These comments sparked a connection for me:
> Could that be why people think the strategies may be developmental? Because
> of the assessments that are used?
>
. . . I am beginning to think that many of the comprehension problems I am
seeing with my struggling readers stem from a lack of experience and
conversation. If we spend more time on conversations and discussions and less
on pencil paper activities and assessment . . .
I'm behind on my reading, but this conversation has me thinking about how I
assess my kiddos. As many of you know, I teach at a project based school. We
don't give grades, I write holistic narratives about each of my students. (one
reason why I'm behind on my reading, our "Report Cards" went home with the
students yesterday.)
While I'm not able to give any suggestions about how to assess students in a
way that would transfer to grades, I can speak to some of the informal things I
do with my kids. I do assess them in more formal ways, but find the informal
assessment is the most useful for writing narratives about individual progress
and acheivement.
Of course I conference with them during Self Selected Reading time. I have
them read to me, and we talk about their reading and their thinking. I also
have Book Talks where they tell the class about what they are reading during
SSR, and the students ask them questions or offer comments about that book.
While they are doing this, I'm taking notes on 5x7 index cards.
Because I just finished writing the narratives, these comments are fresh in
my mind. I noticed some kids making connections in their talk, others in their
comments. I noticed students using sensory details and metacognition in their
talk, and others telling about questions they asked themselves while reading.
Still others I noticed using inferences and fix up strategies when meaning
broke down. I noticed the progression from surface questions to deeper
questioning skills in some of the students. I really think this daily ten
minute sharing time is some of the most valuable time we spend.
Joy/NC/4
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
How children learn is as important as what they learn: process and content go
hand in hand. http://www.responsiveclassroom.org
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