My gifted 2nd grade class is just starting our 3rd chapter book novel. While i have students who started on the k level in reading (oral reading/decoding), I also have students who started on the 4th grade level (comprehension) One student started reading 52 words per minute with very little understanding, he just read 158 words per minute with real understanding.
This is really an amazing class. We are reading Song of the Trees, just finished Sarah, Plain and Tall. One of the students charts the information we learn about the book as we read. The children were surprised to find out how much information about each characters and setting was introduced in the first three pages. But the bonus for me was their ability to infer information about the characters and setting. The questions they asked and the comparison of the forest (Song of the Trees) to the prairie and ocean setting of Sarah, Plain and Tall, the historical period, and ethical issues (are these characters black in our new story) has been unbelievable. They are comparing characters, actions and ethics. We are using the depth and complexity symbols created by Dr. Sandra Kaplan. I think often if we ask them to look for literary elements they are able to locate information and read for deeper meaning. When we finished Sarah Plain and Tall we watched pictures from the story with an actress reading the book. I heard several students say that is what i thought it would look like or see he did look like that, i knew the story clouds looked like that. Do gifted students need tutoring, yes they often do, intellectual potential does not mean that they are working on grade level or that they do not need extra help to reach real potential grade level or above. My tutorial service is based on tutoring gifted students. This month I have had 9 students come back and tell us our tutorial saved them. It was strange for so many to come back at one time. One lady came and brought her daughter for tutoring. The rest were adults and two high school students. Did you see me change my signature/hat/title. Yes, I did go there.(smile) Patricia Kimathi Mission Parent Representative California Association for the Gifted 8465 South Van Ness Avenue Inglewood, CA 90305 Phone: 323.750.6559 Fax: 323.292.3626 Serving gifted students, parents, teachers, and administrators of Los Angeles County On Mar 8, 2008, at 6:12 AM, Lisa Szyska wrote: > Other than that, I > have just begun introducing my slightly above level > readers to chapter books. You will need to understand > what level of support your student needs from the text > you choose (e.g. chapter titles, shorter chapters, > etc.). "Beyond Leveled Books" _______________________________________________ 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.
