Thomas Edison
This quote comes from a great inventor, Thomas Edison, and illustrates how much there is to learn about if one opens their eyes. I feel this ties in greatly with the fourth chapter of Teaching Literacy entitled The Evocative Dimension. Essentially, Wilhelm and Novak point theorize that their are three dimensions to responsiveness: Evocative, Connective, and Reflective. I will attempt to decode what exactly the authors mean by this, starting first with the aforementioned Evocative Dimension.
Evocative is defined in the dictionary as “bringing strong images, memories, or feelings to mind.” In that sense, the Evocative Dimension refers to a text engaging with a reader on a personal, emotional level. Wilhelm and Novak suggest that current educators often fail to allow any engagement to occur, leading to students who read the text from a distant point of reference, or worse, not at all. In failing to do so, teachers are essentially missing an opportunity to create meaning for their students.
Novak and Wilhelm suggest that for literature to be evocative, there needs to be a certain amount of “Frontloading.” These gateway activities are a way to allow students to activate prior knowledge and approach texts at a personal level. In my mind, this essentially means students have a stake in what they are reading. Frontloading can take many different forms, but the example given involves getting students to bring in aspects of their own lives. In this case, on a unit about humour, the teacher asked students to post links to websites that they found funny.
The next point Teaching Literacy makes is the importance of pleasure to reading. It is not so much that as educators we want students to have fun — we do, but it is not our priority — it is the fact that unpleasing reading is ineffective. The authors indicate many students create a clear line between their home reading and their school reading, as one is enjoyable and one is a chore. A good educator strives to erase this boundary, giving meaningful texts that are also interesting to students. I have already discussed this regarding Gallagher and choosing appropriate texts, but it is truly an important base. Without a solid text to build open, the lesson is doomed from the start.
Jurasstastic 