Let me start by saying that I have always been a proponent of using formative assessment and not wasting kids time if they already know content. Let me also say that I think we can kill the love of reading by over-teaching process. ( See Kelly Gallagher's latest book Readicide) But to be a devil's advocate, can one really perfect the skill of reading? Are you still the same kind of reader now as you were three years ago? How about last year? I know that I have always been a good reader. I comprehended what I read well enough to be successful in college and in my first job in business. But when I became a teacher and brought these strategies to a conscious level, I became a DIFFERENT reader... a deeper reader. When I can pull the strategies out deliberately, when I have a new language to talk about my thinking, I can go deeper in my understanding. My point is, I think, that we first have to recognize that strategies are a tool...not the goal. BUT, I wonder if we need to challenge our advanced readers to become aware of their thinking...to explain how they know what they know so that they too can comprehend at a deeper level and take their discussions of books to that deeper place. I am not sure if I am conveying this clearly...but I do think that we can never really MASTER a strategy completely. We may not need to model the strategies anymore, but through skillful questioning and careful planning we can help our advanced students discover how to use those strategies to uncover new levels of meaning in their texts. Jennifer In a message dated 6/11/2009 9:46:31 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [email protected] writes:
Laurie, I couldn't agree more, however new ground to cover and revisiting overworked and overtaught strategies aren't the same thing to me. We are covering new ground with exposure to a variety of genre, authors, book shares, book clubs, literature circles, etc. Conversations show me that we are past strategy instruction in many instances. Luckily, my third graders aren't yet asked to read procedural and ed research text but who knows what the future may bring. (just kidding) "Personally, I think there will always be new ground to cover. Genre, complexity of text, 'classic reading'--I truly believe we are all life long learners when it comes to reading. I can be reduced to jelly by complex, procedural text and reading ed research is an area where I must be far more cognizant of reading strategies." Leslie _______________________________________________ **************Shop Dell’s full line of Laptops now starting at $349! (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1221881320x1201406166/aol?redir=http:%2F%2 Fad.doubleclick.net%2Fclk%3B215218036%3B37264217%3Bz) _______________________________________________ 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.
