Chapter+6

__**Holding Thinking to Remember and Reuse**__ //I don’t look at a book as a whole bunch of words. I look at it as someone’s thinking, and the information the author wants me to know.// Brad, high school senior

//Every day in our schools and colleges young people face reading and writing tasks that seem hard or unusual, that confuse them, that they fail. But if you can get close enough to their failure, you’ll find knowledge that the assignment didn’t tap, ineffective rules and strategies that have a logic of their own.// Mike Rose, //Lives on the Boundary//

//All struggling readers have to do is act tough and then say nothing, and they can become invisible.// Richard Vacca

It is imperative to have students think about what they see and what they read. As a teacher, we must ask “What do you think?” One should help students become aware that they are thinking by telling them that they are able to ask questions, they are able to make connections to what they know about the world, and they are able to read literature. One should let students realize that they are thinking all of the time. One also needs to help students learn different ways of holding their thinking while reading text.

Having students think about text is imperative in the classroom and real world. It takes time to teach students this and it is difficult to measure because it is complex and invisible. But there are ways for this to be done. Students can talk about the reading, respond artistically, and write about it. As teachers, we have to teach students to ask questions. One must capture the students thinking. When this happens, students are more likely to return to the texts, participate in discussions, and begin writing assignments. To capture thinking, students need to mark the text. This is a way for students to review and study for tests. It also gives students a way to remember the information. There are certain guidelines to follow when marking text. One must also model and be explicit about the expectations.

1. Write the thinking next to the words on the page that cause you to have the thought. 2. If there isn’t room on the text to write, draw a line showing the teacher where the thinking is written. 3. Don’t copy the text; respond to it. 4. Merely understanding text is not enough. Thinking about the text must accompany the underlining. 5. There is no one way to respond to text. Here are some possible options: Ask a question, making a connection to something familiar, give an opinion, draw a conclusion, make a statement.
 * Guidelines to marking text**

1. If students have decoding issues 2. Who hates to read 3. Who is engaged 4. Who can comprehend.
 * Things that can be determined by students responding to a text.**

Using student examples is a strategy to help students understand what other students are doing well. This technique is also a good way to honor kid’s thinking and to begin rebuilding shattered self-esteem for struggling readers.
 * Using Student Examples During Instruction**

Students can choose which tools to use with different reading tasks. When there are several ways to respond to the text, the student as well as the teacher tends to get more out of the exercise. 1. Highlighters 2. Sticky notes 3. Whole-Group Thinking 4. Comprehension Constructors (Example page 79, 80, and 125) [] 5. Double-Strategy, Double-Entry Diary (Example on page 81) [] 6. Quad-Entry Diary (Example on page 82)
 * Tools and Strategies for Holding Thinking**
 * Whole-group charts make class thinking public, and are very useful in getting students started with learning how to mark thinking in text. When some students are having difficulty seeing a strategy in use, chart other students’ thinking. Many times a student’s words are just the ticket when it comes to helping another student understand what one means.
 * Chart examples from kids who need extra encouragement, and ones that exemplify use of the strategy. Put the readers’ name next to the thinking and then share the chart with the class the next day.
 * It is a constant process of matching content, readers, and goals. It is designed to pull kids through the comprehension process and help students name their thinking and make it visible. The comprehension constructor is a concrete way of taking students through an abstract process, and the simpler and more authentic it is, the better. When designing a comprehension constructor for students, think about how you would read the piece and what you would need to do as a reader to get through it. Record your thinking on sticky notes as you read, to see where you get confused and need some help making sense of the text. Try to figure out how information connects to what you previously know about the topic. Also, ask a lot of questions.
 * Talk to students about where else they can use the activity and thinking. Show them where it is useful. Always try to help them make a connection outside of the class.
 * Can be used with any content area

1. Give students something to look for and write as they read. Model different ways that readers mark text and hold their thinking while they read. 2. Show students how to use a double-entry diary. Throughout the year, you can provide different options with these diaries for marking thinking. This tool is especially helpful when reading nonfiction text. 3. Share with your students what you do to help yourself remember what you read. Perhaps you write in the margins; maybe you jot notes to yourself. Notice what you do as an expert reader of your content to set a purpose, and share that with your students.
 * What Works**
 * //Teaching point//: Good readers trust the author and their own abilities as readers. They don’t panic if at first the text doesn’t make sense—they trust that there are clues in the text that will help their understanding.
 * //Teaching point:// Good readers know there are different ways to mark text while reading. When one tool isn’t working, they can easily select another that may be more helpful.
 * //Teaching point:// Good readers rely on experts to show them how to negotiate unfamiliar text. Let them see how you ask questions, adjust your reading rate, and note your thinking so that you can return to it later.

It is our responsibily as educators to educate all students, regardless if they seem to want to give up. Some students try to become invisible and refuse to do work, but as Cris Tovani asks, "If students become invisible, does it mean we no longer have the responsibility to teach them?" (p. 74). Furthemore, Tovani states, "As a classroom teacher, it can be tempting to ignore failing students, to write them off as unwilling to try. Teaching readers to hold thinking allows them to particpate in many ways, regardless of their skill level" (p. 74).