I want to answer one of Kare's prompts this evening because I have been doing a lot of thinking about this as we try to implement the concept of invitational groups in the second grade classroom where I coteach. I have often organized groups by reading levels and it is long past time for me to spread my wings and teach based on student need...not level all the time. We are starting to develop student goals based on formative assessments.The decoding/phonics goals for this intervention group are easier to find and develop. I can see from running records that there are patterns of errors for some students who need more work on long vowel patterns or self-correcting based on cross-checking visual cues with meaning. The comprehension goals right now are coming from student responses to the Primary Comprehension toolkit. We identified, for example, a few students for whom thinking during reading is composed mainly of retelling...not original thought. So...those students become an invitational group who will get some more modeling. I am actually thinking about bringing in some students who have mastered the concept to join us and share their thinking and do some of the teaching...though I need to talk to my coteacher first and make sure she feels comfortable doing this. What I hope to accomplish is a real atmosphere of inquiry...a spirit of let's work together to see how we can better understand this text...Now if we just had a schedule with less interruptions...such as field trips, conference days, election day...then perhaps we would be further along in this process. I will keep you up to date. Jennifer In a message dated 10/26/2008 2:11:26 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
On page 61, under the heading, "What is characteristic of an effective invitational group?" the first bullet explains that "Invitational groups are short, focused, goal-driven, and active." How do you achieve the focus? What do you use for goals?* **************Plan your next getaway with AOL Travel. Check out Today's Hot 5 Travel Deals! (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100000075x1212416248x1200771803/aol?redir=http://travel.aol.com/discount-travel?ncid=emlcntustrav00000001) _______________________________________________ Understand mailing list Understand@literacyworkshop.org http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org
