Hello- As a reading specialist working with emergent readers and struggling readers, I find it definitely helps to discuss the material ahead of time, and establish what they already know about the subject. Then I encourage them to do a "picture walk", and they can predict what the book will be about. There are often shouts of excitement as they see things that they recognize from our previous discussion. This sets the stage. I have generally written a brainstorm on the board, writing the difficult words they may encounter as they themselves mention them. So if the book is about landforms, I might write "magma" and "lava" noting the similar endings, and then students are also discussing lakes they've been in, leeches (ew!) and all sorts of gross and fun things. They talk about meadows, mountains, hills, etc. We live in the Great Lakes region, so there's plenty to discuss.
It's good to get them excited to read, but also to visit potentially troublesome words and ideas ahead of time. This allows for some scaffolding of new knowledge on old ideas - the new stuff sticks to the old, almost like velcro! Interesting visual image, isn't it? But I find it's true! Email me at [email protected] for more discussion, if you wish. On 4/7/09, [email protected] < [email protected]> wrote: > > Send Mosaic mailing list submissions to > [email protected] > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org > > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > [email protected] > > You can reach the person managing the list at > [email protected] > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Mosaic digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Learning to Read (Wafa Elhady) > 2. Reading Comprehension (Jennifer Hartkopf) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Mon, 6 Apr 2009 19:02:46 -0400 > From: "Wafa Elhady" <[email protected]> > Subject: [MOSAIC] Learning to Read > To: <[email protected]> > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > Hello, my name is Wafa Elhady. > > I think that when students are first learning how to read they concentrate > more on reading the words than understanding the material and they may also > be very nervous. I think that reading aloud beforehand can help boost > confidence and gives the new reader a chance to enjoy and understand the > material. I think that this also gives them a chance to hear new words > read > to them before they have to try reading them. > > My question is, is this a good idea, for reading comprehension, or should I > allow the students to explore on their own first? > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Tue, 7 Apr 2009 07:27:03 -0700 (PDT) > From: Jennifer Hartkopf <[email protected]> > Subject: [MOSAIC] Reading Comprehension > To: [email protected] > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > > Hi! My name is Jennifer and I am currently a student at Wayne State > University. I recently read an article that I found to be true in the class > that I did my pre-student teaching. A lot of students would read with > fairly good fluency, but when confronted with comprehension and critical > thinking questions they were unable to participate. Is this a problem in > other classes and are there strategies/activities to try to overcome > this? I would like to have strong readers as well as strong comprehenders > in my classroom. > > Thanks! > > Jennifer Hartkopf > > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > 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. > > End of Mosaic Digest, Vol 32, Issue 6 > ************************************* > -- Amy Lesemann, Reading Specialist and Independent Learning Center Teacher, St. Thomas the Apostle School _______________________________________________ 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.
