Blog #6

Well the time of student teaching is going very quickly for me. We only have 4 weeks of it left at Baldwin. My Physical Science class is still reading Rocket Boys (October Sky) and we have discussions in the class about that book. We took the AP Biology class to the library last week to have them chose a book from the AP Bio list. I had read some of the books and I was able to help the students pick some out.
I did one literary engagement using visuals before the reading. I showed students deforestation taking place in S. America. I had each student right down their immediate feelings about the picture, what facts they saw in the picture, and what question they wanted to ask about it. I did this for 5 pictures and then gave them an article to read about deforestation. The pictures really intrigued the students and I didn't have any trouble getting them to read the article. We then discussed what they saw in the pictures and if the text helped them.
I haven't gotten much accomplished as far as the inquiry project goes, but I'm hoping to get more it done come my TWS. I'm trying to keep up with readicide and I've started asking students, in an informal way, how they feel about reading and especially reading in science. The most common response is they don't have enough time to read for pleasure.