I think we need to teach retelling. The work of Hazel Brown and Brian Cambourne long since convinced me of this.
As to story elements, someone (and it could be a Someone or a someone) said that today's learning is tomorrow's schema. To me that implies a need for consistent, well-planned direct instruction (no capital letters there!!) to build that schema base. As a teacher of literacy, story grammar is part of the curriculum I hold myself accountable for teaching. I am passionate about strategy instruction, but it is not the end-all, be-all for literacy learning. It certainly assumes that other kinds of instruction is happening. Please don't think I don't appreciate and, to an extent, share your concerns. Lori On 11/27/07 10:25 PM, "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Moving on to schema unit in Comprehension Connections has really got me > thinking about how many assumptions are made in terms of kids' prior > knowledge..... I know I started threads on > retelling before but..... as I reviewed my first grade DRA's taken in > October I noted how many teacher prompts I needed to give most kids in terms > of the > comprehension section. Seems to me the DRA itself, and its makers, assume > that kids know how to retell.... > > Now, I am expecting posts back about how retelling is a lower level > comprehension strategy... a rehashing of the author's words.... but really the > more I > teach through retelling..... as a unit of comprehension itself ...the more I > learn about gaps in kids' experiences with texts....the way they internalize > author's words in their heads > > In my opinion, retelling is an intricate and symbolic cognitive process.... > kids need schema for story elements, story genre, story maps, thinking > forward and thinking back, and God forbid they make it to a level where they > write > their responses... then kids need to process all that thought into written > format (which is a whole other multi-step ball of wax) > > The point? Maybe before the DRA assessment and before any teaching of > comprehension strategies.... there should be more immersion in story and > grand > conversations (the "what do you notice" kind) > Maybe then retelling should be taught as extensively as connections, > visualizing, determining and so on.... > > I am wondering if retelling and following directions are closely related... > so many of my first grade dilemmas are because kids do something that seems > like they are not listening to directions but now I am thinking that if asked > to retell the directions ...the directions they internalize would be a far > cry from my intentions. I am also thinking about developmental stages ... do > we > teach into retelling or let it evolve with maturity???? > > These types of ponderings bring me back to teaching methods... more concrete > modeling... less written and abstract work....more reading and less written > templates.... > > Just some thoughts before bed... what do you all think???? > > > > > **************************************Check out AOL's list of 2007's hottest > products. > (http://money.aol.com/special/hot-products-2007?NCID=aoltop00030000000001) > _______________________________________________ > 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 July 17-20. 2008 Tucson, Arizona _______________________________________________ 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.
