I hate to be one-note Jenny, but I just have to say that I think after we've read To Understand, we'll "understand" more about story/book deep structure, and that knowledge will enrich and magnify the argument about whether summarizing or retelling is a "higher" skill. I'm half-way through and I can tell you that this is a book that will require both multiple readings and multiple discussions. I'd love to have Keene, Dorn, Soffos, Taylor and Routman have a go in a study group with some other "leaders" in literacy education today. Smile.
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected]> Date: Mon, 18 Feb > 2008 01:12:40 -0700> Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] DRA 2 in Sept. for first graders> > > The simplest would be books organized in a way to provide maximum support > for the retelling, I think. So, obviously books with a strong chronology such > as Today Is Monday, or that are organized in a memorable way so as to provide > cues as we go, such as Chicken Soup with Rice or Chicka Chicka Boom Boom or > Roar! a Noisy Counting Book. A bit more sophisticated, thereby providing less > direct support, would be books like Q Is for Duck or Tomorrow's Alphabet. > Along that same line would be fractured fairy tales because the structure of > the original would be a known, therefore a cue, and the "fractured" part > would be the part the child would have to retell. The books personally > meaningful for a child, who would then have plenty of schema, would of course > have more support, therefore books about a day in the life of a rancher would > be more supportive to a child in Wyoming, whereas a book about a day in the > life of a fisherman might be more supportive to a child in Maine. Books with > exquisite language are easier for children to retell than are "simpleton" > books. We've all known some surefire books with universal appeal that > children "absorb" intact then recreate in amazing detail. For me, one of > those books is always Rough-Face Girl. Another is Pink and Say. Knots on a > Counting Rope. Familiarity matters. For instance, the first time through > Junie B. Jones, a child will not have a particular advantage in > retelling...but for Junie B. lovers, each book they read is easier to retell > than the previous ones. When it comes to nonfiction, the named structure of > the Contents provide great hooks to cue a retelling, such as in Animal > Fathers. > > I understand the argument that summarizing is a higher level > skill than is retelling, but I think the answer is more complex than that. > Would love to hear more from "both" sides of this discussion, although I > think "both" may be more accurately "the many" sides.> > > > > > From: [EMAIL > PROTECTED]> Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2008 22:15:32 -0800> To: > [email protected]> Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] DRA 2 in Sept. for first > graders> > What books would you suggest to use to teach retelling.> Pat K _________________________________________________________________ Need to know the score, the latest news, or you need your Hotmail®-get your "fix". http://www.msnmobilefix.com/Default.aspx _______________________________________________ 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.
