Smell of Old Lady Perfume

Book talk with Ruth, Macey and The Smell of Old Lady Perfume

Chapter 15 "When Kids Can't Read"

This chapter is the author writing a letter to a former student. In this chapter the author outlines that in every classroom across the world there will be students just like the one she had in her classroom.

In a classroom every teacher strives to achieve safety and a good learning environment. Every teacher should want to be the teacher that understands each specific student and each specific need that the student needs. Every teacher wants their students to succeed, by having a safe classroom and differentiated teaching methods this can be achieved.

Chapter 13 "When Kids Can't Read"

The author states in chapter 13 that there are various ways to get students involved in participation. There are various ways that teachers can help students feel confident in joining in with conversation about a text. It is helpful to work with students one on one and help them gain the knowledge and confidence they need. A teacher's job is to help provide scaffolding for the students to help build their success.

The author also points out that it would be helpful for teachers to remember the feeling of being in a class and not wanting to answer a question for fear of giving the wrong answer. The point of participation in class is not just giving the right answer but the point is for them to be involved. Give students options to participate besides old school answer and discuss in class. On page 264 the author gives 3 different ideas for participation besides in class discussion time. The classroom should also be a safe zone for all students, by ensuring students understand and feel safe in the classroom the participation and respect level will go up.

Chapter 12 "When Kids Can't Read"

The author gives a lot of great ideas on how to teach spelling along with reading. She also mentions that without knowledge of spelling it is difficult for students to read well. On page 246 the author states "you'll probably see that students who struggle with word recognition also struggle with spelling."

The best way for teachers to help students with spelling is to work with students to help them learn and use strategies. Every spelling rule doesn't have to be learned but sight words are especially helpful when dealing with reading. Reading and spelling go together and it is crucial for students to learn strategies that will help them with word recognition and spelling.

By: Ruth and Macey Minn and Jake's Almost Terrible Summer

Chapter 11 "When Kids Can't Read"

The author states on page 230 "If we don't use phonics and context together, we can make mistakes that keep us from understanding what we read." She also states on page 242 "But none of that will matter if we fail to give them plenty of opportunity to read at their instrucional and independent levels."

Many times it is easy to make lessons that have small bits and pieces of information but then never put all of that information together. Reading and spelling go hand in hand and should be something that is taught together. Phonics and context should also be taught together, because without both of these things together there is no reading, at least not reading well. When a stuggling reader has questions or problems on a particular part merely saying sound it out is not alwasy good enough strategy.The author outlines 10 suggestions to help struggling readers take control and gain confedence. If at least some of these things were taught in each lesson this could really help students understand what they are missing. These principals could help out teachers when "sound it out" is just not enough.

Chapter 10 "When Kids Can't Read"

In chapter 10 the author states "It's important to remember that students don't develop automaticity via decoding but rather through repeated exposure to a word they can decode." Automaticity is defined as the ability to do something without a lot of conscious thought about the task. In this chapter the author outlines some important strategies in aiding students in reading more fluently, but more importantly helping the students "spend their cognitive energy constructing meaning."

A few ideas the author outlines in this chapter to help students read more fluently is, to measure a students fluency. If we as teachers do not understand where a student is in their reading ability as far as fluency it is hard to understand why a student becomes easily upset when something takes them too long to read. One idea the author outlines to help students in their fluency is to have a word wall that is in the classroom that the students help construct. Another idea is for students to keep notecards with words they are having difficulty decoding in their texts. By instructing students to go over words again and again it will help students with their skills in word recognition and as an end result, fluency.

ALAN book chat

Upon first entering the site I was convinced that things would run smoothly and we would be able to talk to the author in an organized manner. Of course this would turn out not to be true, as things got hectic immediately. Dwight McPherson was wonderful to talk to, and even though things were indeed crazy and unorganized (despite our attempts and Professor Saldana's attempts as well) Mr. McPherson was very insightful. It was cool to get to sit and chat with an author and receive honest answers to questions we have all been pondering and talking about in class. This is something I would use in my classroom, after somehow constructing an easier way to get our questions in more organized. This could possibly be done by just using one computer in the classroom and instructing the students to ask questions one at a time. Despite the craziness of the questions asked, the author did a wonderful job of answering nearly all of them (although I am not sure how still) and it was an enjoyable experience overall.

Chapter 9"When Kids Can't Read"

The author outlines how important it is for students to understand vocaublary. In this chapter the author also states that many vocabulary units are filled with words that most students will never need in everyday life. It is important for teachers to pick words that students can use in their conversations as well as in their writting. The author also states that we cannot simply tell students to use context clues to find the meaning of a word but we must teach them how to use clues in the text.



Students need to learn vocabulary that can be used in everyday situations and not just vocabulary for a test. If uses the words just in conversation before introducing them in the lessons this allows time for the students to become familiar with the words before hand. It is also curcial that the teacher uses them in the classroom in normal situations after the lesson has been taught and before the test. There are many great strategies outlined in this chapter such as using a word hunt before a test. Using different strategies allows the students time to become familiar with the words before the test.

