Chapter One and Two

I really loved the opening of chapter one! Beers wasn't afraid to explain how
scared she was to tackle this topic, which I felt was really important because it shows
how important the topic of teaching students to read is! One of the main ideas I will take
away from this chapter is that of the strength of students who cannot read. Beers explains
this by asking readers if they would keep trying at something for so long that they could
not do well. This was a really great analogy, because I know that I would not want to do
that. I also liked that she acknowledges that there is no one answer or template for any
given students.
Chapter two discussed communication between teacher and student. Beers realizes
that her communication needs work, and I think it is important for teachers to understand
that listening to students is just as important as teaching. These two aspects should be
intertwined. I also liked that she admitted that simply helping students with cognitive
aspects like comprehension and vocabulary does not mean that the affective aspects, like
motivation will also improve. It is important for all teachers to remember this in helping
students to learn to read.
Chapter Three
While reading this chapter I noticed a number of really awesome things that Kylene
Beers includes. First, I liked the crazy long list of things it might mean when we say
students can't read on pp. 24-26. It reminds me that reading is no simple task; that there is
a million different parts that make up a reader, as well as many different reasons a student
may be struggling. A teacher may see that a student is struggling with reading and attempt
to help them, which is great, but the help they give might not always be what the student
needs. I like the chart of page 28, which lists some specific examples and tells teachers
where in the book to find help. This is a great directory for teachers to find the
information they need quickly, and a reference that they can turn too multiple times
without having to read an entire book. The profiles of students also help with this as well.
Beers includes these specific profiles so that teachers can have examples that may
resonate with their own students. Finally, I really enjoyed the section where she talked
about what good readers do. Helping students and teachers to understand what makes up
a good reader will clear up any misconceptions about how to be a good reader and make
clear goals for improving reading. The example that Beers uses about a class of juniors,
in which one boy was under the assumption that good readers were just naturally that
way really hit that point home. Students must understand that improving reading skills is
an incredibly attainable task, with hard work and the right approach to their needs.
Chapter Five and Six
Chapter five discussed learning to make inferences. I found this topic really
important, because often making an inference is something that we naturally do without
thinking. Teachers especially are constantly doing this and are very well trained at it, so
it's not hard to see why they might forget to even teach students how to do this. Instead,
teachers may believe it comes just as naturally to the student. We ask students to do so
many things with text--decode it, remember certain parts of it, etc. etc. So when we
switch it up and ask them a question that is not explicitly in the text, it can throw some
students off, especially those students who have trouble with basic comprehending of

text. I loved that Beers included the many different ways of inferencing in this chapter. I
think putting these up in the room will be a great resource for students.
My favorite thing about chapter six was the tea party pre-reading strategy.
Actually, I think this is my favorite strategy that I've encountered so far. This is such a
cool way to get students thinking about a text! I think the only hard part about it would be
finding the best phrases or lines from the text. Students may have a tough time really
drawing things from that small amount of text at first, but I think I would use this strategy
to introduce texts more than once so students can improve and see how much they can
really infer from just that small amount of information. I like that this strategy leaves
room for some imagination and wonder. If the right phrases are chosen, real curiosity can
be generated from this strategy.
Chapter Seven and Eight
Beers begins chapter 7 with the reminder that dependent readers do not see
reading as an active process. They see only the outward signs of comprehension from
"good" readers, but fail to see the invisible strategies that good readers use. These
strategies include rereading, asking questions, and having an internal dialogue. I felt this
was very interesting because we can often assume that when we see a student quietly
reading, that they are doing these things and having some form of comprehension, instead
of just looking over words and having other thoughts. Of the during-reading strategies
that Beers mentioned in this chapter, I think my favorite would be Say Something. I like
the idea of students reading in small groups and almost having a type of book club
interaction. I think if I were to do this in my classroom, I would choose these groups very
specifically to make sure that one, the students are not all best friends who will chat about
other things, and two, that the students are grouped by readiness. I love the idea of giving
students models for things they can say. Beers mentions putting a poster of all of them on
the wall, which would be great, but I think that the first few times I do this activity I
would even give them a handout to look over when processing their thoughts. It can be
stressful for those students who find comprehension difficult to find something to say, so
this would just add a bit more help. Eventually, these sheets would not be handed out, as
the activity would be scaffolded through the year.
I loved that Kylene Beers made clear that after reading activities can help
students to continue to make sense of the text, versus immediately summatively assessing
their knowledge with a test. I think this continued understanding is what really sits with
the student, and helps them understand the overall book, themes and motifs, and leads to
students even enjoying the reading more now that they understand it. I really liked the
retellings rubric strategy. This strategy gives students a very clear definition of what
kinds of answers the teacher is looking for, and I love how it can be scaffolded to
improve their retellings over time. Another strategy I liked in this chapter was the use of
scales. Specifically, I liked the Likert scale because it brings student opinion into the
reading process. This strategy helps students to think about being engaged with the text,
and forming their own opinions and ideas not only after they read, but while they read
too. I think this strategy could be done during reading to draw conclusions and
connections at integral points in the text. Overall, these activities help students to make
those invisible practices of good readers more visible for struggling readers.

