Another look at utopia as this chapter delves into the possibility of our students not asking themselves questions before, during and after reading text. I have a question. Does this author have a life? Her mind is constantly working on, embroiled with or planning a new concept, strategy or process concerning reading comprehension. It is wonderful that she spends so much time thinking, reflecting and questioning episodes in her own life. She truly has enhanced abilities beyond the average teacher. However, personally I wouldn’t enjoy trading places with her. Just venting, can you tell that I don’t like this author’s style of writing.
I do agree with the author with the concept that questioning is fundamental to being human – dispelling confusion, probing into new areas, and strengthening our abilities to analyze and deduce. But I thought that the trait of reasoning is what set us apart from other species, not questioning. I guess it is all intertwined.
In this chapter she assists another teacher in getting her first grade students to take more of an ownership in their participation in the classroom. This particular teacher is very organized and her classroom is well managed almost to the point of perfectionism. The teacher does not allow the children to be involved in their learning. They are not given the chance to question, to be curious, to share in the responsibility for their own learning.
The author suggests that the teacher start by showing the students how to use questions as they chose their writing topics. Since first graders are always full of questions, this seemed a good place to start. Over the next several weeks they expand their approach to reading. The students’ comprehension of what they read could only improve with the strategy of questioning. They turned the project into a study and skillfully took notes and observations. Making adjustments and adding and subtracting ideas that worked or didn’t, they found that the students found success. Again, the author was successful in a first grade classroom in just six weeks.
SOME KEY IDEAS
Proficient readers spontaneously generate questions before, during and after reading.
Proficient readers ask questions to
- clarify meaning
- speculate about the text yet to be read
- determine an author’s intent, style, content, or format
- locate a specific answer in text or consider rhetorical questions inspired by the text
- focus their attention on important components of the text
Proficient readers understand that many of the most intriguing questions are not answered in the text
However, when an answer is needed, proficient readers determine whether it can be answered by the text or whether they will need to infer the answer form the text, their background knowledge, and/or other text.
Proficient readers understand how the process of questioning is used in other areas of their lives, academic and personal
Proficient readers understand how asking questions deepen their comprehension
Proficient readers are aware that as they hear others’ questions, new ones are inspired in their own minds.
A Sample Comprehension Strategy Study Using the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model: Some Key Ideas
v Model your questions with picture books or other short text over several days-record questions on chart paper that has categories for each of the purposes and times readers ask questions
v Make clear the distinction between reading aloud and thinking aloud as you model
v Talk to the children about why readers pose questions , how questions help them comprehend more deeply, and how they use questions in other academic areas in their live outside school
v Gradually invite students to share their questions, adding them to appropriate places on the chart in children’s language – continue to model, gradually diversifying the genre of the text you use
v Invite children to meet in small groups or pairs to share and compare questions—encourage them to list new questions generated through these discussions
v Continue modeling with invitational groups of children who might benefit from more explicit instruction
v Remind book clubs to focus on questioning in their conversations throughout the strategy study
v In reading conference, focus on their questions before, during and after reading; ask students to identify places in the text where they had questions and ask them to use the class chart to categorize their questions; invite them to pose types of questions that they have not tried yet; use think-alouds to assess their use of questioning; ask the children to identify ways in which posing questions helps deepen their comprehension; model how posing questions helps deepen your comprehension
v Focus sharing sessions on questions children discovered while reading and can add to the class chart
v Continue large an invitational group modeling of a variety of texts
v Make frequent connections between questioning and other strategies on which the children have already focused
v Use the Major Point Interview for Readers to assess children’s use of questioning as a tool fro deepening comprehension before an after a strategy study
v Use a variety of tools such as coding, highlighting markers on copied text, self-adhesive notes, question maps, story maps and double-entry diaries to help children become aware of and record their questions.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Chapter 5: The Essence of Text
This entire chapter is dedicated to determining importance in text. Following a pattern, Keene begins the chapter with an excerpt from a piece of text that she read, and recorded her own thought process as she determined what she thought was important in that piece, as well as her experiences discussing this text with others. After she "shows" us her own real life example, she then usually goes into the classroom with another teacher and writes about how this shows up in the classroom as well.
We are introduced to two students who have different skill levels in determining what is important. Jeremy, who doesn't think anything in particular is important but CAN make connections, and Rachel who thinks everything is important and tries to stuff too much information into a report that is supposed to be streamlined and easy to understand with just essential facts. Keene and the teacher she is working with conference with each student and show them strategies on determining importance that is right for them.
