Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Summary
Finally, I want to say that I have enjoyed reading this book. As a result, I am a different teacher now than I was before I read it. Most importantly, I now understand how important it is to not only teach the comprehension strategies but also teach the students how those strategies help them understand the text on a deeper level. I've always just taught the strategies in the past. Now I will think and talk about how a text affects me as far as what I understand about humans, whether a text changes what I believe, etc. I will focus on fewer concepts; instead I will choose the most important ones and teach those to a deeper level, giving my students more time to think, understanding that 'silence is golden'.
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I really think it is so important to help our students understand how the strategies will help them. I believe it helps set a purpose for their reading work and let's them see how valuable using the strategies can be. Deb, after seeing your tutoring video last week, I've been trying to do more of this. My guided reading groups this week were working on mental images. At the end of each meeting, we simply took a moment to verbalize how making mental images helped us understand the stories better. It definitely helped them! This is something I plan to do much more!
ReplyDeleteDeb-your summary really hits on the struggles I face daily with my BSI kids. Some of the kids are very frustrated because they know they are not great readers and often get discouraged when I try to throw one more strategy at them. I really need to help the kids see the value in what they are learning and how they can use the strategies to become better readers. I know that the kids really do care and want to succeed and helping them understand WHY I am teaching something may encourage them and boost their confidence.
ReplyDeleteGreat summary! I am with you regarding sticking to the important things. It is one thing to model what you WANT them to do, but it is quite another to model what YOU yourself are thinking/feeling during reading and showing how a particular strategy can be of help. Giving students TIME to think?! What a NOVEL idea! ;) Thanks for all of your great ideas. (THAT sentence should be sarcasm-free when you hear me saying it in your head.)
ReplyDeleteDeb, you're right. We have learned so much in our courses, and incorporating everything can be overwhelming. I like your idea of focusing on fewer concepts, but focusing more deeply on them. I will try that in my own teaching as well - to focus on fewer strategies, but really teach them well. I think that the best we can do for our kids is give them the tools and strategies that they need to be independent thinkers, and we can't do that if we breeze over things. We have to spend REAL time teaching.
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