Hi Mary, I do sympathize with your concerns. For six years I have kicked off my year with a Metacognition Unit and followed through with strategies in all of our reading. I too have stayed true to best practices. Matching kids with just right books, tracking their thinking, discussions, etc.' etc. etc. I work hard to reach readers in the best ways I can find. I also do a six week testing genre and strategy unit before our big (Texas) state test. Many of my colleagues do whole class novels on tapes, and do not focus on strategy work. Well there is a heavy emphasis on levels of questioning which I am seeing gives a great return on investment. They do not worry or pay attention to the research and best practices, though I believe they are good teachers. The bottom line is that my test scores are no better than theirs, and are sometimes worse. Believe me I have pondered this and still do not have an answer. I do believe that my kids leave with an interactive way of thinking about books that I believe will last through high school. They are very aware of genres, and the genres that they particularly love, and we read read read....talk talk talk. I tell myself that my impact can't necessarily be tested, but has lasting effects. Am I right? I don't really know. I live in a state of questioning. Gina _________________________________________________________________ Earn cashback on your purchases with Live Search - the search that pays you back! http://search.live.com/cashback/?&pkw=form=MIJAAF/publ=HMTGL/crea=earncashback _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org.
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