During my high school classes of reading and writing,
my teachers started making us get our sources from two or three different types
of sources. For example, we could have gotten our sources from the internet, a
magazine article, a book, etc. During the time I had to write these papers I thought
it was annoying and inconvenient to have to have to find information from
different sources when I already found all the information I needed in one
source. Now, I understand why my teachers wanted us to venture out and read
different sources. Students are so use to only needing to understand their
textbook that they forget about all the other types of sources they can learn
from and get information from. Not all are easy to read either which is another
good reason why students need to try them out and see if they can analyze and
understand the material. It may help them learn to take a part pieces of a
writing and study it to realize what the words are saying. This will also teach
them about the many different possibilities that can come from different
sources. The range of views and the variety of ideas are endless. These sources
give them a chance to look beyond the given text book. Maybe one of your
students isn’t fully understanding what is going on in class or they are bored
with the topic. This is a perfect opportunity to suggest them with an interesting
novel about the same topic to keep them intrigued or to help them better
understand. Students learn differently from one another so different sources
will relate to different students in many ways. Either way, students are
getting a wider range of resources to use to explore their curriculum.
Provide this student with another source!
303words
I also remember my teachers telling me to find four sources on one topic and at the time I thought it was just more homework, but looking back I understand why my teachers made me do that. I agree that different sources can help students relate to the topic and hopefully keep them interested. Other sources are great and provides multiple ways for students to attain the knowledge laid out in the curriculum. (73)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on hating but understanding the importance of finding many sources. However, I think it is ironic that you said you found everything in a textbook. In the classrooms at Hilsman middle school, the students seem to only want to Google information rather than opening up a textbook. It is as if they do not even know what the textbook contains. It is crazy how much technology has changed learning; I know technology is supposed to make things easier, but sometimes people forget how simplistic and useful a textbook can actually be as a quick reference. (99)
ReplyDeleteHi Kayeli. I appreciate your point about getting a variety of ideas about given topics. This is actually a great way to encourage student choice in reading texts other than the textbook. So let's say you read a chapter about the Vietnam War in a textbook. You could asks students to find two-three articles that provide differing perspectives on some aspect of the Vietnam War. This is a great strategy because it's context focused while also encouraging student choice and the appreciation of multiple perspectives.
ReplyDelete