Thanks so much for this rich and diverse discussion. I love that we can
disagree yet still respect each other's opinions and practices. I've been
following this thread with great interest, because I've always felt I didn't do
a good enough job teaching the strategies. I've been a bit heistant to talk in
too much detail about my practices, because my approach is so casual. I feel
inadequate sometimes among all the skilled and talented teachers on this list.
I model using the strategies through read/think alouds. I don't drill, test,
or do long drawn out lessons about them. We focus on the literature. (Except
determining importance, the kids LOVE the "House" lesson, and I find it really
helps them understand how they can have different purposes for reading the same
text.) I use whatever we are reading in other subjects as a springboard for
strategy instruction, based on what the students need, and the type of text we
are reading. (It's not uncommon to hear a student say: "Hey, I thought this
was math!"
This past year I reviewed each strategy briefly, since some of my students
this year had me in second grade (where they first learned about reading
strategies) and we had some new students who I knew nothing about. (Plus, I'm
not really sure what they did in third grade and felt we needed to come
together with a common vocabulary) Then I dove right in with modeling as I did
read alouds. I didn't focus on any particular strategy, just pointed out my
thinking while I was reading. Sometimes this was during whole group
instruction, sometimes it was during Lit. Circles, sometimes during our
individual SSR reading conferences, or while students were doing research for
their projects. I tried to make it more of a conversation than a didactic
speech.
Some of the students would tell which strategy they found helpful during
book-tell, and I think that helped many of them realize how natural using a
particular strategy could feel. I'm all about them enjoying their books, but I
do have them keep track of what they are reading, and what they are thinking
while they are reading (even if it is that they were surprised at a turn of
events.) It has been very powerful for my students to see the stacks of
reflections of their reading at the end of the year! (I keep them in a file and
have them reflect on them each month (Thanks Lori for your help with this one!))
I think it's important for me to remain flexible in my approach to reading
instruction so I can always give my students what they need when they need it.
I've had some criticism about what I do. Although the things I do are well
researched, the research does not blend the various approaches together, so
some have told me that I really am NOT using researched based instructional
practices. Some have said you can't pick and choose, that following a best
practice needs to follow the research as closely as possible in order to be
valid. The way I see it, I am teaching children, not lab rats. I have to try to
tailor what I'm doing to fit the needs of the particular set of children in my
classroom.
I really do want to go deeper next year. The set of students that are coming
up has four students who are very capable thinkers, they need help with
expressing their thoughts and not blowing them off. Then there are six or seven
who have some major learning challenges, for them decoding is still an issue. I
can't wait to see how it works itself out!
Thanks again for this wonderful, inciteful, and reflective discussion.
Joy/NC/4
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
How children learn is as important as what they learn: process and content go
hand in hand. http://www.responsiveclassroom.org
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