I just want to echo Jennifer's comments -- I was in awe of your lesson, Peter--you really covered all the bases and the children's reaction was all the testimony I need that your instruction and their learning was powerful and lasting!
I wanted to say a word or two about giving language to those moments that Peter (and others) have been describing. What I am proposing in To Understand is simply that we take those moments when kids really do seem to understand and assign a language to them -- I proposed the Dimensions and Outcomes of Understanding, but I think you and your students could invent a language of your own. If children use a particular language to define and describe what they feel, think and remember from any one lesson, I've noticed that the likelihood that they'll engage again in the same process of understand and probably with greater frequency. I proposed the language in the Dimensions (what happens in our lives when we understand) and the Outcomes (what happens in our minds when we understand or as a result of using comprehension strategies) because I imagine that there might be schools who want to use the same language throughout the grade spectrum to describe understanding so that each teacher can build on what those who came before have done. This may or may not be most important factor to any given teacher, in which case, I think the language that you and the children devise together would be just as workable. ellin Peter "Wow!" isn't a big enough word for this lesson...all the scaffolding for your strugglers, the multiple approaches, the dresser analogy...this is just fabulous! You drew the conclusion that repetition was the key to understanding for these kids. I think that is only a very small part of it. Look again at Ellin's table on page 27. There were at least one---maybe a few more---dimensions of understanding that you set up for these kids.... :-) -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2008 10:00 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Understand Digest, Vol 2, Issue 20 Send Understand mailing list submissions to [email protected] To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to [EMAIL PROTECTED] You can reach the person managing the list at [EMAIL PROTECTED] When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Understand digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Re: Understand Digest, Lesson study (Palmer, Jennifer) 2. Re: A WOW lesson and moment! (Palmer, Jennifer) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2008 09:01:10 -0400 From: "Palmer, Jennifer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [Understand] Understand Digest, Lesson study To: "Special Chat List for \"To Understand: New Horizons in Reading Comprehension\"" <[email protected]> Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED] .org> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Bev... This is exactly what I was hoping for in some of my initial posts to the listserv....I think there is great power in approaching our study of Ellin's book to spend some time thinking about how we are understanding the ideas presented...in our minds and in our lives. Ellin never claims to have a full picture of what it means to understand...but she wants us to start exploring our own intellects and then share what we find with each other and then with our students. In my own mind...through lesson study and my study of To Understand, I am reading, reflecting, trying things out, talking with others, taking more quiet time to reflect, enjoying the struggle immensely. This...so far...is the beginning of my own exploration in what it means to understand. It is deep thinking we are engaging in and oh so absorbing....off to class now! Jennifer 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: Beverlee Paul Sent: Wed 4/9/2008 8:34 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Understand] Understand Digest, Lesson study So now will we examine our understanding/thinking AS WE THINK -- just as we thought in a parallel manner when we ourselves were visualizing, synthesizing, etcetera in our own reading immediately after Mosaic? Will we then, through the process, come to understand understanding? That's why To Understand, which standing on the shoulders of Mosaic, is a quantum leap forward. I knew early on when I read To Understand the first time that this was a book that I was going to need to peel through layers and layers across multiple readings in order to begin to comprehend. ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2008 10:47:46 -0400 From: "Palmer, Jennifer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [Understand] A WOW lesson and moment! To: "Special Chat List for \"To Understand: New Horizons in Reading Comprehension\"" <[email protected]> Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED] .org> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Peter "Wow!" isn't a big enough word for this lesson...all the scaffolding for your strugglers, the multiple approaches, the dresser analogy...this is just fabulous! You drew the conclusion that repetition was the key to understanding for these kids. I think that is only a very small part of it. Look again at Ellin's table on page 27. There were at least one---maybe a few more---dimensions of understanding that you set up for these kids.... :-) In thinking about my own recent learning through lesson study, one aspect of the dimensions of understanding really jumped out at me when I read about your experience...broader than just repetition. Another thing for consideration in light of our discussions on noticing and naming thinking processes...ie your day 2 structure. Did you share that before or after you asked the kids to remember what was done on day one. 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: Peter S. Carpenter Sent: Tue 4/8/2008 10:26 PM To: Special Chat List for "To Understand: New Horizons in ReadingComprehension" Subject: Re: [Understand] A WOW lesson and moment! We have been talking about lesson experiences, and I had two amazing ones this week. The class was a group of first graders...19...all reading "below grade level." I went in with a great plan for Monday's lesson. It involved a dresser, some books, and some paper clothes. I started the lesson with a question: How is reading expository text like a dresser? I gave them time to talk, and they shared some very literal statements (which I expected). So, I then had them think about what a dresser does and its purpose, and told them to turn and talk again. Still literal responses. I told them that Mrs. Carpenter wouldn't let me bring my dresser in, so I brought in a smaller version (one of the plastic drawer bins that are small that you put pens in on your desk). It had 8 drawers. So, then I pulled out the paper clothes. I told a short story about having to wash my clothes and to put the clothes away, so I shoved the clothes into one drawer. Right there and then was rebellion in first grade. NO MR. CARPENTER...YOU CAN'T DO THAT...when I asked why not, they said that drawers are supposed to hold certain clothes. Oh, I said, so how would I organize the clothes? They then took their time to do so. They also agreed that we needed to label their drawers with what