On May 27, 2011 10:06 PM, "Sandra Stringham" <sos...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
Its been a very long year and yet today I felt hope for my little ones. I teach a class of 33 at risk 1st grade students at a Title I school. I can't even begin to describe the behavior and social issues I have faced this year that interfered with learning and still interfere! Some I have never faced before.....a long, long year...but today... I've been teaching about synthesis. We began with retelling as a step before, then we moved into summarizing and now this week, by using a think aloud, the kids observed last week that synthesis is changing your thinking as you read. This week, using the book Jin Woo by Eve Bunting, with think aloud and conversations, the students decided that synthesis was changing your thinking as you read and using your synthesis. I asked the students to draw a picture of what synthesis meant to them. Here are a few highlights: One student (and this was a student that had severe behavior issues and I was happy if she held a book in her hand, right side up, earlier in the year) said: I think synthesis is changing our ideas and what we know in our schema. I told her I hadn't thought of that before...but she is right...sometimes we have the wrong idea in our schema, and as we read, we have to change that as well. I told her how smart her thinking was!!! Her smile could light the room!!! Another student--one who used to sing and hum through readers workshop- compared synthesis to adding details to your writing. As you read, you are adding to your schema-the details that make the story bigger-so your thinking gets bigger. And when you use your schema-you get smarter! A 3rd student said when you synthesize...your schema gets bigger, too. Another student (1 of the 24 I had on intervention plans) drew a picture of a person growing from a baby to an adult...just stick figures, but you could clearly see the progression. She said synthesis is like growing up. You change as you grow and learn and as you synthesize, your thinking gets bigger and bigger. Finally, one student compared synthesis to planting a seed. Your first thinking is like planting the seed. Then just like the seed begins to grow, so does you 2nd thinking (her words)....then your 3rd thinking (her words) she compared it to the flower that the seed grew into. She drew a picture of the seed...the seedling....the full plant...and labeled it with the synthesis stages. So.....with 1 more week to go....today made it all worthwhile. Through it all, I guess I was reaching them. I just wanted to share because we had some behavior issues in the afternoon that really brought me down...and I wanted to end my day...remembering the great things they can do. Why we persevere-it makes it all worthwhile! Sandi Elgin, IL And I'm going to sign my name for the first time as: National Board Certified Teacher-Literacy; 2010 (Hey...I never get to do that---so humor me!) _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org 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 Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org 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.
