This chapter
was about getting students to read material besides the textbook. A large section of this chapter also talked
about setting up a classroom library and gave a list of books that the authors recommended
for this. The Authors also explained the
need for having different levels of reading materials available for your
students depending on their ability and tastes.
I found the
discussion on reading non-textbooks in a class most interesting. They suggested that a well written trade
nonfiction book could do more for a student’s deeper understanding of the subject
matter. As a future history teacher, I
saw this as an option but I never would have considered it for a math
class. I felt this chapter made good
points for subject areas that one would not normally think of as good for
readings other than textbooks. I never
was assigned a book other than my textbook when I was in school for a math
class. I found this very interesting and
it might have helped me understand math better if something had been assigned.
The list at
the end of the chapter was very informative and I liked how they had the selections
rated on reading ability. I think that
this is something a teacher should definitely be aware of when either assigning
a book or added one to his/her library.
As well as having a variety of different types of reading material. I have always been a prolific reader and once
one of my uncles asked me how he could become more interested in reading. I told him that he should read books about subjects
that he was interested in. I also said
that he should not read something just because it was a popular book. A few weeks later, he thanked me for the
advice he had found some books on chess that had interested him and he was
looking forward to reading for the first time in a long time.
