While listening to the sound of my printer spit out the five articles for this week's blog, I was dreading actually reading them! Like I said before, I despise reading! Especially required readings. Before I even begin reading texts that are required, I have a negative attitude. BUT...this week I tried to have a positive outlook before and while I was reading. Having the mindset that I might be able to take something away from the articles to help me become a better teacher.
The first article that I read was Watch and Learn by Shah and I am so glad that I decided to read this article first because it was very interesting and kept me intrigued the whole time I was reading. I think I wanted to read this article first because it was something that was happening in the world today! I was shocked to read that same-language subtitling (SLS) had such a dramatic impact on Khodi, India. I usually hate when I accidentally turn on the subtitles on my TV and can't figure out how to get them off! But I absolutely agree with Gery d'Ydewalle (a Belgian psychologist) in that we automatically read the subtitles even when we don't want to.
"He found that reading of subtitles on a screen is almost involuntary. In other words, viewers find it nearly impossible to ignore subtitles regardless of whether they can hear the sound or understand the language" (Shah, 2010).
I remember watching films in high school when the subtitles were on and I could not help but read them! I never really thought about SLS boasting literacy rates but after reading this article it makes complete sense. In elementary school and even in middle school when we would "popcorn" while reading (take turns reading aloud in class) I felt like it helped my reading comprehension skills to listen to someone read aloud and for me to follow along at the same time. That is exactly what happened when the people of Khodi would watch and listen to music videos while reading the words at the same time. This reiterates the sounds of the words and the visual of them.
I think it is really great that the SLS in Khodi has resulted in higher enrollment in local schools and higher literacy rates! The biggest thing that I took away from this article is that SLS has made reading and learning fun! Anything that will encourage students to be excited about reading and learning is good news! I loved what Rajesh Sodha, a ninth grader from Khodi, said "I was always tired and lazy. Then I began reading better, and everything just became easier...School is more fun now" (Shah, 2010). If all students could become better readers, in fact all people not just students, then learning and reading would be something fun!! But I do agree with Krashen in saying that we should not bring SLS into the classroom because it will take the fun out of it. Like reading anything, I enjoy it much more when it is not required so keeping SLS as something that is leisurely is a great idea.
One of the most shocking quotes I read in the article was by McCall, "America is not being honest about its literacy problem. Three out of five Americans in jail can't read. Fifty million adult Americans can't read beyond can't read beyond a fifth-grade level, leaving them at a semi-literate level that is often ignored in mainstream literacy campaigns." I was completely surprised by this statistic and think that it is absolutely ridiculous because we definitely have the resources to accomplish greater reading levels.
The other article that I enjoyed the most/got the most out of was How Popular Culture Texts Inform and Shape Discussions of Social Studies Texts by Leigh Hall. To be honest my first thoughts were that the article would bore me because it was dealing with Social Studies, but to my surprise I really enjoyed it! I did not realize how much pop culture texts influence our thinking about everything! After reading the procedures and results of the study conducted, I would really like to try something like this is a math or science class and compare the results. I think it would be easier to make this work in a science class because of all the science related books that children read. But relating pop culture to math seems a little abstract to me. I would love to get more information about how to go about doing this in a math classroom though. I like how the author made it clear that we should not replace academic texts with pop culture texts, but instead try to incorporate students' interests and ideas about them into academics.
I was pleasantly surprised after reading both of these articles. My views about reading and incorporating reading into my math or science classroom is slowly beginning to change for the better. I am certain that as the semester progresses, so will my love for reading and making my students love it too!
Citations:
Hall, L. A. (2011). How popular culture texts inform and shape students' discussions of social studies texts . Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 55(4), 296-304.
Shah, R. (2010, September 19). Watch and learn. The Boston Globe. Retrieved from http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/09/19/watch_and_learn/?page=full
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