Jennifer said...Okay Susan and others...help me understand something. I can't see basing a reading grade on comprehension of a story. Aren't we teaching a process here???We really aren't teaching the story here right? We are teaching students how to read...so in the end, isn't what matters most the strategy knowledge the child takes away from your class? Why grade comprehension of a story when it doesn't matter 5 years from now whether or not the child knows the problem and solution of a particular story. There are some children who could read a story and fill in the answers to a comprehension test without our instruction...so how do we know what they have learned without looking at how they have come to comprehend or the processes??
Jennifer I love that you keep holding this up in different light. I have had a difficult time getting people to engage in this grading discussion, I think because it is so thorny as to be disturbing, and aren't our jobs tough enough already? But I believe that ease of assessing and confidence in a report card have a direct correlation with what we're willing to do in our teaching. Over and over I see teachers falling back on poor methods of teaching BECAUSE they offer easy methods of grading, and in today's world I find myself continuously faced with parents who expect me to explain my grading. (as they should) I am simply not sure any longer what my explanation is. Your comment below grading really comes down to our own personal philosophies of what reading is and what needs to be taught. caused me to really stop and think. I don't think a lot of us do grade according to our reading philosophies. I think we grade according to the constraints of time and the reporting system itself, i.e. ONE number....a percent to represent a process of thinking???!!! I think I am fairly intelligent, but this one has me over a barrel. And as passionate as I am about teaching "reading is thinking", you should see the things I will do to get a number on that report card. Am I alone? I am not sure if I think scoring a process or the application is best. Deciding if a child is proficient at visualizing, or connecting is a slippery slope. But asking a child to understand a theme, or the importance of rising action by substantiating thoughts with strategies seems closer to our purpose. For me it is simply thinking of those activities that demand the right things from the readers. I would love to hear just a list of the kinds of application work some of you score to use as a grade. Is it process work scored with a rubric, or some finally analysis of comprehension? Thanks for all the good discussion, Gina _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org.
