Haas: Learning to Read Biology

When I began reading this article I thought it was about someone who did not know much about Biology and their process was going to be of how they picked up new strategies of how to learn about a subject one is not familiar with. Although the article did describe a similar idea in the sense that Eliza did know a good amount of Biology, since it was her major, but did not know how to interpret it properly. Haas says that people are encouraged or taught to read almost everything as fact and we often times just read something and say okay that's the answer. One of the aspects of reading that is presented here is that we as readers and learners should learn to question what we read. I do not mean question everything and think that everything has faults, but to understand what a writer is trying to explain and then apply it or question it as it makes sense to us. I do agree with Haas when she says that people or in this case Eliza read a book or article and are not aware that there are people who wrote this and are their interpretations of certain Biological ideas.

It was not so difficult to read this because I understand why Eliza during her freshman and sophomore years read the way she did. As students we often times have so much to read for different subjects that it is difficult to focus so much on each subject. It is common for people to read through a book and simply grab the main points in order to know just enough to pass the test or the class. When Eliza was in her freshman English class perhaps she was not so analytical of the novels or authors because it was not the subject she was most interested in. Although she did show some similarity when discussing her biology readings, but was able to understand those ideas better since she was already familiar with the terms. Haas says the most important change in Eliza's development was not only learning the facts, but "negotiating meaning." I do agree with this because it is important to understand what an author is explaining and then be able to relate it to our own thoughts on the specific subject or apply it to the research we may be conducting.

Reading First: Cautions and Recommendations

It was surprising to know that something as important as a reading first program would be based on research that was not actually researched. This is because schools and teachers that were implementing or restructuring the order in which they handled their classes were changing their methods because of what these new reports were saying. The reports on which these findings were based said to have improved the methods for teaching, but were actually not based on facts or adequate for all children and their levels. It seems that these reports did not understand what reading consists of because they only wanted to focus on one or two methods of learning. The reports tried to greatly emphasize the importance of phonics and stressed that children needed to know what sounds were and how they were useful before they learned to do any reading. Other aspects like silent reading were not given importance because they did not feel it would do much when teaching children to read.

Although it is important for children to experience the different methods available when learning to read because not all children learn in the same manner and one method might work for one and not for another. If teachers are conducting their lessons through a set script then it is difficult to integrate other reading and writing exercises that might be just as effective if not better. If a student does not understand how to apply a method then there are not many other options available especially when the lessons are not given sufficient amount of time.

Scribner & Cole "Unpackaging Literacy"

What I think that this implies toward schooling is that it is important to learn within a school setting because it may offer other forms of learning. It provides different strategies which may not be found within a social setting. Being in school offers different areas of learning and a person may develop other skills when it comes to problem solving. I think this is important because if a person only knows one form of retaining information it may become difficult when confronted with a new subject to learn. An example that was given is that school provides access to learn the language of politics and economics. It is important for students going into this field to learn English because it will become necessary within their jobs. It seems that the different languages are assigned to different purposes. Each plays its own role among the Vai and depending on what you need or will do may require even a basic understanding of one language.

Schooling is important for certain literacies, but it does not mean that those who scored lower may not be capable of other tasks. They may not be literate when compared to those who do attend school because of the different degrees of understandment they have. It was explained that they were better when it came to discribing things like symbols because of the form of their language. This meant that they may be illiterate in some areas because of no experience, but were literate where they have been trained. I think that it is obvious that anyone who has not learned the skills of a certain area, whether through school or socially, will be illiterate in that area.

What Reading Means To Me

Before I began attending elementary school, I remember being read to by my mother. She read to me in Spanish and probably all that she did read to me were bible stories. I enjoyed this time because it was half an hour or so that my mother put aside to spend time with me and my sister. I remember being very interested in what the book said and I felt I understood the story probably because my mother did a very good job when explaining it. Although my sister already knew how to read Spanish because she is almost five years older, it was through these reading sessions with my mother that I learned how to read Spanish. Later when my sister began to read English, she started to read her books to me and I began to learn words in English. This was also another time that I very much enjoyed because it was once again learning something new. Perhaps learning new words in English were not as difficult for me because I already knew how to read and write basic Spanish words. It could also be because I was still young and learning things at this age tend to be a lot easier.

By the time I was in the first grade I remember that I was a very good reader for my age and was usually ahead of everyone else. Of course at that age that made me feel very smart and unique. I was one of those kids that would constantly volunteer to read and I think that it was because of that enthusiasm that I had for reading that also led me to be a better speller at that age. There was a time when my mother had a parent teacher conference with my second grade teacher and Mrs. Huerta recommended that my mother did not teach me how to read and write Spanish because she said it would confuse me while I was learning how to read and write English. My mother did not think it made sense to do that because I already knew how to read Spanish and I was still doing quite good in class. I do not know exactly how Mrs. Huerta thought it would affect me, but I think that it was an excellent thing to know both languages. I think that it caused me to be a better reader because of the similarities in vocabulary. Although, now that I have been in school since kindergarten and throughout that time being taught and learned to read only in English, I have become a much better reader and writer in the English language. It is difficult for me to, for example, read a novel in Spanish because I am not used to doing so and I do not have the same knowledge for Spanish vocabulary.

During that time in elementary school I began to develop the love that I have for reading. I loved to read any books that the teacher had and enjoyed the time that the class was spent in the library. I loved when either the teacher or librarian had a reading session for the class and read books to us. It was the 5th or 6th grade when I first began to read short chapter books and it was because I searched in the library or I ordered them. At that time the chapter books seemed very long compared to the others and I enjoyed reading these because there was more detail, more to be explained and more to think about. When I began to read actual chapter books or those with 100 to 200 pages, was when I was in the 7th and 8th grade. The author that I began to have a strong interest in was Stephen King. I guess I developed in interest in his novels because of the mystery and suspense in them. At that time I started to read many of his novels and of other authors like him.

It was not until the time that I was a sophomore in high school that I feel I actually learned how to read. It was in Mr. Agler's English class where things like metaphor and allusion were first introduced to me. I absolutely loved reading the novels that were assigned and perhaps it was not so much what the novel was about, but because I knew what to look for. It was in this class where I first read Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome and since that time it is one of my top 5 favorite novels. This was the time when I became much more interested in reading different authors and in learning what literature was. I was much more interested in the classic novels and learning what it was that made them different from what I was used to reading. Although I began to love reading Shakespeare's sonnets I still enjoy the time I spend reading Koontz or Bradbury.