I've been working with an 8th grade class that is much like what Bill describes. Their teacher was dismissed at mid-year, and they started the second semester with a sub. When the new teacher was hired, she was inexperienced, so I spent about 6 weeks modeling and working very closely with her. The students were disinterested and lacked background knowledge related to nearly everything we attempted to have them read. They would not turn in any written assignments, would not read silently, and were either disruptive or disengaged during instruction.
We finally got their attention and began to see some signs of hope when we split them into small guided reading groups. We talked about the importance of questioning as a reading strategy and had them record questions on post-it notes as they read a passage from "Warriors Don't Cry," an autobiographical piece written by one of the students who integrated Little Rock Central High School in 1957. The students knew practically nothing about the civil rights movement, but in small group setting they were not afraid to ask their questions. We began to see some genuine interest once they felt safe enough to admit what they didn't understand. They were able to discuss the text, making powerful connections as well as asking thoughtful questions. (We spent about a week and a half on this very short excerpt.) They performed remarkably well on the selection test at the end of the second week. The teacher is now continuing to use guided reading with these students on her own, and we are both amazed at the difference in these kids. I don't now if it would work for Bill or not, but it was a surprisingly simple solution to our problem. Diana Middle School Literacy Coach "I am a part of everything that I have read." --Theodore Roosevelt _________________________________________________________________ Get a FREE Web site, company branded e-mail and more from Microsoft Office Live! http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/mcrssaub0050001411mrt/direct/01/ _______________________________________________ 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.
