Chapter 4

After completing the chapter 4 reading, I strongly encourage using drama to extend young readers. I really enjoyed reading the study Wilhelm did with his three students Marvin, Kevin, and Libby. It was interesting to see their perspectives on reading, and how they drastically changed after engaging in many drama activities that were also discussed throughout this chapter. I agree that many unmotivated readers have poor attitudes on reading because they are not making a connection with the material they're reading. I feel that Libby's reasoning was well said when she said that she only likes reading when she gets to choose what she is reading. I feel that this is true for everybody when it comes to reading which is why I think teachers need to allow their students to choose what they read the majority of the time. I know that I do not enjoy reading things being forced on me when I have no interest in the subject matter. If I am 22 years old and feeling this way, coming from a person who is anywhere from 14-18 is definitely going to reject most forced reading material rather quickly.
I also really think I benefited from the different implementations of drama in the classroom. Revolving Role Drama, Dramatic Play, Guided Imagery, Snapshot and Tableaux, Analogy Dramas, To Tell the Truth Game, Correspondence, Missing Scene Scripts, and Newscast are all tremendous ideas to use in the classroom. I think many young adolescents view reading as an "uncool, boring, and useless" part of school. They must feel this way because there has never been anything fun involving their reading to keep their interest. Using drama with secondary readers, I feel, will greatly influence their attitudes, perception, and values as a reader. Many of the strategies listed can be seen as fun, involving, and unique for an English classroom as well. As a past ignorant high school student, I can relate to not enjoying many of the activities that I did in the English classroom. I can remember being bored, anxious, and uninterested. I believe the influence on my attitudes towards these classes were because of the attitudes the teachers had exploited in their own classroom. Teachers need to portray themselves as energetic and interested people when it comes to their work and what they are trying to teach their students.
My favorite drama strategy is the Snapshot and Tableaux. I think this strategy can be very effective for students to get involved in the reading in many ways. It can help students think and recall scenes in the book, provide explanations and support for their specific scene, which is something that they can practice in their writing as well. Not only will this provide practice for each students' thinking process, but it is a fun way to learn and engage in the text without taking written tests or doing daily journals that can become redundant.