Appleman, Chapter 3

It makes a lot of sense when Appleman describes how reader response can be taught better by two things. One of these things is "teaching it more explicitly and also by teaching it as one of a variety of theoretical approaches rather than as the only possible approach. These two things are extremely important when regarding the ways to teach literary theory. Looking deeper into the reader-response theory, Appleman points out some good methods. One of which is not to pick out a poem that is very ambiguous but also to not tell the students what the title is. Whenever I read a poem, the title always sticks with me, I can never get it out of my head. This is a great way to get a great response. Reading the responses to the poem "Mushrooms" by Sylvia Plaith was amazing. There were so many great ideas to work with and build off of. Other practices that she demonstrates that I admired were incorporating Rosenblatt's reader response diagram. She then proceeded on to have them to respond to each of the three parts. It was very interesting to see the responses, especially when several of the students negatively identified themselves. I believe that I am a fan of reader response.

Appleman, Chapter 2

I cannot stress enough how important it is for teachers to encourage multiple perspectives. I cannot even remember how many times my teachers in the past have said that the meaning of a poem or short story has this one correct meaning. I like how Appleman stresses the fact that multiple meanings are key. She sums it up perfect when she explains how literary theory needs to be taught gently and with ease. I enjoyed reading about the four cases she pointed out. I believe that once students realize that there isn't one specific meaning to texts, they will open their critical lense and become more interested. A perfect example of this is when I was in my senior year of high school. I read the book "The True Story of Hansel and Gretel" by Louise Murphy. I had no idea that this simple childhood story had so much meaning especially being connected to a subject that I had a lot of interest in, being World War II.
It was very interesting to see how Appleman secretly observes and sees how her students theotrical journey is progressing. I believe that this a good method to achieve instead of habitually testing or quizzing all the time on theories.

Appleman, Chapter 1

First of all, I have always seen literary theories as somewhat of a pain. I have never really liked them and always perplexed me. I understand what Appleman means when he says that literary theories "provide students with a way of reading their world; the lenses provide a way of "seeing" differently and analytically that can help them read the culture of school as well as popular culture." I believe this is good for students, but students need to be taught in a new modern way. Multicultural literature is not only something that is becoming more popular but in my eyes, it needs to be a necessity. I believe that Wolf is right on when she says that literary theory helps give students a process to give a deeper and richer way of thinking about literary texts.
I am very interested to see how this book will not only portray different critical theories but answer questions such as, "What are the best ways to teach these theories?" or really go in depth of some of the leading ones.

Wilhelm, Chapter 6

Wilhelm does a very good job of observing and trying to understand his students. He proves this once again through things such as his studying response. I believe this is vital to truly understand the students and know how to develop their skills to their fullest potential. A part of the chapter that really stood out to me was the section of using alternate texts as literature. In my pre-internship, my teacher used this method by providing different texts for the same story (Romeo and Juliet). I believe that the students reacted very well to this. I wish to do the same in my classroom. I believe that my favorite quote of this chapter, maybe even book, is when Wilhelm says that an "Educator is someone who creates learning environments and researches learning with the students". This is very important for a teacher to know. It is a neverending learning process.
Another great thing that Wilhelm does is define what literacy is. He defines literacy as " the ability to evoke, coneive of, express, receive, reflect on, share, evaluate and negotiate meanings, in the various forms that meanins may take." This definition is well said and makes perfect sense. His ideas in this book were very informational and well studied.

Wilhelm, Chapter 5

When Wilhelm explains seeing the visual possibility, it is easy to agree with him. When reading, students need to connect with the reading and really visualize what is going on to really comprehend the reading. Reading this chapter reminded me of my reading experiences in middle school. During this time, I was a reader like Ron. I knew what happened but it wasn't like I had lived it. I had to learn how to visualize what I was reading. He makes a very good point that teachers need to encourage students to experience and visualize wha they read, especially by drawing out scenes and ideas. Teachers need to help their students find and experience this "secondary world".
I believe as teachers, we underestimate illustrated books or novels. Especially teaching secondary education, it seems that if illustrations are involved then the reading is too elementary or not sophisticated enough. He comes up with very good projects such as picture mapping or illustrating books as well. Anothe part of the chapter that I enjoyed was how important it is to relate to the characters.

