Post #7

This week Im going to talk about a very important strategy that I think is often overlooked by teachers. In an English class, the theme/characters/setting/plot/etc. are all very important. However, I think its also important that we teach the students how to document these important characteristics of what they read. Summarizing and notetaking are key in the two classes Im working with because we dont have the luxury of sending home the textbooks or reading materials. We do not have enough copies so that all the students can have one for their own personal use. The only way many of the students can study for quizzes or complete homework is by using their notes...and so, they need to learn how to take good ones :) While reading The Importance of Being Earnest, I included double entry journals as a way for students to keep notes as we read. To make sure their double entry journals were adequate for what they needed, we did the first act as a class. I made sure that they wrote the important ideas, facts, quotes and an explanation in their double entry journal and we discussed them as a class. I found it very important to make sure they started correctly; otherwise, it would have been a huge waste of their time and not helpful in their homework or test preparation!