was in them. I then bridged the understanding that, an author sets up an expository text like a dresser...the book as a whole is the dresser, and authors compartmentalize information into drawers (I used first grade words...compartmentalize would have sent them over the top), and our job is to see what the author tells us about each drawer. So, I took the labels off the drawers, and distributed the text and had them explore the text. Using the text (which had bold headings on each page) we then used the table of contents and the headings to label each drawer. The dresser was labeled with the text name. I then had a big thought bubble made from foam board and told them that in order to think about what is in each drawer, we need to look at the text and ask the question, "What does the author want me to know?" We then practiced this with the first heading and they used post-its to record their thinking. I then put their ideas in the drawer. We then talked about how it's good to put the ideas in the drawer, but we can't see them. So, we transferred them to a poster with: SUBHEADING What the author may tell us. I then had them go through the text and put one post it note telling what they thought the author was going to tell them. They did so. I then had them buddy read to find out if their ideas was correct or not. If it was, they put a check mark...if not, they put an "X" (their idea, not mine). They did so. We then pulled back together (because time got away from us) and I asked them, how is nonfiction like a dresser? They could not answer the question! I was so defeated. So, I reminded them how it was like a dresser and how we need to find what's in the drawers and that tomorrow we would be doing more with that. SO, after going home and racking my brain and beating myself up over the lesson, I decided to take a step back for the next day's lesson and take a more simplistic approach. So, I came up with this structure for them to remember what to do when they open a drawer: Look (at the text) Think (what is the author going to tell me?) Read (to find out) Share (what the author told you with a friend) Check (your thinking that you had). So, I wrote these on sentence strips, ready to use with the kids. The first thing I did for day 2 was to ask the students, "How is reading expository text like a dresser?" Guess what they said..."The author organizes information into drawers and we need to open them and see what's in them." I literally did a happy dance! I then asked them to tell me what they remember reading from the text from yesterday. They said: Animals need things: Shelter, water, food, air. Animals are put in groups: Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians. I did another happy dance. THEY REMEMBERED WHAT WE DID EVEN THOUGH I THOUGHT THEY DIDN'T. WOW! The power of multiple exposures...talk about an "Ah Ha!". I then had them break down into small groups (with other teachers in the room) and read the text again for fluency. We then came back together and I shared with them that we would be talking about what to do when we open a drawer in the text. I then put the cards down one by one in order. As I did, I had them come up with a kinesthetic movement to demonstrate the word. We then went through the words. I then took bell chimes (C, E, G for you music folks) and we said the five steps on the chimes (c-e-g-e-c). I then modeled for students how to use the process using a different text. We looked at it together and I did it as a think aloud (I do). We then did another portion together (We do). Then, I sent them in small groups to work on a different section with a teacher (We do again). Each time, I had a half sheet of poster paper with the section heading written at the top, and the following under it: Think Share Students looked at the text (Features and all) and wrote what they thought the author was going to tell them. Then we read together. Then we wrote what the author really told us under "Share". We then checked our ideas against what they originally thought. Again...sweat...but, really, really powerful. Teaching process and content is SO time consuming. But ALL kids CAN do it. We just need to be very intentional in order to do so. The powerful stuff...the teacher conversation afterward...where to go next. It was terrific. My Ah-Ha's... 1. Kids can construct prior knowledge using a book by structured pre-reading activities. It comes down to the questions we ask them to focus on. 2. Multiple exposures MAKE A DIFFERENCE. 3. Even kids who have learning challenges can be exposed to and remember higher level thinking. WE NEED TO DO THIS WITH THEM! 4. Never underestimate how a hook can catch kids. The Drawer analogy as well as the "Look, Think, Read, Share, Check" with music, motions and cards really made a difference in the process end of things. 5. Process and content CAN be taught side by side. I am so sorry that this is so long, but I wanted to share with you all. You all are becoming new friends to me, and I'd love to hear any feedback you may have. Thanks! Peter Maryland ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Special Chat List for "To Understand: New Horizons in ReadingComprehension"" <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, April 05, 2008 12:39 PM Subject: Re: [Understand] RTI - listserv protocol/Chapter 2 > > Just as we have set a protocol here, we expect to set one with our > students. > Upon looking back through Chapter 2, I found this on p. 27. (under > Dimensions of Learning). > > "We engage in rigorous discourse about ideas and find we have more to say > than we thought. We consider the perspectives of others and challenge them > until we understand our own and others' opinions and principles; we > surprise ourselves with the clarity of our own thinking." > > I am fairly new to MOT comprehension strategies (compared to many here). I > have most of the books from RWM. But, I yearn to have in-depth discussions > with my 2nd graders. I model thinking out loud and encourage spontaneous > questions or comments. I would love to spend all day teaching like this, > but I can't. > My question to you is, first, what kinds of protocol do you set up with > your students about discussions? Then, what changes do you make as the > year progresses? I have heard of Reciprocal Teaching. Do most of you > follow > a guideline or just go with the interest of the class? > I guess I'm asking how do you encourage students to get to the deeper > issues, beyond the surface level questions? > > > > (Embedded image moved to file: pic20101.gif) > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- > _______________________________________________ > Understand mailing list > [email protected] > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org > _______________________________________________ Understand mailing list [email protected] http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Understand mailing list [email protected] http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org End of Understand Digest, Vol 2, Issue 20 ***************************************** _______________________________________________ Understand mailing list [email protected] http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org
