I must agree with you... our shared reading was the Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein this week... I opened discussion about metacognition. with this text.. we used "making a reading salad" from the resource: Comprehension Connections and the two (Silverstein's text and strategy lesson) really drove the point home... that reading is not just reading the words but more about the amount of thinking that goes on. The simple text and intriguing illustrations kept all readers engaged as this was a whole group lesson for first graders... I pointed to the words in the book as volunteers put in red paper squares to represent "reading words" in our reading salad. Then I thought about each page making connections, wonders, noticing details in the illustration... another volunteer put in green squares representing lettuce leaves... After awhile I turned the thinking over to the kids and just read the words... the thinking that the kids did far outweighed the words of the author and was confirmed by our reading salad... so many more green squares than red squares. These little ones really got how using an inner voice makes the story more interesting and enjoyable but also helps with accuracy and comprehension. We recorded our thinking on sticky notes and organized the notes on a chart.... some ideas were about the illustrations, other ideas were about the characters, the setting, the author's message, personal connections, wonders, schema about the author... It really was quite amazing considering they are only six years old. After we charted all their thinking responses the kids then recorded in their reader responses the most important thinking that they took away from our discussion... Most of these drawings and matching text were big ideas about the entire story and big ideas about how to read and what kinds of readers they saw themselves to be. When I think about it we worked on: inner voice, checking for comprehension, checking for accuracy, book choice, turning and talking, making our thinking visible, recording our ideas, story structure... it was a very easy lesson to prepare and a powerful change of view for my kids. Up till now (since we are just starting guided reading groups after DRA) they were feeling either very proud of their level, or very insecure.... now kids who are at level C are calling themselves "real readers" because they are thinkers. If you do not have the resource Comprehension Connections I strongly suggest it. It works beautifully for little kids. Basically every strategy of comprehension is developed into some kind of concrete analogy that works with any text you choose. As far as Shel is concerned.... he was way ahead of his time.... and I remember him first as a rock star before author. Pam In a message dated 11/11/2009 12:22:15 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, [email protected] writes:
I happen to really like using Shel Silverstein's poetry. At first glance, to kids it might just seem funny or silly. But there are a lot of life lessons to be found if you open your mind and your heart. The text is very accessible and engaging, and it really makes "deep thinking" invitational for kids!! On Mon, Nov 9, 2009 at 6:26 PM, Heather Green <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi there, > Starting in December we will start breaking up into reading clubs in my > school. We'll meet for 50 minutes, 4 days a week. The groups are > differentiated, and I have the highest group of first graders--reading > anywhere from end of 1st grade level to 4th grade+ level. > > I decided that I wanted to stay away from chapter books this year because > in > 1st grade the focus doesn't need to be on reading chapter books. I want my > kids to be reading good quality literature that makes them think. We don't > have many books available. I'm willing to buy some with my own money if I > will use them again and again. So I need your help. I am looking for > books > that meet this criteria: > > 1) not a chapter book > 2) something written at about the 2nd grade level or so (I'm thinking using > this in small groups for the kids to read themselves) > 3) something thought-provoking that would spark good conversation > 4) not toooo preachy and still of interest to 1st graders > > Any ideas?!? > _______________________________________________ > 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. > > -- Amy Swan/KS/4th "Being listened to is so close to being loved that most people can't tell the difference." ~David Augsburger _______________________________________________ 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.