Chapter Nine and Ten

Chapter nine gives some great suggestions for effective vocabulary instruction,
versus the stock: advice of giving a list on Monday and testing on Friday. Beers defines
effective as students learning the words, using them and remembering them, not just
recognizing them. One strategy or suggestion I really loved in this chapter was that on
teaching word parts. I connected this to the jeopardy game we had in class! I like the idea
of teaching students root words, prefixes and suffixes because it gives students tools to
understand other words that we may not explicitly teach. The vocabulary tree was a cool
way of displaying the root word with all the branches being words that branch off the
single root. The coolest part about this strategy that Beers mentions is that students
should write down where they heard the word in the twigs. I thought this was a neat idea
because it not only will help students to memorize the context of the word, but I think it
makes it more fun. Students can see all the places where they gain vocabulary, even
though they may not have known it.
Kylene Beers defines reading automaticity as a readers ability to
recognize words without conscious decoding. Students do not develop automaticity by
decoding, but by repeated exposure to a word they can decode. Some students may need
to see this word 10 times, and others need it 50 times, this is why students need frequent
opportunities to read and expose themselves to vocabulary. I liked that Beers listed
instructions on how to measure fluency in this chapter. This seems rather simple to be
done, and I think it could be a good tool for determining where some students are with
their fluency and automaticity. I think the suggestion I appreciated most was that on
prompting instead of correcting students. I often have tried to do this when working oneon-one with students but often end up giving them the answer, because I didnt know
what questions to ask. The prompts that she gives as examples are great because they
dont just ask the student to sound out the word. Questions like what word would make
sense at this point are really interesting and effective because students are engaging in
reading and really engaging their thought process. Instead of focusing so much of getting
the word right, they are figuring out what word might be best.
Chapter Eleven and Twelve
Chapter 11's focus on word recognition was very interesting to me. I really
liked that Kylene Beers mentioned that the strategies for word recognition helped
students when combined with fluency strategies, vocabulary instruction, and
comprehension instruction. It is important to remember that you can't just focus on one of
these ideas, it must be all-inclusive. Her discussion on phonics with parents at a PTO
meeting really emphasized that, as many parents simply assumed phonics instruction
would help all readers. While phonics will help, it must be combined with other
strategies, and must be referring to the correct reading problem. I liked that Beers gave
some common vocabulary in this chapter. While we have learned a lot of this, there were
some like onsets and rimes that I would love to learn more about. Overall I think one of
the big strategies I will take from this chapter is the idea of chunking. It seems like a
good method to use instead of "sound it out" which is often the most used.
In Chapter 12, it makes logical sense to me that as spelling improves, word
recognition also improves, and thus reading improves. I never realized however, that
spelling was as complex as to have 5 stages. I guess I always thought of spelling as

