Week 8 readings

Gregory Article:
Wow. Here it is, living proof, that we can have discussions with any grade level. This article actually shocked me. Kindergarters participating in book discussions, raising their hands with signs of what they're about to say and using words like "schema." How cool? But I think Gregory sums it's up best when she says, "By necessity, comprehension instruction looks different with young children. It is more active and much more visible (i.e., through the use of hand signals)." We've always been told in our TE classes, "This can be done in any grade level with the proper adjustments." Now we can see that this is actually true. So far this year what I've learned is that kids are capable of so much more than we give them credit for. I mean, I was amazed to see the 3rd and 4th graders in my placement making "text to self" or "text to text" connections. I thought it was awesome that my CT would have her students foreshadow what would happen next in a story or have the students close their eyes and visualize what was happening. I believe she's even used the word "inner movie." And if I was amazed that 4th graders could do this...one can imagine my shock that kindergartners can. I really enjoyed this article. Sort of inspiring!

Applegate Article:
It was pretty interesting to see the different ways students can answer comprehensive questions. In my placement, I believe that I see most often Liberalist and minimalists. The article had mentioned that minimalists can be quite frustrating to deal with because we know that those students have something to say but they're too afraid to say it. I just experienced this yesterday in my placement. There is a difficult student who is sort of a smart ass (I have no other word for it...so I'm sorry). He's always trying to challenge teachers and I think it's because he thinks he's always right. However, as soon as he's ask a question he's not sure of, he hesitates and becomes silent. He was trying to come up with answers to prompts given after reading a short story and he was a having a lot of difficulty. When I tried to help, he kept responding with "I don't know..." It's tough not to just give up and walk away at that point but I kept going. With help from me, he finally came up with an idea but was still reluctant to write it down. I walked away and watched him struggle with the idea and after about 10 minutes, wrote it down. It was sort of a "mission accomplished" moment for me.

Tompkins Chap 2
The first half of this chapter focuses on the strategies for reading. In Stage 4: Exploring, it says, "Students go back into the text to examine it more analytically. This state is more teacher directed than the others; it reflects the teacher-centered theory," (48). The first suggestion it makes is for the students to reread the selection. I find this to be such an important strategy to help with not only analytical skills but also comprehension and fluency. However, it seems to be the biggest drag for the kids. My CT often has her students reread material two or three times over again. The students are always complaining, "I've already read this!!" But i can tell the discussion is so much more rich when they've read through it two or more times. They know the story like the back of their hand which makes it easier to recall and make connections the second time around. My CT always tells me if the students complain that they've already read it then I should say, "Good. Then we should be able to breeze through it and you will be able to add much to our discussion."

Tompkins Chap 8
"...comprehension depends on three prerequisites: having adequate background knowledge about the topic and the genre, being familiar with most words in the text, and being able to read it fluently. When one of these requirements is lacking, students are unlikely to comprehend what they're reading," (pg 259). I think this quote pretty much sums up what this chapter is about. If we want our students to improve their comprehension we need to help them make connections by using their background knowledge (text to self, text to world and text to text), we must expose them to as much vocabulary as we can and we also need to help them practice reading in order to improve their fluency. "Students need to spend lots of time reading authentic texts independently and talking about their reading with classmates and teachers. Having students read interesting books written at their reading level is the best way for them to apply comprehension strategies. As they read and discuss their reading, students are practicing what they're learning about comprehension," (pg. 271)