Man this was really hard for me to remember everything. Most often we used the text book as far as reading goes. I don't remember ever reading a novel or anything that I would consider fun. That is unless you count movies as a text then we "read" some pretty cool movies. In geography we looked at some interesting graphs. In fact probably one of my favorite maps is the one that shows the size each country would be according to it's population. Just last semester in my Content Knowledge class we were shown a graphic novel based on history called Maus. It is about the holocaust and I think that is an amazing idea to use in a history class. It has pictures, it doesn't take super long to read. It is a guy getting his dad's first hand experience. That is why I liked it. I'm reading a journal about the Bourgeois during the French Revolution. That is probably the worst reading experience I have ever had. I don't understand it, the writer makes references to tons of scholars I've never heard of, there are huge run on sentences with about 15 ideas each so that it's hard to keep track of his original statement, and he uses a vocabulary that only proves the point that he memorized the dictionary. The way to cope with this is reread and take it slow. Maybe some sort of graphic organizer would help. Anyway, that is exactly the type of stuff I want to avoid, unless I am there and able to coach my students through it. Otherwise, torture.
I am glad you are reading your books for Len's class...I have yet to start!!! I am really excited to read Maus! I still need to check it out from the library. On another note...I like "reading" movies too. It is my favorite. Matter of fact a read a movie tonight...the new Footloose! Not as good as the first, but it was still pretty good. I am off topic. I like using graphs, maps and graphic organizing. I remember using textbooks in every class. It got pretty boring. I want to use all different types of texts when I teach to give my students variety. I think it is a great way to differentiate classes.
ReplyDeleteIn the class I am observing the students just made their own cartograms (maps that portray the population). The students were given grid paper and used stats from their textbook to make the maps. It was a good activity. I love those kind of maps too.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you in regards to Maus. That is an awesome concept. I put that book on my wish list. I also saw in the library a display on those kind of books and there was a display about Maus.
I actually learned of a great reading strategy in one of my English classes, but the strategy would work well for history texts as well. The teacher would have students use a long strip of cardstock as a bookmark. Students can write on the bookmark (both sides) in many different ways: great quotes, questions about passages, page numbers to remember for an essay, general notes, favorite parts, dates and places, etc. No matter what the teacher's purpose is in having the students read the text, they can use the bookmarks to organize, make sense of, and remember information as they read.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you got the chance to read Maus--it's a very powerful novel. If you look at "graphic novels in history" online you can find a whole bunch of other graphic novels you might consider adding to your text set. Movies, graphs, maps, photographs, etc. are other great texts, as other people have mentioned.
ReplyDeleteI like the map you put up. It made me think of my clinicals last semester. The students had to make a cartogram of a region in Asia of their choice based on population. It was a fun and challenging activity for the students. I agree Maus is an effective and interesting way to teach students. I have had similar experiences to your reading for your French Rev. class when I couldn't understand the reading. That is why it is important to BDA for our students! And maybe scaffold too (if that word means what I think it does. You and I never know with some of this education jargon...pedagogy, critical literacy, etc.:)
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is good to pick interesting texts for students instead of just typicall "boring" history texts. I think that one of the great things about teaching history is that there are a ton of really intersting novels and informational texts out there. I like the idea of giving students a choice between a few reading options depending on their interests.
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