understand topics, if there are words that I've never seen in my life and I believe that they came from a different world (ha), then I'll look them up on the spot, and try to understand the writers point that they're trying to get across. I believe that my only weakness as a reader is that if the book isn't interesting, by my standards, then I'll put it down and find something to else to do. When I was younger I would LOVE to draw, and I was rather good at it! So if I see a book that has an absolutely beautiful cover, then I can't help but take a look at it, and it never fails that I get let down with some lame story about a teenage girl or boy that got dumped and now they're mad at the world or something more along the lines of a book about a struggling writer etc. Which is easily another one of my weaknesses, especially with the saying "don't judge a book by its cover," it only makes me feel like I've fallen behind or something. Anyways, if I could change anything about learning anything differently, it'd be to have a better understanding of smilies and metaphors, like the tools of writing. I sometimes still have trouble using them effectively in writing, I know I have the imagination, but when I try understanding them in reading, I don't always grab the meaning or scenario.
c. What are you good at, as a reader? What do you think you’re not good at, as a reader? Is there anything you wish you had been taught better or differently?
ReplyDeleteAs a reader I think I am good in understanding big words and figuring out what they mean by reading the rest of the sentence. I think im terrible un understanding the whole context I understand a page but then I forget it and it becomes a mess I also have a really hard time concentrating when I read. I wish I was taught to read more by my parents I think reading is very important it helps you in many ways, but I hate it and I think is hard for me to start doing things I never did before.
I know what you are feeling, when I was a kid a hated reading. My parents never told me to read and I never did, and know that I have to read a this long papers they are really boring and time consuming. I spend almost two hours train to read the papers and it gets frustrating.
Deletec. What are you good at, as a reader? What do you think you’re not good at, as a reader? Is there anything you wish you had been taught better or differently?
ReplyDeleteI am good at knowing what my affinities are and where to start to learn about them. However, as a reader, I find it difficult to focus on the text after a certain amount of time and start to jump the gun based on the information that has been digested. I wish to be more patient on reading.
I agree with you, I do the same thing. I some times just start to scan through and go off of what I just read. certainly patients is the key.
Delete. Make a quick self-assessment of your reading abilities by answering the following questions: What are you good at, as a reader? What do you think you’re not good at, as a reader? Is there anything you wish you had been taught better or differently?
ReplyDeleteAs a reader I would say that I am good at making the story come to live in my mind I good at looking up information that I don't understand. My weaknesses as a reader would have to be that sometimes I can be a bit dyslexic; I find it hard to read at times. I wish that I knew sooner that I was dyslexic. I guess when i practice more I becomes a little better.
Question c:
ReplyDeleteAs a reader, i find myself confident and patient. It has to be interesting for me to continue reading, otherwise, it becomes a chore. I like to reflect on what i read and enjoy thinking about the last paragraph I read, or even the last chapter. I think it's the best way for me understand what i am reading. I dont like to highlight or make notes, i find it troublesome and distracting. I guess that is what i would consider myself being good at.
What am i not good at as a writer?
i guess that would tie into what i just described. I still find it hard to process certain things within the material that i am reading. That's why i like to reflect back on what i just read.
Question C
ReplyDeleteI feel that as a reader I'm good at bringing things to life in my head. As I read I like to picture everything in a way I imagine a story would look like. But one thing I have trouble with sometimes is understanding what I am reading. Sometimes I have to read something twice in order to fully understand it. I wish I would have been taught how to take better notes that way I could just go back to my notes after I've read something so I could understand what I'm reading better.
Question C
ReplyDeleteAs a reader I think I am good at understanding the context, I can infer what is going to happen, and can stay focus for some good period of time. As I read I always write little notes or highlight important facts, It helps me to gather more information from the reading, and I don't spend that much time writing Q&R's as before in 1301.What I am not good at is my vocabulary and grammar. I am not very good in my English, and sometimes when I am writing I forget how to translate the word from Spanish. I started learning English in 7th grade and hated it. I wish I would of had a different 7th grade teacher and maybe I had turn not as bad as I did. I hate you Mrs. Vela!
What are you good at, as a reader? Many different people have ways of learning or understanding things, for example, some people are able to read something and understand what it means right away, others, (like me) are visual learners. As a visual learner, I have become good at visualizing things I read in order to understand it better, this, I think, is what I would consider a strong point about my reading skills.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think you’re not good at, as a reader? As a reader, I would say that I would need improvement on my attention span. Sometimes I can read a page and by the end of it, realizing that I understood absolutely nothing I wrote. Another thing that I feel would need improvement is to continue reading, even when things get boring.
Is there anything you wish you had been taught better or differently? Currently, I cannot honestly say that I wish I had been better taught or differently, not because I felt like I was taught flawlessly, but because my morals have brought me to realize that everything in life happens for a reason. Although I may need improvement, I do not believe that what I was taught was a complete waste of time, I think that I am a great and knowledgeable person and do not regret any of the steps I took to get to wear I am; at the same time I feel that, I can still teach myself what I didn’t learn back then which is a great, great thing.
c. Make a quick self-assessment of your reading abilities by answering the following questions: What are you good at, as a reader? What do you think you’re not good at, as a reader? Is there anything you wish you had been taught better or differently?
ReplyDeleteAs a reader one of my good points is being able to process the words and summarize the important details in text which I can analyze as my mental notes. My weakness is if the book, article, etc. is not interesting then my attention span will go somewhere else. No, because I personally don't like taking down notes and highlighting sentences, like the way they taught us to become better readers. For me its just a hassle to do all that and I just like using my mind a lot to store information and use it when I need to.
THIS THREAD HAS BEEN GRADED AND CLOSED.
ReplyDelete