Reflection on Term 1

I have noticed quite a shift in some areas for my class this term and some areas which I need to focus more energy on. The majority of the class are enthusiastic towards learning activities be it independent, in pairs or in groups. They enjoy getting the chance to voice their opinions on thing they can connect with, however, many of the students find it very difficult to make any connection to them, their world or even anything else they have read. Britton's famous quote "Reading floats on a sea of talk" initially inspired me to shift my focus during guided reading group sessions, but it is still highly likely that many of the students in my class won't find anything to connect to or with. They share their thoughts well, but they simply don't have any connection to what we are discussing.

With this challenge in mind I am considering shifting the emphasis from merely comprehension and inference into critically discussing the texts and exploring how they make them feel. Things like what they like about them, what they don't like, etc.

I was reading an article by Sue McDowall ("On Teaching Reading and Being A Reader") where she raises the idea that reading needs to be taught from the angle that ideas need to be built and challenged about the texts, rather than merely decoding the one meaning.