Buehl Chapters 3 & 4

Buehl Chapters 3 &4

I think Buehl brings up some really great points about reading assignments and students.  He writes, “We tend to think of comprehension as the understanding of what an author tells us, but it is the implicit part -what is not on the page- that matters most” (Pg. 74).  I never really thought about how much background knowledge and experiences go into reading assignments.  The knowledge gap is a huge issue; especially with such dense science textbooks we all know and love.  That being said, I really enjoyed chapter 4 and the idea of frontloading instruction and building knowledge for reading, not through reading.  Having students draw from their own previous knowledge and then re-examining that knowledge is a great way to see where the class is as a whole with the concept prior to much reading.  Buehl brings up great examples of frontloading with much knowledge, frontloading with diverse knowledge, and frontloading with insufficient knowledge.

For me, what I enjoyed most about this reading was how applicable it is to my future classroom.  I can absolutely see myself using some of these frontloading strategies in an effort to not only draw out prior knowledge and promote priming for new knowledge, but also to help bridge the knowledge gap with textbook readings that can be intimidating.  I like a lot of the strategies presented, especially ones that leave room for predictions, hypotheses, inquiry, discussion, and revision.  These types of strategies would fit nicely into a modeling approach.  Earlier, I bashed Buehl for writing to much about himself (what he is good and bad at), family, and things he likes to do and not do, but after reading these sections it’s pretty clear he knows what’s up.