Michelle I have used text mapping as well and I do love it. I did try something different with my fifth graders last year. I decided I would move from beyond text features to a little more global view of how the text was organized. I started with the Table of Contents and picked a title and asked them to highlight it green. Then I asked them to skim over their scroll and highlight in green everything that looked related to that title. What was interesting to me was that they suddenly got an insight that the subtitle on the page they highlighted matched the table of contents! (Isn't it amazing that we take for granted that the kids understand that???) Then they noticed that the picture and the caption were also related... They repeated the process with the next chapter. Finally, I asked them to look at each of the chapter and sub titles and then try to determine why the author put them in that order. The next thing you know, we are discussing a text structure...the kids noticed that the big ideas were first (Animals adapt to their surroundings) and then subsequent sections told about particular adaptations (like camouflage and specialized body parts such as webbed feet.) Finally we were able to talk about author's craft and discussed whether or not the organization was effective. Good stuff, indeed. After reading Ellin's book To Understand and hearing her speak over the summer, I have become convinced that we need to make instruction in text structures more deliberate and more understandable. How is everyone else teaching text structure? Jennifer In a message dated 9/17/2008 10:13:45 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Just wanted to publicly say "Thanks" to Dave Middlebrook for sharing his textmapping project with everyone via his website at www.textmapping.org. I wrote about it and shared some pictures of the process on my blog at http://www.classroom20.com/profiles/blog/list?user=ujmo7mw58i1a My kiddos LOVED it and they will definitely remember how those nonfiction features help them read and understand the text. THANKS DAVE! -Michelle TG **************Looking for simple solutions to your real-life financial challenges? Check out WalletPop for the latest news and information, tips and calculators. (http://www.walletpop.com/?NCID=emlcntuswall00000001) _______________________________________________ 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.
