I also agree. This is one of the big points I got from Ellin's book To Understand. By asking kids what the strategy helped them to understand about the book, we send the message that the strategies are a vehicle, not the end point. One other thing that crossed my mind is this thought: What if we want more for kids than just an ability to discuss and comprehend texts? What if, as Ellin writes in To Understand, we want kids to also have an opportunity to be scholarly...to understand more deeply how their own mind works? There is a joy I find in deep intellectual engagement (like this discussion!). :-) What if we need to give our kids that are the stronger readers the strategy language and then help them to see HOW their mind comes to comprehend in order to give them the chance to learn the joys of being scholarly? It isn't that I don't value independent reading and student led discussion. It is important...and may even be of primary importance. I just have this nagging feeling that maybe there is more we can ask of these kids. I haven't thought all of this through yet...and maybe I am way off base. I would welcome everyone's input. Jennifer In a message dated 6/13/2009 1:05:09 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [email protected] writes:
I know that your statement is so true. Most of my students first learn to say I have a connection. Which I really appreciate, because this is an easy way to help them see how having a connection helps them to understand what they read. Last year I had a child who had visited a reservation, his sharing of his connections helped us all to understand the story we were reading about a reservation. A real aha moment for my class. PatK. On Jun 13, 2009, at 7:11 AM, [email protected] wrote: > That being said, if the conversation that the children are having is > centering on their strategies like, “I made a connection,” or “I > could visualize this part,” we must push them to explain why that > helped them to understand the story or text. Strategies serve the > reader as a means to understand or deepen understanding of what we > read. So “talking the talk” of strategies has to be linked to > “walking the walk” of understanding what is being read. > **************A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy steps! (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1222377049x1201454365/aol?redir=http://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072&hmpgID=62&bcd= JunestepsfooterNO62) _______________________________________________ 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.
