I apologize for my late posting. The stomach flu has done nothing to help my procrastination.

I found that Blau reiterated much of what we have already read. The pointing, double column notetaking, rereading, the different types of knowledge/literacy and so on are all thing that we have already discussed. Blau does present a fuller picture though.

I enjoyed the section on Fostering Performative Literacy in the Classroom. It wasn’t a big section but Blau offered a variety of good techniques to really enhance students learning. I am a big advocate of writing to learn and I think Blau offered a few good suggestions on how to get students to really reflect on what they have read and learn from what they have read. I think double column note taking is a good idea. I also think writing to address unresolved problems could be very beneficial for students. I think the technique could help students who have trouble processing or dealing with open endings to resolve issues they have, or to at least confront issues with the text.

He also suggests looking at different reading of the text and having students write about them. I think this could help students look at the different sides of a text. It could also help improve their ability to research and write about that research. I also think this could help students formulate their own ideas and come to terms with the idea that there are many ways to read a text, as many students have trouble with this.

I also loved the section on “pants-down readings”. This idea seems very similar to think-alouds. It allows the teacher to show the process of evaluating a reading. It shows students that teachers also struggle and how they work through their difficulties with a hard reading.
All of these techniques are great ways to get students into analyzing texts and to evaluate what they are reading.