Jennifer, I really appreciate the further explanation. I used a staircase to organize the my class and I took while reading about Martin Luther King. Then we discussed what we could see and better understand about MLK. It was a very thoughtful discussion. We'll keep using it throughout our biography unit. Thank you for sharing. mary
On Sun, Jan 25, 2009 at 10:31 AM, Palmer, Jennifer <jennifer.pal...@hcps.org > wrote: > Mary > I am glad you liked the staircase analogy. My coteacher and I were really > pleased with how it worked. Here is a more complete description of how the > lesson played out: > > > The kids had read a bio of Dr. Seuss the day before with a buddy and we > asked them to read with a question in mind...What does the author want us to > learn? We gathered them all at the bottom of the steps in the back of the > grade two commons and we asked them to read the first couple pages and tell > what they thought the author wanted us to learn. Then we actually wrote it > out on a sentence strip and taped it to the steps while the kids watched. > We continued the process...and as one teacher guided the reading/thinking > during reading, the other helped the kids develop a new sentence on a > sentence strip and taping it down. I kept running down to the bottom and as > I stepped up on each step reading our sentences. After about six steps I > asked the kids what they were noticing. One student said that the story was > "going up too." When I asked him to tell more...he said that as we were > going on in Dr. Seuss's life, we were getting higher up the steps. THEN, the > most serendipitous event occurred. Another teacher was coming down the > steps. I asked her to as she came down to read what the kids wrote and tell > what she was thinking. (TOTALLY UNPLANNED!) She did two steps and > said..."Wait... this doesn't make sense!" > > You could practically hear the lightbulbs going off with the kids. They > shouted to her "Start from the bottom!" > They totally were getting the idea that the ideas needed to go in order > from the beginning. > > Here are some exit slips for the question "How are biographies like > stairs?" (Excuse the stretch spelling but it gives you the true effect!) > > "Each step you lern more..." > "Because it dusnt make sents wene you go down" > "You have to start at the bottom." > "Because steps are growing and so is the persin in the book > > Jennifer Palmer > Reading Specialist, National Board Certified Teacher, FLES > January is Maryland Reading Month! > "Reading is not a duty, and has consequently no business to be made > disagreeable!" > -Augustine Birrell > > > ________________________________ > > From: understand-boun...@literacyworkshop.org on behalf of mary mullin > Sent: Sun 1/25/2009 8:49 AM > To: Special Chat List for To Understand: New Horizons in > ReadingComprehension > Subject: Re: [Understand] text structures > > > > Thanks for sharing this way to explain biographies to children. My 2nd > grade > level has been struggling how to make biographies understandable. The image > of a staircase is brillant and I know you referred to Peter's idea of the > dresser. What makes this mail ring so special is that sharing a simple > visual clue such as a dresser or staircase will make help teachers make > different text structures accessible to primary students. mary > > On Mon, Jan 19, 2009 at 4:38 PM, <cnjpal...@aol.com> wrote: > > > I know Ellin believes it is important for students to understand how > texts > > are organized. A colleague and I are planning to use the analogy of a set > > of > > stairs to help second graders understand the chronological text structure > > of > > some simple biographies our students will be reading. We thought stairs > > show > > that the order of ideas matters when making sense of this kind of text... > > and > > how the ideas build...you see how the events in someone's life influence > > later > > events and while you can "jump the steps" to look at just a certain time > > period in someone's life, you need to read from beginning to end to get > > the full > > picture of the significance of someone's life. Does that make sense? > > > > What do you all do to teach text structures with your students? > > Jennifer > > **************Inauguration '09: Get complete coverage from the nation's > > capital. ( > > http://news.aol.com/main/politics/inauguration?ncid=emlcntusnews00000003 > ) > > _______________________________________________ > > Understand mailing list > > Understand@literacyworkshop.org > > > > > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org > > > _______________________________________________ > Understand mailing list > Understand@literacyworkshop.org > > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org > > > > _______________________________________________ > Understand mailing list > Understand@literacyworkshop.org > > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org > > _______________________________________________ Understand mailing list Understand@literacyworkshop.org http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org