Chapter 8 "When Kids Can't Read"

The author states that there are many different strategies that we can teach students to use to comprehend and understand the meaning in text. One of these strategies is "Scales encourage students not only to think about but also to engage in discussions for what they've read"(143). Another strategy that the author outlines is called SWBS, or Somebody Wanted But So.



The SWBS is more engaging than to summarize the story, it gets students active and involved but at the same time essentially allows them to summarize what they have read. It also allows the students to make comments, voice concerns and interact with each other. These are both great ideas outlined by the author and could be very beneficial to all types of students in the classroom.

Chapter 7 "When Kids Can't Read"

The author states that for many students rereading is something that automatically do. These are the good independent readers, for the dependent readers this is not something they will do. The author states on page 113 "Rereading is probably the number one strategy independent readers use when something stumps them in a text. It's probably the last strategy dependent readers use."


As teachers we can help dependent readers begin to use this strategy as well. We cannot however, send them on their way to use this strategy without some instruction first. With proper guidance and instruction dependent readers can begin to see that this is a strategy that can work for them.

Chapter 6 "When Kids Can't Read"

The author states a critical point to help students respond better to a book is by making personal connections. The author outlines some excellent ideas on how to do this including an anticipation guide and a tea party as she calls it. "the more we frontload a students' knowledge of a text and help them become actively involved in constructing meaning prior to reading, the more engaged they are likely to be as they read the text."

Involving students in a text before letting them read the text is an excellent way to ensure they become active, engaged and thinking of the main themes of the book before ever reading it. In a class I am observing we actually did an anticipation guide and went over it in class today. It was exciting to see the students debating and discussing the main themes and central ideas of the book before they even opened the cover. This is an excellent idea to use in classrooms and I am excited to use this idea in my own. I can see in motion what the author is talking about when she outlines how important it is to get students involved and interested before they read.

Chapter 5 "When Kids Can't Read"

This chapter is about inference and how to help the students that are struggling with this part of reading. On page 69 the author outlines some wonderful tips on helping students with this problem. There are 6 of these things that you could do with students as a teacher.

I think that many times teachers and students get frustrated at the inference part of reading because it is so hard to explain. Inference is in the abstract and it is much easier to teach something concrete than abstract ideas. I think by using these activities however, it could really help students understand how to infer information from the text.

Chapter 4 "When Kids Can't Read"

In chapter 4 the author is mainly talking about how to teach comprehension of text to students. There are 6 steps that she outlines, but 1 of the important ones that I have never seen modeled is the "Think-alouds." This chapter has a lot of information on how to model these strategies and how to actually teach them.

As a student there have been many times (especially in junior high) when the teacher read aloud to us. Now according to many experts this seems like a very important key factor in classes (not to mention fun for the students) but I have never heard of "think-alouds." The author sets the example that the teacher reads a passage from the selected text and then literately thinks aloud about how he/she is visualizing the text, predicting what will happen next, and trying to clarify anything that is confusing as well as a few other strategies. I think if this had been done in my classroom when I was a student there would have been a lot less comments such as "just reread it or just fill out the worksheet." No one is born knowing how to read, infer, comprehend and everything else that we are expected to learn. This seems like an excellent way to model these key elements and an excellent placement for "just reread it, or fill out the worksheets."

Chapter 3 "When Kids Can't Read"

In the chapter the author outlines some of the things that good readers do, such as: "They recognize that the purpose for reading is to get meaning, they use a variety of comprehension strategies, they make a range of inferences, they use prior knowledge" and the list goes on from there. The author is mainly making a point here to help teachers recognize a few things that is imperative that students learn.

By understanding what it takes to be a "good reader" teachers must first learn exactly what it is they do. The author in this chapter is outlining some key strategies as well as some thoughts on how to pin point exactly where a student is struggling. None of this matters if what we do as readers is not grasped. For many teachers they have been reading for so long that it is extremely difficult to know how it was learned and how it was understood. With the chart that the author outlines and some of these vitally important keys to being a good reader I think as future teachers we can have a firm grasp on how to not only help students improve but how to teach us how to understand where they are struggling as readers.

Chapter 2 "When Kids Can't Read"

In the book the author states "that simply improving the cognitive aspects of reading (comprehension, vocabulary, decoding, and word recognition) does not ensure that the affective aspects of reading (motivation, enjoyment, engagement) will automatically improve. Also the story of the little girl not understanding what the "brass ring" was really for stuck out in the text. Just because a student understands what the words are saying does not mean they understand the things that needs to go with is such as"what is it used for and why?"

If we help students understand the questions that they may not be able to formulate on their own yet true learning will come with it. As avid readers ourselves it is important for us to help students understand the important questions that need to be addressed.
I think this part of the chapter stuck out the most to me because I am working with some students now that are able to define and understand the words they are reading but when asked some questions the true comprehension is lacking. Just because a student understands the text (the words) it doesn't mean that they understand the meaning and it also does not mean that they will enjoy reading and do it on their own. It is hard sometimes to understand this, at least for me. Sometimes a student will understand the text but if they are not enjoying it there is no motivation to pick up something else and read it. As teachers I think our goal should be comprehension of the words and meaning but also helping create an environment that will be conducive for them to exploring outside of the classroom.

