I read the wonderful reflections and questions that Gina started in her posting. I have had many of the same questions and the issue related to the authenticity in direct instruction - what I think of as "thinking aloud" is something I struggled with for a long time. I'm tackling that one in my new book, To Understand which will be out in the spring, but I think it has everything to do with what we tell kids about WHY we're doing the think aloud - what will use of the strategy lead to? What are the outcomes of using strategies? What is it to really understand? I find that kids are fascinated by those conversations and can very easily identify what they understand using a strategy that they wouldn't understand without it.
On the question of whether all kids need all strategies - this one I feel very strongly about - all kids do need (deserve?) all strategies IF they are reading challenging enough text. Kids who are reading text with ideas that aren't necessarily challenging or multi-faceted don't need strategies. Think back to your own elementary through high school experience - if you were like me, I spent a lot of time reading text that was in no way challenging for me - until college and graduate school - where I met with a big surprise and had to essentially teach myself the strategies without the benefit of a language to define and describe them. I think all kids need all strategies IF they're in challenging enough text - which may be a huge problem in our "level happy" culture right now. I think leveled text is useful for kids who are practicing word identification strategies and fluency - however, I worry that kids are not frequently enough in challenging enough text. I don't mean that I want kids consistently reading text that is too difficult for them, but that kids should be in text in which the ideas, themes and topics are challenging to them. In those types of texts kids need and will certainly benefit from strategy instruction and application. I am always looking for texts that have provocative, interesting themes but are readable for a wide range of children. Hope that adds to the discussion - I find Gina's questions and the responses very interesting. my best, ellin keene _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org.
