First of all, I hope everyone keeps sharing their
experiences with the lessons; I learn so much from
your reflections. So I am LOVING this discussion, and
I LOVE the comprehension toolkit and have enjoyed
teaching all the lessons BUT...
I was the first one to mention "Stealing Beauty" as a
flop with my third graders, and this reply was to
(Angela?) a list member who was wondering how to divvy
up the provided text among grade levels. My point was
merely that they have provided text to make the
toolkit easy to use, not to suggest that it is the
only text one can use. It took me that first year to
realize that I could/should substitute different
(though still rich) text for lessons that did not work
for me. I notice that the majority of the teachers
who responded that the SB article worked for them
teach grade 5, and I would guess that this would work
better with an upper grade class. We can't forget this
is a 3-6 resource which is a pretty wide span.
As for why it flopped...it was way too long &
difficult for my third graders, especially at the
beginning of the year when they are glorified 2nd
graders. I personally enjoyed the article when I
prepped for the lesson and was very excited to get
started. VERY disappointed when my students were
squirmy & bored...not the reaction I wanted. And
isn't the outcome the point? I know part of the
point also was to model w/ an adult article, and I did
revisit the lesson & substituted one of my own
National Geographic articles (MUCH shorter and a bit
easier for the kids to understand as I modeled).
I don't think the Harvey/Goudvis would want us locked
into these texts as opposed to ones we are more
comfortable teaching with or ones better suited to our
group of students. Wouldn't that kind of "basalize"
this amazing kit? The idea of substituting text was
initially a difficult decision for me b/c STEPHANIE
HARVEY one of my mentors chose this text...who am I to
say it's the wrong one for me? And then it hit me that
this is the same argument people in my school make for
following the reading anthology lessons to the letter.
It gave me pause.
Lisa...who is THRILLED to see that a K-3 kit will be
available since I'm moving from 3/4 to 2/3!!
2/3 IL
--- Angela Almond <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> The piece of adult text that went with "Stealing
> Beauty" was TOO hard for
> the students to get and was so hard that even I had
> a hard time getting
> it. I plan on using another piece of adult text to
> model with. Something
> that I feel more comfortable with will make me feel
> more comfortable using
> it to model with. The third grade used a different
> piece after I shared
> with them my experiences and they had a much better
> outcome with it.
>
> Angela Hatley Almond
> Fourth Grade
> East Albemarle Elementary School
>
>
> About the "Stealing Beauty" lesson...isn't that the
> one where the
> teacher models his/her use of the strategies--with a
> piece written for
> adults? (I don't have my kit at home.) I'm wondering
> how/in what way
> that one flopped. If you don't mind sharing, how did
> (or will) you
> change it? I'm planning on starting the kit in one
> week and would
> greatly appreciate any help.
>
>
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>
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