6/28/15
When in small group lessons with my kids, doing explicit comprehension strategies that are aligned with a text we are reading, I know my students' attitudes change. After being taken away from the whole group, they become more confident with the skills being taught. I think it's important for students to know that they're allowed to think and listen to that voice inside their head. Strategies That Work mentions that inner voice helps with questioning, connecting, and determining importance. When students read and don't understand something - they need to know it's okay! Strategies That Work also mentioned a great strategy of monitoring to clarify confusion by using Huh? sticky notes. They can use this to tag spots in their reading they're confused about to either find clarification as they continue reading or to ask for clarification from the teacher. I can see my students enjoying this technique as they get excited to use office supplies! According to Mosaic of Thought, "It shows that children who struggle to read don't consistently ask questions as they read - not before, during, or after" (p. 106). The book goes on to share how questioning is fundamental to being human. It's important that students know they should be asking questions. "Questions lead children through the discovery of their world" (p. 108). This sounds wonderful, but sometimes students need help to figure out how to question and what's important - that's where teacher modeling comes into place. Showing students how to by modeling thinking aloud. Close Reading of Informational Texts had some great suggestions for guiding students to dig deeper with their thinking such as:
"Tell me a bit about what you are thinking"
"What information was in the text that made you think of this?" (p. 63).
Having question prompts or stems are useful for teachers to use or even for students to use with each other when thinking about their reading!
When in small group lessons with my kids, doing explicit comprehension strategies that are aligned with a text we are reading, I know my students' attitudes change. After being taken away from the whole group, they become more confident with the skills being taught. I think it's important for students to know that they're allowed to think and listen to that voice inside their head. Strategies That Work mentions that inner voice helps with questioning, connecting, and determining importance. When students read and don't understand something - they need to know it's okay! Strategies That Work also mentioned a great strategy of monitoring to clarify confusion by using Huh? sticky notes. They can use this to tag spots in their reading they're confused about to either find clarification as they continue reading or to ask for clarification from the teacher. I can see my students enjoying this technique as they get excited to use office supplies! According to Mosaic of Thought, "It shows that children who struggle to read don't consistently ask questions as they read - not before, during, or after" (p. 106). The book goes on to share how questioning is fundamental to being human. It's important that students know they should be asking questions. "Questions lead children through the discovery of their world" (p. 108). This sounds wonderful, but sometimes students need help to figure out how to question and what's important - that's where teacher modeling comes into place. Showing students how to by modeling thinking aloud. Close Reading of Informational Texts had some great suggestions for guiding students to dig deeper with their thinking such as:
"Tell me a bit about what you are thinking"
"What information was in the text that made you think of this?" (p. 63).
Having question prompts or stems are useful for teachers to use or even for students to use with each other when thinking about their reading!