The key is the scroll. Lori's example of the picture walk is a good one. She scrolls a picture book and lays it out on the floor. Suddenly the kids have a new way to access this story. They can see the whole thing. They can look down at it from afar; they can get real close to it; they can walk on it and roll on it. They can look anywhere in the story at any time. If they see something interesting half way through the story, they can look back to see if they missed anything earlier or they can look ahead to see what happens later. This is a real conversation-starter -- which is one of the ways in which scrolls support MOT instruction. A student can take a friend's hand and walk them over to something that has caught her attention: "Hey! Look over here!" You can take your class through a picture walk of a scroll, and if something you point out sparks a connection to an earlier part of the story, anyone who is curious can look back over the story to see where that connection is -- and each of your kids is free to look wherever they want in the book to find that connection since they don't have to wait for you to page back through the story. They can disperse to search and then share what they have found. Can you imagine 30 kids poring over a scroll, conversing, looking for connections, asking questions, making predictions? It is chaotic -- but you will be amazed at the level of engagement. The chaos, in this case, is what you get when you cut loose 30 little minds and give them a "way in" to self-motivated, engaged thinking. You don't get this kind of interaction -- or learning -- when you work within the constrained environment of a bound book. Scrolls are a very supportive environment for MOT instruction.
Don't get too caught up in the marking/mapping. Once you understand how to use the scroll, you'll quickly figure out how the mapping works. Start by letting your kids spend some time with the scroll. If you want to model the strategies, try asking questions: Show them where on the scroll your question was sparked and maybe even show them where on the scroll your question is answered or where you find information that helps you answer your question. Make connections and predictions, all the while showing them where on the scroll these things "happen" for you. Talk about determining importance -- and point to the scroll as you talk through your thought process. As you do this, be sure to walk back and forth along the scroll and put your finger directly on the places that you are talking about. And as you do this, be aware of how your connection to the text and to the story becomes more direct and physical -- how, as Lori said, ideas such as beginning/middle/end become concrete and much more accessible. The point of the scroll is that it invites interaction and engagement in ways that simply are neither possible nor imaginable in the constrained environment of the bound book. My experience is that the instructional benefits are immediate and tangible, but if that is not your experience -- if the word "tedious" enters your mind as you and your kids are working with scrolls -- drop the whole thing like a hot potato. Scrolls and textmapping are only useful if they work for you -- for your teaching style and for your kids. My apologies for the thin explanations on the site. Don't hesitate to contact me if you have further questions. I appreciate your willingness to give this another try. Dave Middlebrook The Textmapping Project A resource for teachers improving reading comprehension skills instruction. www.textmapping.org | Please share this site with your colleagues! USA: (609) 771-1781 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Original Message ----- From: "gina nunley" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, August 24, 2007 10:10 PM Subject: [MOSAIC] textmapping Joy > To everyone who is using text mapping. I am feeling like a real idiot. I > have looked on the site, and understand the process BUT I do not get > exactly > what you are doing with it. Is it as simple as doing a kind of SQ3R with > text features? Coding the text with reading strategies? > > Joy you talked about using it with fiction to reread. Can you give me an > idea of the process? > > I have tried it once and the kids found it tedious and not really worth > the > invested time. I am certain I have been missing something in my approach. > Thanks, Gina > > _________________________________________________________________ > Puzzles, trivia teasers, word scrambles and more. Play for your chance to > win! http://club.live.com/home.aspx?icid=CLUB_hotmailtextlink > > > _______________________________________________ > 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.
