Critical Lenses

 Introducing critical lenses in my classroom can help me meet my teaching goal of creating more informed world citizens. In order for students to become what bell hooks calls “enlightened witnesses” of the world around them, students must first understand the workings of ideology. ELA teachers have the task of making ideologies in text visible to students, and literary theory helps readers uncover these ideologies where they may be hidden in the text. Teaching multiple literary theories also helps students to learn the power of multiple perspectives, and providing students with many perspectives and exposing them to new perspectives is another goal of my teaching.

When students learn critical lenses, they practice skills needed to critically view the world around them. Studying theory also helps students evaluate the ways in which the texts they have consumed have shaped their own world view and perspectives. The concept of using multiple perspectives can be introduced by having students tell well known stories (like nursery rhymes) from a different perspective. 

During my experiences as a learner in ELA classes, the reader-response framework was most often used, even if I didn’t realize that my teachers were utilizing it. In higher grades, teachers brought in other ways to respond to texts. Most often, the lens we used in the class would largely depend on its relevance to the themes in the text. Additionally, my teachers often contextualized texts before we read them, preparing us to better understand the issues of class, race, and gender within them. 

In my own teaching, I see myself most likely to begin by utilizing a reader response framework, then gradually including other lenses, especially those of class, gender, and race. This helps students understand their own relationship to the beliefs present in the text. In using these lenses frequently, I can ensure students have the opportunity to explore issues of social justice within some of the texts we read and connect these issues to the state of the world in the present day. 

After Reading

 After reading strategies continue the work of before and during reading strategies and focus on constructing meaning from the text. As with all scaffolded reading experiences, teachers need to model for students how to use these strategies in order for students to utilize these strategies for comprehension. After reading strategies work with before and during reading strategies to enhance comprehension, as comprehension is a process, not a product. 

Using scales, like the Likert scale, helps students move beyond simply summarizing the reading. In these activities, students are encouraged to look beyond the text and connect ideas from the texts to their own lives. Having students retell the story in their own words, with proper modeling from the teacher first, can help students better understand the components of a summary or retelling of a story. Retellings also helps students improve their writing and better organize their thoughts. Text reformulation provides another way for students to revisit the events of the story while analyzing and evaluating the text as they write the story in a new form. Each of these activities works to help students grasp the deeper meanings in the texts they consume. 

Before, during, and after reading strategies all help students to build confidence in their understanding of texts when they are properly modeled and utilized in the classroom. Students who know how to process the text, actively read, and make inferences about the text show greater confidence in their participation in the ELA classroom. 

The Importance of Scaffolding

 When creating scaffolded reading experiences, teachers must teach students how to utilize specific comprehension strategies, as telling students what to do is not enough for them to benefit from the strategies. Explicit and direct instruction involves deciding which specific strategies to model, telling students the strategy you will model, reading and modeling the strategy, and giving students the chance to participate in the process. After students understand how to use strategies, they can begin to use them independently. Similarly, teachers must teach students how to make inferences about texts step-by-step. 

Spending extra time teaching comprehension strategies may make it seem like less time can be spent on content. However, taking the time to teach comprehension at the start of the year ensures students will be able to strategically read content later in the year and more effectively analyze it. This also means teachers can spend more time having deeper discussions about content instead of having to teach students how to understand it. 

Using before reading activities helps students frontload their knowledge of a text and helps them to be more engaged while reading texts. Teachers can use strategies like anticipation guides to help students preview the themes of texts before they read and begin thinking about them prior to seeing the text. While it’s important to use pre-reading activities to frontload knowledge, students should also engage in during reading activities. Teachers should encourage students to appropriately find ways to “talk” about the text as they read. Using the “Say Something” strategy, teachers can have students say something about what they’ve read after reading a portion of the text aloud. Students can respond to each other and aid each other’s comprehension of the text as they work through it. If students are reading independently, they can use strategies like bookmarks and Post-it notes to track their own thoughts as they read the text. All of these strategies ensure students actively think about the text in the process of reading, as comprehension is a process.

Engaging Students in Reading

 When attempting to engage students in reading, it is important to consider their interests. The first step in providing texts that fit students’ interests involves getting to know what students enjoy. Teachers should find ways to gauge students’ interests, such as providing an informal survey, collecting information at the start of the year, or simply engaging in everyday conversations with them.

Once teachers have an idea of the type of texts students like, they can begin using strategies to sell books to students, like reading aloud a portion as part of a “read and tease”, creating book jacket bulletin boards, and taking trips to the school library during class time. Teachers can also ask students which texts they’d recommend to others and create a good book box in the classroom with books recommended by peers. 

While teachers want students to enthusiastically read books, they also need to remember that students consume texts of all kinds. Students are actually reading more than ever before, just not in the formats typically associated with reading. With this in mind, teachers should practice multi textured teaching. The texts used in the ELA classroom should be layered across units with the diverse needs of students in mind, and these texts should take a variety of forms. By using a wide range of texts, students will be able to better critically read texts and make connections to their own lives.