Hi Jennifer, I think you are right: we probably agree more than we disagree. I especially agree with you when you say that it's very difficult, perhaps even impossible, to isolate one variable and say that it was this that caused that to happen. It is probably a combination of factors, each one influencing another to the point that together they made the difference. And, yes discussion is critical and a factor that is missing from so many teachers' professional lives.
I have loved everything I've read by Ellin Keene. I bought MOT in a Denver children's bookstore when it first came out. I relished it from beginning to end. I did the same this summer with the second edition and really feel like this is not simply a second edition but a completely different book that stemmed from that first one. And, now I again feel like I am stretching myself with To Understand. So, I agree with much of what Ellin has said and is saying about comprehension. I guess I see so much orthodoxy in education that complicates and strips away that which is essential that I cringe at how some things are interpreted. So I want to argue for a bit more simplicity and a lot more deep thinking. I also know that as teachers we must watch our kids for signs that tell us where we might go next, what we might try next. That is our responsibility. Elisa Elisa Waingort Grade 2 Spanish Bilingual Dalhousie Elementary Calgary, Canada Perhaps my earlier post oversimplified the complex workings of the classroom. That's why classroom research is so hard...you simply can't isolate a single factor and say "that's what caused the problem or by doing X, it fixed Y." That's why discussions like this between practitioners is so helpful. We know the complexities of the classroom and how many thousands of decisions and teaching moves we make each day and how many things affect our success. Still...I think we need to think long and hard about Ellin's idea that strategies are simply a way to give kids the language to talk about the text and their understanding of it. If we want kids to learn from each other by talking about text and what they do to understand, what are we doing to help them express their thinking successfully? Jennifer
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