Nancy, I wonder if it would help if you told the child, "I'd like you to show me how much you remember of this WHOLE story you just read, even the part you read out loud to me. So, would you retell the story to me and try to remember all the details?" In other words, making the task and purpose explicit for them. Sometimes, when we ask for retells, I think young children are thinking, "Gosh, lady, I just read you the first part out loud - surely you can still remember that part?" and they proceed to begin retelling where they read silently. Perhaps we need to make clear for them that this is an assessment task, a way for us to know how much they remember and comprehend about the story. Just my 2 cents. Heather Wall/ 3rd grade/ Georgia NBCT 2005 Literacy: Reading - Language Arts
We began using the DRA2 this year. My first graders would actually begin retelling where they had begun their silent reading, despite the fact that I would say, "Start at the beginning..." In my questions to them that would be my first, "How did this story begin?" At first I didn't think they understood that the 2 were realated and that they were just reading words, but not comprehending. With some that was the case, but for most they just didn't include the beginning, the tasks remained separate for them. Still others could not recall what they had read orally, but did a fabulous retell of what they had read silently. Not sure what that all means in the big picture of DRAs, but I knew where to take my comprehension instruction... Nancy _______________________________________________ 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. _______________________________________________ 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.