A problem this teacher was noticing was student's inability to determine importance with expository text. As young students, we are introduced to books with narrative, predictable fiction (referred to in the chapter as "considerate text", or text that is easy to understand for it's intended audience). Making the transition from understanding narrative text with a plot and understanding expository text (called, you guessed it, "inconsiderate text") is often difficult for students as they become more exposed to this type of text (I'm thinking of the "fourth grade slump" right now...). In my experience, students have shown their lack of understanding of what's important in the same way "Rachel" did in this chapter. They are unable to write a summary or a report and stick to the important points, opting rather to cram everything and anything they read about into their writing.
Lucky for me, the end of this chapter summarizes it's own important points (oh that Ellin Oliver Keene!) so just to share:
3 Levels Where Proficient Readers determine importance of text:
1. Word level- lingering longer on words that carry meanings (contentives), rather than words that simply connect (functors).
2. Sentence level- finding sentences that carry the weight of the meaning of the passage. In my experience, finding the main idea sentence or topic sentence. In non-fiction this can sometimes be in bold print or refer to a table or graph.
2. Text level- finding key ideas, concepts, and themes in text.
Everyone's process of determining importance can be different. That process is usually based on the following:
Reader's purpose, reader's schema for the text content, reader's beliefs, opinions, and experiences relating to the text, reader's schema for text format, concepts another reader mentions before, during, or after reading, pointing out non-examples, and interesting discussion.
FINALLY our buddy Keene has given a straight-forward strategy step-by-step at the very end of the chapter.
1. Teacher models their own process of determining importance and WHY and HOW they came to this conclusion. They WHY and HOW are very important during modeling.
2. Student's provide their own examples and give their own "why" and "how's".
3. Students meet in small groups for discussions. Discussions should include themes of the text to enhance their comprehension.
4. Book club discussions using same format'
5. Reading conferences where student demonstrates their own think-aloud while reading for your assessment.
6. Create needs-based groups for students who need more modeling and explicit instruction.
7. Text sets can be used to have students discover themes of similar texts.
8. Reader's workshop should include time where reader's share their thought-processes from independent reading time.
9. Make connections between this strategy and other comprehension strategies they know.
10. Model using a variety of texts that vary in content, genre, and difficulty. Students must eventually assume responsibility for their own modeling.
I am anxious to use this in my teaching. They make a very good point in this chapter that often when we ask students to determine what's important, such as finding the theme or main idea, we ask them to "really concentrate" to find out rather than modeling ourselves. Obviously a lot of this comes down to modeling, which we've all learned is key in any type of instruction. The thing I really took from this chapter was that modeling what you're doing is just as important as explaining how and why you come to your conclusions. That one point is what I, personally, found to be the most important. :)
We are introduced to two students who have different skill levels in determining what is important. Jeremy, who doesn't think anything in particular is important but CAN make connections, and Rachel who thinks everything is important and tries to stuff too much information into a report that is supposed to be streamlined and easy to understand with just essential facts. Keene and the teacher she is working with conference with each student and show them strategies on determining importance that is right for them.
A problem this teacher was noticing was student's inability to determine importance with expository text. As young students, we are introduced to books with narrative, predictable fiction (referred to in the chapter as "considerate text", or text that is easy to understand for it's intended audience). Making the transition from understanding narrative text with a plot and understanding expository text (called, you guessed it, "inconsiderate text") is often difficult for students as they become more exposed to this type of text (I'm thinking of the "fourth grade slump" right now...). In my experience, students have shown their lack of understanding of what's important in the same way "Rachel" did in this chapter. They are unable to write a summary or a report and stick to the important points, opting rather to cram everything and anything they read about into their writing.
Lucky for me, the end of this chapter summarizes it's own important points (oh that Ellin Oliver Keene!) so just to share:
3 Levels Where Proficient Readers determine importance of text:
1. Word level- lingering longer on words that carry meanings (contentives), rather than words that simply connect (functors).
2. Sentence level- finding sentences that carry the weight of the meaning of the passage. In my experience, finding the main idea sentence or topic sentence. In non-fiction this can sometimes be in bold print or refer to a table or graph.
2. Text level- finding key ideas, concepts, and themes in text.
Everyone's process of determining importance can be different. That process is usually based on the following:
Reader's purpose, reader's schema for the text content, reader's beliefs, opinions, and experiences relating to the text, reader's schema for text format, concepts another reader mentions before, during, or after reading, pointing out non-examples, and interesting discussion.
FINALLY our buddy Keene has given a straight-forward strategy step-by-step at the very end of the chapter.
1. Teacher models their own process of determining importance and WHY and HOW they came to this conclusion. They WHY and HOW are very important during modeling.
