Through the readings I came across one strategy that may sound simple, but is a good platform to build on my philosophy of literacy-be explicit!
When reading chapter one of Strategies that Work I was challenged to be explicit and model to my students the way good readers read. Sometimes I forget how much students gain from simply watching the actions of their teacher. Knowing the influence teachers have on students, I'm more aware of modeling to my students what I'm trying to teach them. In TE class this past Thursday I remember a student talking about D.E.A.R time and that during this time students and teachers in the classroom would drop everything and read. I thought this was one great example of how to model reading, but in the book being explicit is taken to a deeper level. The book gives an example of a teacher that picks out a book to read to the class that she personally connects to. During the reading the teacher explains what she is thinking while she is reading and how she is connecting to the characters in the book out loud. She also put in sticky notes in the book as she's reading to help her remember parts where she had a strong connection with what was happening in the book. So many times in the classrooms I've observed I've seen teachers read aloud to their students, but rarely have I seen teachers share their personal connections and thinking. Seeing the students reaction in sharing about stories that connected with them showed me the power of leading by example. Do you have any examples of explicit literary teaching? If so, did it seem to be a good model for your students to follow?
I think that it is very important for teachers to be explicit about different reading and comprehension strategies. Students need to see these strategies put into action multiple times in order for them to really understand how they work. On page 33 of Book Club Plus! there is a chart that lists many strategies that we use to comprehend what we read. Many of these strategies are good ways to think about what you are reading, but some of them seem like abstract ideas that students would not necessarily understand if they were never explicitly shown how to use them. Also, I think that students may not think to use these strategies unless they were specifically shown how to. So I believe that xplicit instruction is a very important part of literacy instruction.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter four of Strategies That Work, it is stated that "explicit instruction is not just about modeling" (p46). You're completely right, it goes deeper. The authors go on to list out explicit instructional approaches to teaching comprehension. This list includes Think-alouds. Thinking aloud in itself may be seen as more of a modeling technique, but when thinking aloud using comprehension strategies, it becomes deeper. Sharing inner conversation, questions, inferences and how we activate and connect background knowledge are among the authors' tips of how to engage in a meaningful think-aloud.
ReplyDeleteI have not specifically seen explicit instruction for literacy instruction like comprehension in my fifth grade classroom just yet, but I have many good ideas of how to incorporate it into our next read aloud book.
In my Kindergarten class last year, my CT would read at least a book a day to the students. Most of the time she would take the time to stop reading and connect background knowledge, personal experiences and announce questions for clarification or quick discussions. This helped keep the students focused and helped to engage them more.
While reading these chapters this week, I was applying the concepts and strategies for teaching comprehension to my class now. I had an easy time seeing where I could apply these techniques and how they would help and encourage my students to read. Explicit instruction is key!
So far in my classroom, we have explicit instruction almost every day. During our language arts period, either me or my MT will read to the class some sort of picture book to the kids. So far, we have read only fiction books as it seems to work the best for the class' attention. I didn't used to think that a simple read aloud was really showing the kids anything about comprehension until I read this week's readings.
ReplyDelete"Strategies That Work" talks about how reading aloud to students is one option for "showing kids how". When teachers expose students to several different books, many of the books can become instilled into their hearts and may even be remembered for a lifetime. Harvey and Goudvis said that "some of our best moments have come from reading aloud or being read to." These are the moments that kids connect to different characters, situations and settings. Those personal connections are what really help kids practice becoming good readers.
I am so glad to learn this information as I now see a greater value in this kind of explicit instruction. Even in 5th grade, there seems to be plenty of room in the hearts and minds of students to keep making intimate connections with text.
Linda, you mentioned that you've observed different classrooms but haven't seen much text to self connections. What about your classroom now? Are you seeing any explicit instruction strategies from your MT? I think that if you ever want to practice one of these strategies, perhaps a simple read aloud like I have done will be a good place to start. Then later on, as you get more comfortable reading in front of the class, move on to strategies that involve more steps such as thinking aloud. This is what I hope to do as I get more comfortable simply reading to my students. :)
Amber- I see you've used initiating/elaborating to ask a question of Linda to find out more information of her experiences. This could lead the group into thinking deeper into our own experiences while we intern. You've also used activating background knowledge while connecting to what you've just read, "I didn't used to think that a simple read aloud was really showing the kids anything about comprehension until I read this week's readings." By this statement, and your paragraph that follows I can tell you've made connections with the ideas in the readings. You've quoted the text, and stated the text specifically so we could reference it if we desire. We could do this easier is page numbers were attached. Also, while you've asked Linda to clarify and think deeper into her experiences, I'd challenge you to extend your questioning to the whole group. This will extend the conversation and interaction between the four of us. :)
ReplyDeleteAimee's post used the strategies of challenging and elaborating. Aimee challenged the reading by noting that some of the strategies that were mentioned might be too abtract to use. She also gave a good reference of where to go in the book to find and elaborate on more literacy strategies to extend on my initial comment about being explicit in teaching literacy.
ReplyDeleteI can tell the Aimee made a connection with the ideas in the reading because of her critical assesment to the reading. I could see her thoughtful parallel from the book to her classroom because she spoke about how it may be hard for students to connect and learn.
One suggestion for improving her next blog entry would be to offer some personal experiences that she has seen in her classroom or in her past experiences in other classrooms.
In response to Kara:
ReplyDeleteIn your comment you elaborated on the original post and activated your background knowledge.
You elaborated on Linda's post by providing a quote from Strategies that Work and by discussing the use of Think-alouds. I think this was a good piece of information to add to the discussion because it gave a specific example of when explicit instruction was important to use in the classroom.
You activated your background knowledge when you gave an example about your CT from last year. This was also a great piece of information to share because it showed how students can be more engaged and focused on a lesson when teachers explicitly share good ways to think about the books students are reading.
A suggestion I have for your next post would be to try to challenge the original poster. Even if you agree with what they said you could bring up an alternative idea or belief to see how the rest of the group responds. I think this could cause an interesting conversation.
Linda, I really liked your post. I noticed how you used the challenging strategy of asking us questions about whether we've seen any explicit instruction in our classrooms. It was a good way to get us thinking about the topic that you wanted to discuss. Also, I noticed you activated your background experiences as you talked about explicit instruction. It was a good way to share with us that you had sincerely thought about the topic. It was also very apparent that you not only made connections to your life experiences but to the book, "Strategies That Work". You were very clear as to what explicit instruction means. One thing that I was unclear about in your post was whether or not you have actually done some explicit instruction in your classroom or not. I think you were trying to tell me but I needed more detail about it. I really like hearing other classmates experiences in their classrooms and would've liked to hear more about yours. Over all, great post. You helped make it easy and comfortable to respond. :)
ReplyDelete