Hi Jan, Just wanted to say that I saved my picture books after I
finished teaching in the elementary school after ten years...I dragged
them around for four years and moved them when I moved twice during
that time....it was horrible giving them up..but I have no regrets...my
students were reading or writing from the minute they came into my
first grade classroom until they left..I taught a modified Jeanette
Veatch...individualized reading approach...students chose what they
read daily...and were always finding books that I didn't even know that
I had on the shelves (I got most of my collection from garage sales).
In the last four years I have run a summer literacy intervention for
ELL students...you could always donate your books to an inner-city
school ...I had book drives every spring to collect books for my summer
kids who brought home a free book everyday during the three week
intervention:) It was magic:)
-----Original Message-----
From: Jan Sanders <[email protected]>
To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group
<[email protected]>
Sent: Sat, Jun 27, 2009 10:48 am
Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Just Finished Readacide and The Reading Zone What
do youthink the implications are...
I think answers are formed by gathering information and it is a long
often
messy process. It does take lots of thinking, reflecting, and
evaluation.
That said, I just retired this year and I brought home all my picture
books
as I was not ready to give them away -or sell them. As I was putting
them
on shelves at home, I stopped and reread quite a few of them. The
thought
going through my mind time and time again was wow, I should have let
them
read more, as books can truly teach and give us experiences. I felt sad
that they missed stories. I felt sad that I only read one story
(sometimes
2) to my class a day. If I were still teaching I would make sure to
get in
2 or 3 a day. I wanted my class back just so they could have a chance to
experience all the stories they missed. I gave my students 40 minutes
a
day of independent reading time where they read mostly at their level.
They
had full access to my library, yet there are 100's of books still
waiting
for them to read. I do believe kids need more time to just read. I
only
had them respond to their reading twice a week in their reader's
notebook.
I learned a lot about my students through conferring and sharing.
I think the comprehension strategies are important for kids to know
about
and use. Accomplished readers often don't know what they are doing when
they read, so it is nice to teach them about it, have them become aware
of
it, and name it. Struggling readers need to know there are things they
can
do to help the text have meaning to them. It is exciting to watch a kid
realize they can make the story into a movie in their mind to help them
understand. And when they say things like "I didn't know you could do
that", you know you have helped them as a reader and a thinker.
Sometimes I feel like the comprehension strategies get beaten to death.
Jan
On 6/26/09 4:02 PM, "Heather Green" <[email protected]> wrote:
I hate not having answers. :) I think I am going to e-mail Atwell and
see if
I get a response. Hey you never know. The school she teaches at
sounds
amazing. Here are a few more of my thoughts:
I always thought that teaching comprehension strategies was "where it
was
at" for in-the-know instructors. I thought it was the new,
research-based
best practice. Now, I am questioning that. But you have to teach
SOMETHING... How do you teach without taking the joy out of reading.
I
liked in the book when she said that readers will comprehend text
that is
the right level for them. (Unless its content-area text where using
reading/comprehension strategies might be more appropriate to take
apart a
difficult text.)
Anyway, I think you will really like Readacide. Let me know what you
think
of it. It's definitely geared toward middle/high school, but I think
he has
a slightly more realistic approach.
On Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 6:26 PM, <[email protected]> wrote:
Yeah! I just picked up my copy of Readacide! I read The Reading
Zone when
it first came out! Anyone with a lick of sense will acknowledge the
cognitive dissonance TRZ causes. And I think the thought process
this book
initiates is one of those that requires an enormous conversation
within
onself before, during, and after many, many conversations with
others. Deep
stuff. Deep questions. Unknown answers.
Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone provided by Alltel
-----Original Message-----
From: Heather Green <[email protected]>
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:18:03
To: <[email protected]>
Subject: [MOSAIC] Just Finished Readacide and The Reading Zone What
do you
think the implications are...
..... for lower elementary grades? I wish there were a book written
with a
similar theme, but geared toward 1-2. There are plenty of teachers
at our
school, include me last year, who taught "comprehension strategies".
I am
contemplating now-- is it enough to just let kids read? To talk
about books
with them? To have them recommend books with each other? Is it
enough in
the younger grades to just get them to love reading? Do we teach the
strategies just because we feel it gives us something to teach during
reading workshop? In her book, Atwell mentions doing mini-lessons. I
wonder
what these are. SO MANY QUESTIONS....!
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_______________________________________________
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To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to
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Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
Jan
We must view young people not as empty bottles to be filled, but as
candles
to be lit.
-Robert Shaffer
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