Chapter 3 "Building a knowledge base in reading"

In chapter 3 there were quite a few interesting ideas brought up. I think one of the most interesting was that culture and literacy are closely related. Another interesting fact it mentioned is that oral language provides the framework and foundation for written language.

I never really thought about how different cultures have different forms of story telling. In some cultures it is very important that storytelling abilities are passed down through the generations. In this case auditory learning and oral learning are a high priority. All of these things together are closely related to reading and help establish a learning pattern that is needed.

Chapter 2 "Building a knowledge base in reading"

Chapter 2 talks a lot about how critical it is that home and school connections are linked when learning to read. It also states that language is the main vehicle of thought.

This chapter was really helpful in thinking about how important it is to make sure that home and school are linked together when learning to read. Together they can help ensure that a child has the best experience in learning to read, and apart it can be very detrimental in their learning process. I also thought it was also very interesting that it mentions that knowledge is constructed by the learner themselves. Every individual constructs what they remember and we as teachers can help show them what to add to their knowledge.

Literature Circles Experience

Being in a Literature circle as a future teacher looking in was something that was interesting. I attempted to think how this would effect students and their love or hate of novels. I have never really belonged to a "book club" but my friends and I enjoy talking about our favorite movies, TV shows or books. To me, this was much like that. Our literature circle did not stay on topic each time, but we did discuss some interesting topics that were related.

In our literature circle we mainly talked about why we did or did not like the book, the main characters and the favorite supporting characters. We also talked about why we did or did not like graphic novels in general. There were also some very interesting questions that came up such as; are there sequels to this book, and why some of the characters disappeared. I enjoyed being in the literature circle because it gave me a chance to appreciate other peoples opinion of the novel and their ideas.

I think literature circles could be a very useful tool in the classrooms. It gives students a feel for how someone else is thinking or what they are feeling about the book. It also helps them to focus on something that they might not have focused on before. I would love to use this tool in my classroom someday and I am appreciative of what it can teach students as a whole about reading.

Chapter 14 "When Kids Can't Read"

"If we can't use ourselves as guides for what makes a good book, then we're left with using what students tell us."

This chapter is mainly about using students as a guide to what we as teachers should have the students read. A good guideline to engage the students who hate reading is, think short, straightforward and chose a title with few characters. A few other tips on choosing a book that might appeal to many students is fiction books that have a lot of white space, some illustrations and thin books with short chapters. Many students seem to also enjoy books that have a plot with a lot of action that begins right away. I think listening to students and getting plenty of feedback when trying to engage non-readers in literature is to find out exactly what interests them. There are so many students that have different preferences and by understanding what appeals to the students we as teachers can better introduce literature to non-readers.

"Connecting students to Culturally relevant Texts" reaction

"When teachers use culturally relevant books, students understand the books more fully, and as a result, become more engaged in their reading." "Culturally relevant books connect to student's lives, not just to their cultural heritage."

These statements could really change the way a teacher views books chosen if it could be fully grasped. Many students know what their heritage is, but some do not. By being culturally relevant it might include relating to the main character in a book because of age or relating to a character because they live in the same vicinity as themselves. Each book chosen needs to be pertinent to students lives, and not just because they are from a certain country or have a certain hair color. Many students may have the same background and prior knowledge as another student with different hair color. Understanding that heritage is important and relevant and can make an extreme difference in what a student is interested in reading, but it may not be the heritage that grasps their interest it might be there experiences and their real life dilemmas.

Chapter 1 "Building a knowledge base in reading"

Children understand reading through writing. There is close connections between reading and writing. Children build an oral language and knowledge as they learn to read and write.

These things stuck out the most to me in chapter one, mainly because so many times reading and writing are taught as two separate things. Sure they are taught by the same teacher and often times more than not in the same class. I think until we understand that children understand reading through writing that we cannot properly teach them how to dissect and understand the text they are reading. This chapter had many great points and I think by better understanding these key concepts we can help students understand how to read and write better in connection with one another.

Literature Circles

In most literature circles:
1. Students choose their own reading materials
2. Small temporary groups are formed, based upon book choice
3. Different groups read different books
4. Groups meet on a regular, predictable schedule to discuss their reading
5. Kids use written or drawn notes to guide both their reading and discussion
6. Discussion topics come from the students
7. Group meetings aim to be open, natural conversations about books, so personal connections, digressions, and open-ended questions are welcome
8. In newly-forming groups, students may play a rotating assortment of task roles
9. The teacher serves as a facilitator, not a group member or instructor

I think this is a great idea because it lets students chose their own topic and books. This involved the students in their own education and allows for cooperative learning to evolve. It also allows students to formulate their own topics and discuss their understanding of the topic chosen. I think this is a great way to get students involved in their own education and helps them create thier own desires and interests.