simply remembering how to spell the words. But I guess that's how some people think
about reading--which is wrong. The five stages of spelling really emphasizes the idea of
NOT giving each student in the class a vocabulary list and having a test on Friday.
Instead, the idea of each student being at different places along this spectrum means that
this should be differentiated along with all other assignments in the classroom. This
would not be a difficult task; perhaps having 2-3 different spelling lists for the class. The
biggest idea when it comes to strategies in this section is the recognition of patterns. This
should be done not only by students, but also teachers as for, for it will help them to teach
the material. The strategy of a word sort is a great way of doing this because it allows
students to recognize and sort those patterns, versus simply being told.
Chapter Thirteen and Fourteen
Chapter 13 held many great ideas on social and emotional confidence. I think
Beers really hit the nail on the head when she explained that struggling readers will not
participate if it is not worth the potential embarrassment. The stresses that students have
are so vivid in their minds. While some may feel comfortable enough to make a mistake
in a social setting, struggling readers feel a lot of pressure in just the potential act of
making a mistake. There were a couple of strategies to create that social and emotional
confidence in students within this chapter that particularly stood out to me. First, the idea
of creating a classroom that encourages risk. Beers discusses having students embrace
their differences, and not allowing put-downs in the classroom. I connected this to the
crucial idea of a classroom community. The most students feel comfortable and truly
involved in the room, the more struggling readers will participate. Also, the idea of
encouraging personal responses to text was interesting to me. Asking students to develop
that aesthetic response or living through the text is a great way to not only may
struggling readers more confident in their responses, but also to engage students in
reading. Instead of reading to find certain information they may need to know for a test,
students will learn to read for enjoyment.
Finding the right book is one of the best feelings for me personally, and I think
its something that is so important for a struggling reader. When Beers mentions the idea
that teachers often share the books they love to read, I realized how easy it would be to
get into the habit of doing that. Instead, we need to find books that students will get
excited about and want to share, just like teachers do. I really liked the suggestion of
reading aloud small sections of texts to preview and get students interested in a book. The
more animated and exciting teachers can be, the better. I think teachers could also
perhaps find time for students themselves to share books they are excited about. Even if
this is a once in a while thing, giving students an opportunity to participate in this process
would also be very cool. Also, I think I would like to combine the suggestions of a good
book box and taking students to the library. While it is sometimes difficult for students to
navigate a library, I want them to have that skill as well. So I think if a teacher is going to
have a good book box, he/she should take time to teach students about the library and
allow them to try to find books for their own good book box or collection.
Ending
Chapter fifteen is simply a letter to George, the student who motivated and moved
Kylene Beers. Overall, I found this conclusion to this book extremely appropriate and

perfect to conclude, because George is the student used throughout the book as an
example. I love that Kylene Beers does this because it not only gives us someone to
imagine and remember, but it allows us to see George as a representative of all students
struggling with reading. While we must remember that each of these students is different
in their own way, Beers uses George as a representative for all struggling students.
There were a couple specific quotes I was extremely moved by in this overall
emotional and moving chapter. First, Beers's mention of a dream school where "the
public trusts us to know more about education than politicians". I think this often gets lost
in schools. Personally, my current cooperating teacher has confided in me that she often
doesn't feel trusted as an expert in her field by many different people, including parents,
administration, politicians, etc. I never really thought about this before, but I love Beers
mention that that would be ideal in a teacher's mind. Also, the quote "We must know that
for so many of the Dereks of this nation, we are the troops. These children sit in our
classrooms behind the enemy lines of poverty, hunger, pain, loneliness, and illiteracy". I
think there is so much power in that quote! In conclusion, I really enjoyed Kylene Beers's
book. I can honestly say this is one that I will keep with me through the years.