Wilhem, Chapter 4

Using drama to attract readers is a great method. Rosenblatt makes a good point when she says "the benefits of literature can emerge only from creative activity on the part of the reader himself." It is also vital to understandthat reading literature is not the reception of meaning, the the readers participation in a transaction with text that produces meaning. It is important to find material that can connect to the unencouraged reader. How can teachers ask students to relate and connect to things that they have not experienced?
Drama is a great method to do this because of the fact that it puts the reader inside the secondary world of a story, experiencing and elaborating upon it from within. It is easy for me to see how research agrees that highly engaged readers do read in a dramatic nature. He mentions good ways to pull in the reluctant reader, one of which is drama, and then creative activities such as visual art. Reluctant readers need to know that reading is more than just decoding. It is key to bring the reading to life in order to ger trye meaning,

Wilhelm, Chapter 1

The first thing that I thought of when reading this chapter, was my pre-internship. Most students absolutely hated to read. I just could not understand where these kids learned to loathe literature so much, but then I went back and through of my worst English teacher. After I did this, it all made sense. New Criticism is drilled into students head from the beginning of their literature careers. This theory, although a very good theory to know, it is not the only thing students’ needs to focus on when dealing with reading literature. Students need to know that they can interpret literature any way they want. There is not always one overall meaning to a piece of literature. Instead of the students interpreting the literature how they want then working from that, students are constantly trying to guess this certain meaning that the New Criticism theory points towards.Rosenblatt summed up my view very well when she defined "valid reading". It must be two things, one being that the interpretation is not contradicted by any element of the text and that nothing is projected for which there is no verbal basis.I was very interested in the bottom up approach that had the idea that "once students have understood and mastered, the sub skills of reading, they can apply these in context to decode letters and words." I agree with this approach to a point. I wouldn't want the students to believe that this is the final step of reading. Yes, this is a great way to learn how to decode, but I would want my students to make sure they know that decoding is NOT reading. Many students believe that since they can decode very well, they are very good readers. I hope to steer away from just mere decoding in my classroom.

Wilhelm, Chapter 2

The first thing that really stood out to me when reading this chapter was not only the section on valid reading but also the part about really doing research about the students' reading activities. It is a necessity to understand where your students are coming from. The methods that he mentioned seemed like great ways to gain a look into the students. Some of the methods that really caught my eye were the interviews, literary letters and think alouds. Although, I have not done a think aloud actually in the classroom, I have had experience with them and think they are great tools for reading.When Wilhelm chose the case study, he chose two girls and one boy. I believe by doing this he got a good range of students. There is always a stereotypical view that the only students who read get straight A's or are nerds. This meant a lot to me, because I was one of those students. I loved to read but didn't get the best grades. He did a great job of researching diverse students, that way he can learn how to reach all of his students instead of just some. I plan on doing some of the same research with my students. This also was refreshing because it is good to know that students love reading as much as Cora, Ron and Joanne do.

Wilhelm, Chapter 3

The three criteria for any classroom research method are great guidelines to follow when getting to know your students reading methods. One of the certain methods that I hope to put into action is the teacher journal. I believe that writing down observations, assessments, conversations or just memories of students is a great method. Once again, I also highly agree with the think alouds. This method is a great way to model good ways of reading. Another good method that he points out is the symbolic story representation. This is a well planned interactive way to get students involved in the literature. This method brings in arts and crafts and can make reading fun.The ten dimensions that Wilhelm explains in chapter three are very well researched. They are broken down into Evocative dimensions, connective dimensions, and reflective dimensions. I believe that the most interesting dimension is the connective dimension. For me, this is the most exciting. It shows how the students really not only understand, but that they can demonstrate what they have learned. These dimensions break down each part of the reading process. This helps teachers understand where students are coming from and the steps they go through.