If you want to become a better writer, guess what advice I would give you? Read! My favorite author, Sheman Alexie, has advised, “Read. Read one thousand pages for every page you write.” But Ms. Sanford, how is reading going to help me with my writing?! Think about this for a moment. When you read, beyond just enjoying the plot and connecting with the characters, you are also subconsciously (which means “without thinking”) picking up on the author’s writing style. You identify the punctuation marks that these authors use. Some folks experiment with dashes (—). Others make use of beautifully complex, but grammatically correct, sentences. Your brain notices these details without you realizing it, and the more you read, the less work your brain has to do when it comes time to write your own thoughtful responses to almost any question thrown your way. Therefore, writing starts to feel less like “work” and more like a way to communicate meaningful messages.
Additionally, when you read, you automatically expand your vocabulary. I have learned some of my favorite words by reading different books (cornucopia, nonchalantly, palatable, nostalgia, perpetual, oblivion, etc.). Just remember we are not born with a set vocabulary. We learned how to say our first words when we were babies, but that’s only because we heard those words get repeated over and over and over again by the people around us! When you see a word pop up in more than one location, you should be making a mental note that this is a word worth learning. Students have commented to me as they have been reading that they have seen our vocabulary words pop up in their books. When I teach you words each week, I expect you to not only remember them but to use them and notice them. You had your first vocabulary test today, but beyond seeing these words in just quizzes and tests, you’ll see our vocabulary words pop up in the stories we read, in the discussions we have, and even during certain television shows or commercials you watch in your own downtime!
Speaking of television and commercials, there is another short story that I am a fan of, and it is called “The Pedestrian” by science fiction author Ray Bradbury. Check it out by following this link: http://mikejmoran.typepad.com/files/pedestrian-by-bradbury-1.pdf. In this two-page story, Mr. Leonard Mead goes for an evening stroll in the year 2053 to get some fresh air, but he is the only person out and about. All the other people are inside their homes watching television. In this world, there’s only one police officer patrolling the neighborhood, and the police officer stops Leonard, believing his activity to be suspicious. What is interesting about this story is that it makes something as innocent as taking a walk suddenly seem alarming. In the same way that “Button, Button” and “The Fun They Had” encourage us to ask meaningful questions, “The Pedestrian” forces us to consider the following: What happens when we look down upon and replace human interactions, favoring screens and other electronic devices instead? We will see this theme reemerge next week when I show you one of my favorite clips called “Touchscreen” by Marshall “Soulful” Jones.
Now, like the pedestrian, I am off to venture into the cold (to watch Medford High’s football team hopefully win tonight’s game). I’ll see some of you at Harvest Your Energy tomorrow. Have a safe and splendid weekend!
-Ms. Sanford
Parent Outreach: One of the best ways to get students comfortable with reading is by modeling good reading strategies. If students see the adults in their lives actively reading--discussing, annotating, and questioning as they read--students will understand that reading is not just about looking at words on the page. This document gives 17 very helpful reading strategies: http://www.paec.org/david/reading/parents.pdf. Some of the strategies include previewing, predicting, retelling, and rereading.
Additionally, when you read, you automatically expand your vocabulary. I have learned some of my favorite words by reading different books (cornucopia, nonchalantly, palatable, nostalgia, perpetual, oblivion, etc.). Just remember we are not born with a set vocabulary. We learned how to say our first words when we were babies, but that’s only because we heard those words get repeated over and over and over again by the people around us! When you see a word pop up in more than one location, you should be making a mental note that this is a word worth learning. Students have commented to me as they have been reading that they have seen our vocabulary words pop up in their books. When I teach you words each week, I expect you to not only remember them but to use them and notice them. You had your first vocabulary test today, but beyond seeing these words in just quizzes and tests, you’ll see our vocabulary words pop up in the stories we read, in the discussions we have, and even during certain television shows or commercials you watch in your own downtime!
Speaking of television and commercials, there is another short story that I am a fan of, and it is called “The Pedestrian” by science fiction author Ray Bradbury. Check it out by following this link: http://mikejmoran.typepad.com/files/pedestrian-by-bradbury-1.pdf. In this two-page story, Mr. Leonard Mead goes for an evening stroll in the year 2053 to get some fresh air, but he is the only person out and about. All the other people are inside their homes watching television. In this world, there’s only one police officer patrolling the neighborhood, and the police officer stops Leonard, believing his activity to be suspicious. What is interesting about this story is that it makes something as innocent as taking a walk suddenly seem alarming. In the same way that “Button, Button” and “The Fun They Had” encourage us to ask meaningful questions, “The Pedestrian” forces us to consider the following: What happens when we look down upon and replace human interactions, favoring screens and other electronic devices instead? We will see this theme reemerge next week when I show you one of my favorite clips called “Touchscreen” by Marshall “Soulful” Jones.
Now, like the pedestrian, I am off to venture into the cold (to watch Medford High’s football team hopefully win tonight’s game). I’ll see some of you at Harvest Your Energy tomorrow. Have a safe and splendid weekend!
-Ms. Sanford
Parent Outreach: One of the best ways to get students comfortable with reading is by modeling good reading strategies. If students see the adults in their lives actively reading--discussing, annotating, and questioning as they read--students will understand that reading is not just about looking at words on the page. This document gives 17 very helpful reading strategies: http://www.paec.org/david/reading/parents.pdf. Some of the strategies include previewing, predicting, retelling, and rereading.