2. Student's provide their own examples and give their own "why" and "how's".
3. Students meet in small groups for discussions. Discussions should include themes of the text to enhance their comprehension.
4. Book club discussions using same format'
5. Reading conferences where student demonstrates their own think-aloud while reading for your assessment.
6. Create needs-based groups for students who need more modeling and explicit instruction.
7. Text sets can be used to have students discover themes of similar texts.
8. Reader's workshop should include time where reader's share their thought-processes from independent reading time.
9. Make connections between this strategy and other comprehension strategies they know.
10. Model using a variety of texts that vary in content, genre, and difficulty. Students must eventually assume responsibility for their own modeling.
I am anxious to use this in my teaching. They make a very good point in this chapter that often when we ask students to determine what's important, such as finding the theme or main idea, we ask them to "really concentrate" to find out rather than modeling ourselves. Obviously a lot of this comes down to modeling, which we've all learned is key in any type of instruction. The thing I really took from this chapter was that modeling what you're doing is just as important as explaining how and why you come to your conclusions. That one point is what I, personally, found to be the most important. :)
Sunday, March 8, 2009
I also envy the teacher that has five weeks to focus on one reading strategy! I completely agree that we are often spread too thin, rushing to cover too much material in too little time. I've been worrying a lot this year that I am giving my students more information than they can handle and not really devoting enough time to developing those concepts. In trying to keep up with the curriculum, sometimes it feels like they are on information overload. I especially feel this way about my struggling learners that need many exposures to new concepts. I would love to see our curriculum focus on fewer concepts, allowing us to slow down and go further in depth!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Chapter 4: Homes in the Mind
In this chapter, Keene discusses the concept of schema, how it is used by readers and how it can be taught to young students. A reader's schema is basically their background knowledge and how they use it to understand new information while they read. In my district, we talk about schema with our students, but we use the more student-friendly phrase "Making Connections" to discuss it. It is, by far, the hardest of all the comprehension strategies for fifth graders to apply. The students always seem to understand what a connection is, but they find it very hard to write down their connections in their literature circle packets. I've always thought their trouble may be because true connections can happen so quickly and are such personal thoughts. For a fifth grader to read a text, have a connection, realize and remember it, write it down and then share it with their group - well it takes a small miracle for all this to occur.
I agree with Keene that making connections while reading a text adds a dimension for the reader. How boring and awful it is for someone to read about a subject on which they have truly no background knowledge. Connecting to what we read is not only part of understanding the text, but it's what makes the text interesting and worth reading. Also, I thought Keene's choice of words to describe building background knowledge with students was perfect. She called it "activating mental files before reading" and she wrote that it is one of the most effective ways to improve comprehension.
Keene mentioned two thoughts in this chapter that were actually unrelated to schema building, but they caught my eye. The first was on page 53 and she said that as educators we rarely see classrooms being studied and replicated. This made me think about a comment from a coworker of mine who wished our district would allow us time to observe in other classrooms. As teachers we typically work in our own little classrooms and never get to see the work of others throughout our own buildings even. Keene and my coworker made me think of how wonderful it would be to observe in other classrooms and learn from their best practices.
The second thought was on page 65 where Keene mentions that a unit of study was focused on for five weeks in a classroom she observed. Having this kind of time to spend developing one reading skill seems so nice. I know time is an issue for all teachers, but I feel as if I'm spread too thin much of the time. I think focusing on less material for longer would result in a better education for my students and a less scattered day for me!
I agree with Keene that making connections while reading a text adds a dimension for the reader. How boring and awful it is for someone to read about a subject on which they have truly no background knowledge. Connecting to what we read is not only part of understanding the text, but it's what makes the text interesting and worth reading. Also, I thought Keene's choice of words to describe building background knowledge with students was perfect. She called it "activating mental files before reading" and she wrote that it is one of the most effective ways to improve comprehension.
Keene mentioned two thoughts in this chapter that were actually unrelated to schema building, but they caught my eye. The first was on page 53 and she said that as educators we rarely see classrooms being studied and replicated. This made me think about a comment from a coworker of mine who wished our district would allow us time to observe in other classrooms. As teachers we typically work in our own little classrooms and never get to see the work of others throughout our own buildings even. Keene and my coworker made me think of how wonderful it would be to observe in other classrooms and learn from their best practices.
The second thought was on page 65 where Keene mentions that a unit of study was focused on for five weeks in a classroom she observed. Having this kind of time to spend developing one reading skill seems so nice. I know time is an issue for all teachers, but I feel as if I'm spread too thin much of the time. I think focusing on less material for longer would result in a better education for my students and a less scattered day for me!
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