Nancy How I would love to be a fly on the wall in your classroom! I so agree with your thoughts about rigor--some people believe that rigor simply means a greater volume of work! Really, rigor IS this intellectual struggle that Ellin writes about. If we are really creating this climate where it is okay to not understand at first, but there is the expectation that the readers must take on the responsibilty for understanding, then there will be rigor and yes, there will be joy. I wish I could say that in all the classrooms I plug into we have this atmosphere....not yet...but I am working on it and am SO inspired to keep at it! :-) I love your descriptions of your intellectual struggles with this chapter...I too have frustrated myself trying to take it all in...read ahead hungrily then throwing on the brakes and screeching to a stop when I feel myself hit overload! I think it is a great idea to copy the tables and then look at them as I reread this chapter once again. I am looking forward to everyone elses thoughts here...do you think we can get in all the discussion we need to in two weeks before we hit chapter three??? Jennifer Palmer Reading Specialist, National Board Certified Teacher FLES- Lead the discovery, Live the learning, Love the adventure. Reading furnishes the mind only with the materials of knowledge. It is thinking that makes what we read ours. -John Locke
________________________________ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Nancy Hagerty Sent: Sun 3/30/2008 8:27 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [Understand] Chapter 2 This is one of those chapters that we could spend the rest of our lives discussing and each time we looked at it again another layer of understanding would be revealed. Of course, much like we have discussed earlier, each layer also presents more questions and new levels of NOT understanding. I have read and re-read this chapter at least 4 times. Fortunately, I have also been able to hear Ellin speak on this topic on 2 different occasions. I must admit that the text format of this chapter confuses me as a reader. I wanted to rip those tables right from the book! I have had to make copies of them all so I can refer to them as I am "listening" to Ellin explain all that is essential. There are times when I want (need) to scream," STOP! You're going to fast for me." But still my eyes and brain hungrily race on. That, of course, is the tug-of-war going on inside of my reading brain, read on-slow down...read on-slow down... That tug-of-war is with me every day in the classroom too, so after listening to Ellin describe the essential I have strategically placed cards around my classroom with the word PURPOSE written on them. Keeping in mind both the surface structure and deep structure systems, I know that in order to be different from the school and classroom that Ellin describes , I must really dig within myself to see if I am truly delivering what I set out to teach-that which is essential. First and foremost in my classroom I must foster, promote, deliver and LIVE a love for reading, writing and learning. That takes energy- a lot of energy some days. The climate of rigor, inquiry and intimacy that Ellin describes often means giving up some of the ways we used to teach (not the things). Some would argue that those were the "fun" things and that this rigor is not allowing our kiddos to have fun in school anymore. I couldn't disagree more! My group of first graders thrive on getting into the authors' brains in an effort to make their own writing "sound like" their favorite author. Together we have discovered that text we once thought very simple to read, takes deliberate thought and planning to write. We have also learned that more sophisticated text can become "just right" with lots of thinking, discussing and re-reading. The students realize that it's OK NOT to "get it" at first, BUT then they have the responsibility to DO something to help themselves ask the questions needed in order to work toward an understanding. The passive learners are becoming fewer and fewer. We have established a safe place to ask questions, to succeed, to fail, and yes, to learn. We celebrate the struggle all the time. On of my kiddos favorite author is Patricia Polacco because "she writes stories without answers." I find that I am able to teach text, genre, and text structure through discussion during my read aloud (yes, during), mini-lessons and reflection time. My personal struggle is still with asking the deep questions to move their learning along even more. Listening to my students, as well as to my own knowledge about what's best for kids, has been invaluable. Providing the time for students to TALK about their own reading and writing across the curriculum has been a catalyst for my own growth. I find that it is often like looking into a mirror. Some of the very things we complain that our students are doing are the things we have taught them-sometimes explicitly. My journey continues...but I keep having to return to this VERY important chapter! Nancy Hagerty First Grade Y-3 Hardy Elementary 248-573-8650 ext. 3637 [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ Understand mailing list [email protected] http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org
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