Gina
You and I are in the same boat to some degree. I work with classes of
struggling readers: last year with Kindergarten, third, fourth and fifth
graders. I
teach strategies, I try to teach for depth of thinking across multiple
genres, but when the test scores come back, I find that some students have
improved, but others have not.
I have been trying to 'drill down' to the root cause of this problem and I
am thinking about the following:
* That for MANY kids, I need to build vocabulary knowledge.
Comprehension improves with strategy usage, but kids can't always use their
strategies
effectively when they don't understand the meanings of so many of the words.
* Sometimes it isn't just vocabulary, it is understanding language in
general. Many of the kids with comprehension problems are receiving
instruction from our speech/language pathologist for delays in receptive and
expressive language. For example, kids don't really understand that when they
are
asked a "why" question, they are being asked to give a reason for something.
SO...they don't answer test questions well, because they don't understand the
question. I plan to ask my speech teacher to coteach and work on oral language
skills with my kids once a week and then build in more times for kids to use
oral language---to turn and talk to each other rather than always expecting
written responses.
* Other kids, particularly those with ADD, need me to help them build
reading stamina. They don't do well on lengthy tests even though they do well
in class, because they give up due to lack of interest or lack of choice. I
am thinking about using more of the Daily Five ideas AND modeling the nature
of understanding as Ellin describes it in To Understand.
* Still other kids, often my best thinkers, are poor decoders. I need
to help them become more efficient in decoding. Others APPEAR to be poor
decoders, but they have all the phonics they need. These kids are not
automatic
and need me to build up their lexical system so they can look at and remember
words quickly.
Are you reading Ellin's new book called To Understand? For me, I think the
problem has been that I have not found the right balance of the deep and
surface structures for all of my students.
What I remember from the research is that test-taking practice does help a
bit...but only to a certain point. It helps to familiarize kids with the format
of the test...and how to navigate it. There is a point of no return though,
where enough is enough. I spend about a week and half on test prep right
before the test...but now I am thinking that may be counterproductive. It puts
a
lot of pressure on kids right before the test. I ought to intersperse the
lessons throughout the year instead.
These are just my Sunday morning random thoughts on this issue...
Jennifer
In a message dated 6/29/2008 10:28:09 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
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
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