Quote: "Children's identities can often be expressed through their text-making. These identities shift in relation to the different ways children feel about the subject of their drawing and writing."
Comment: It was fascinating to me that the quote explains how a children's identity can shift in regards to how they feel about what they are writing about. This demonstrates to me how important it is to teach a wide variety of subjects. As the children write and explore different subjects, a teacher can see the different identities the student assumes. This will help the teacher to really start to know the student as an individual. Exploring a variety of subjects will also give the students a chance to explore themselves. The students begin to realize what they like and what they don't like. They begin to learn how to express different emotions; depending of what they are feeling towards the text. Using a variety of subject to write on helps not only the teacher but the student as well.
Question: How do you, as a teacher, adapt your material to address all the students varying backgrounds? For example, how does a teacher talk about snow with students who have not experienced snow?
Your comment was really great. It is very difficult to help students identify with different texts. I believe that this is one reason that a standard text should not be assigned to the class. Each student should have the opportunity to chose for themselves what they want to read. When preparing to read any text however, give the students a way to familiarize themselves with the text by providing background information and get them excited about it.
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