I have seen children use a short 'independent reading' time well in Kindergarten. They were engaged in 'reading' familiar poems and stories that had been introduced in class, using little pointers (this last week is was monster pointers) to maintain, or attempt to maintain, one to one correspondence. Much too be learned from looking over shoulders, many are already beginning to recognize known words, others have orchestrated the memorized recitation of the simple stories and rhymes with one to one correspondence and though they are not really reading, they are exhibiting growth in awareness of concepts of print. These are children from book poor environments and when they turn to picture books and interact with the pictures, beginning to use story language and to progress through books in the way that readers do, they are making tremendous progress.
I expect to see our teachers talking about comprehension through demonstrations in read aloud from the moment that children walk through the door. Everything we do, we do in support of understanding and I want everyone to know that from the get go. So while I agree that time must be spent on decoding and fluency, and that the balance is a bit out of proportion as we get kids started, I think that asking children to read independently and defiining the choices children can make within that time frame (buddy read, books on tape, poetry read, wordless books) and allow for some approximation with strong expectation, consistent systematic and explicit instruction and a little patient, we will reap the harvest. Lori On 9/29/06 7:10 AM, "GRISTINA, KRISTIN" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Although many on this listserv might disagree, I feel strongly that decoding > and fluency needs to be taught to kids before you ask them to read > independently. The population of students that Debbie works with is not > necessarily the same as the population you are working with. We all want to do > what Debbie does but I don't believe it's possible to have kids who can't read > reading in an independent reading setting. I say, teach the decoding skills > through shared reading and guided reading and then spiral in your > comprehension strategies once you have them reading. Of course you can do the > modeling of comprehension strategies, but if they can only read "I see a cat" > at this point, you have to meet them where they are and then get them to where > they need to be. You have to learn to crawl before you learn to walk! As you > recognize, you are frustrating your students by asking them to read text that > is too difficult for them. I say, slow down. Work in centers and literacy rich > activities during independent time. Get your kids to love reading and then use > the comprehension strategies when you feel they are ready. > Just my thoughts. > Kristin > > ________________________________ > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > -- Lori Jackson District Literacy Coach & Mentor Todd County School District Box 87 Mission SD 57555 http:www.tcsdk12.org ph. 605.856.2211 Literacies for All Summer Institute "Literate Lives: A Human Right" July 12-15, 2007 Louisville, Kentucky http://www.ncte.org/profdev/conv/wlu _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
