OK, Bev... I am going to be a devil's advocate here....I find that I rarely disagree with you, but I think this might be one of those rare instances. :-) One of the biggest ah-hahs that came through my five rounds of lesson study last year was that I tried to do too much in my lessons. I learned that when I kept a tighter focus throughout my lesson (ie...what did I want the children to learn about visualizing today...)my lessons were better. Children actually internalized the strategies better and applied the comprehension strategies independently AND the thinking was deeper when I tried not to do too much at once. I do agree that sometimes we need to be able to jump off on that teachable moment. I also know that we need to plan our lessons based on what our kids need...not by checking off items on the state curriculum list. I also know that reading strategies are interdependent...but I do think we need to focus tightly for a while to build a depth of understanding. I also think we need to tell kids why they are learning what they are learning. Think about how Ellin Keene suggests that we ask children (after they have applied a strategy) what they know now that they didn't know before. Isn't that what we are doing...showing them the purpose behind the strategy? We have had to have our objectives up on the board in my district since the beginning of time I think...for at least the past 20 years. When I student taught in Baltimore county, it was the same. I am not sure that it is strictly needed to have the objective on the board, but I do tend to agree that lessons are meaningless unless the child has a purpose for learning and we do have a responsibility to make things clear. Jennifer In a message dated 9/27/2008 12:01:27 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Our school is just starting 4-minute walkthroughs (amusingly dubbed drive-bys by many on this list) and here is one of the things we heard yesterday at our "debriefing." Yes, you must have your objective up on the board or somewhere and your children should know why they're learning such-and-such. It will increase their learning 29-44% if you do that. And you should be teaching that objective only!! Research tells us that children learn only one thing at a time. I'm not sure where she's reading that research (which she liberally sprinkles in comes from "Bob Marzano" (I don't think so), but what the whole meeting made me want to do was to research retirement. I never, ever in my wildest dreams imagined I would retire to get away from education. I thought there would come a time when I was ready to do something else, but that it would always be so hard to leave classrooms. Now I just don't know. **************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.
