I am so with you and Frank! How can a strategy become the unit of study? Isn't it a tool to access the unit, to make it richer and help kids get the big ideas? In a nonfiction study, isn't it a natural to shine a light on determining importance to support study habits and synthesis to support students in learning to internalize and re-represent information? That is the conclusion I drew after a couple of years of trying to teach a unit around a strategy. So I try to help teachers design meaningful units of study and then to ask themselves, is there a specific strategy or two that I would like to 'shine on' here, so that children can expand their ability to think more meaningfully about what they are learning? Do I seen opportunities to remind students that previously focused upon strategies can apply in this new sort of reading--to help them generalize strategies across genre and text types? I am finding that beginning with immersion in genre, often with a writing or performance (speaking/listening/viewing) project in mind, that the strategies fit in like puzzle pieces. It would be my hope that by spotlighting strategies with our younger learners, that we can move students towards a natural and more integrated use of strategies across their DAY and across their LIVES. It is about so much more than reading...
Lori Jackson District Literacy Coach and Mentor Todd County School District Box 87 Mission SD 5755 ----- Original message ----- From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Date: Thursday, December 11, 2008 9:02 PM Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Re (Mosaic) Reflections on units of study (long...) > I just came away from Frank Serafini's workshop today and realized how > closely aligned his thoughts were to the posts on the listserv as of late.... > he > is a very funny man who makes you think about why you do what you do in your > practice..... his big talk today was about comprehension strategies and his > feelings that perhaps we are taking the strategy instruction a bit too far > and > teaching as if they are the big units in a reading workshop. ...rather than a > > way to access those big units of study. He did a marvelous job of showing how > graphic organizers and reader responses should be used as discussion > starters rather than an end "product" which teachers tend to use as > assessment. He > asked us to consider a graphic organizer like a t-chart in which the child > or a group of children determine the parameters. He said if teachers are > filling in the top of the t-chart and kids are responding to our descriptors > then > we've reduced their thinking and asked them to align their thoughts to ours. > I am sure I am not saying it well.... but it drove so many points home that > I > must say I am guilty of..... > > He told a funny story of how a teacher was trying to compliment him on his > new non-fiction series he has written for primary kids... how she uses them > to > teach inferences... boy did he go off on it... humorously... making the point > that the books are about nature and his purpose was never to write books to > go with a unit on inferencing.... he kept showing how inferencing happens... > > that it is determined by the genre of the text: where it happens, when it > happens, why it happens, and with what other strategies kids use while they > are > inferencing are all text bound... not a study in and of itself... that it > will take various shapes... or forms... if I had to give a "visualization" > for > it. > > He also gave many ideas of how inferencing works( and I use that example > because the last few posts were about inferencing) outside the book (where he > > says all inferences happen) but yet, still bound by what you have learned in > the > text. To drive that point home he did an activity with us in which he read > excerpts from the book and then asked volunteers to become the book > character. > The audience could ask any question they wanted of the characters (not > necessarily related to the plot) ... but the volunteers had to answer the > questions by inferencing what they thought the character would say about a > particular question.... think dinner party talk! Then use the responses to > determine > if they were logical and in line with what you thought about the > character.... > and it is the later part... the discussion.... that is most important not > the response of the volunteer.... > > His focus was geared for third grade and up but it really was a "mindset" he > was talking about... He showed how in primary we tell the kids to use > illustrations to support text... but he pulled plenty of picture books out > that > not only showed symmetrical support (images parallel the the information) > but > "enhancement" interplay where illustrations enhance the text (think The Boy > Who Looked like Lincoln) where the ah ha is in the picture and adds so much > more to the text then the words can say... and then counterpoint interplay > where > the image provides information that is contradicted by the text (think The > Sweetest Fig) Anyway... this might be old hat for some but it blew away > some > of cornerstones of pedagogy and forced me to rethink .... and maybe looking > out from a lens is as productive or perhaps more productive than focusing > on the stuff under the lens. > Pam > In a message dated 12/11/2008 5:44:22 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, > [email protected] writes: > > I like Bev's idea of Comprehension Connections > (mcGregor). It is easy to implement right away. I also think that Daily > Five would be a good start. You mentioned class size and it combines > management > and reading. It sounds like your teacher's have a lot to handle, and > Comprehension Connections and the Daily Five use activities to get going > right away. > > Once the group is established, MOT would be great to study. > > Linda > > _______________________________________________ > 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. > > > > **************Make your life easier with all your friends, email, and > favorite sites in one place. Try it now. > (http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp&icid=aolcom40vanity&ncid=emlcntaolcom00000010) > _______________________________________________ > 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. > > _______________________________________________ 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.
