I don’t know about the two of you, but I felt a little overwhelmed by this week’s readings. It seemed like there is so much that we can look for as a teacher when it comes to comprehension and I’m sure this is just the tip of the iceberg.
When I applied this knowledge to my own learning style I found that I have often been the kind of person that reads texts for two different reasons and in two different ways as Tompkins suggests that we do. I read narrative/story texts for enjoyment. I often find that I don’t put a lot of effort into making connections with the text. When I’m done reading a book I can usually tell you what it is about right away, but after a relatively short amount of time (weeks to a month) I will only be able to tell you the main idea. This concept applies to non-fiction text as well I have the ability to immediately recall almost all of the facts, but after the same amount of time I may have forgotten everything. I believe that this tells me my comprehension is pretty good at being able to read for meaning and knowledge; however I don’t tend to make connections that will allow me to go back to my knowledge in the future.
In my classroom I have seen many examples of things from the Tompkins text. My CT always uses the beginning of the day as a free read time. During this period she calls small groups over for individualized mini lessons. She often focuses on the theme for the week or the unit as determined by the set curriculum. After this session she then gets the class together to do the main lesson which is often very similar to that mini lesson, but with less support.
I think the Applegate reading helped me understand the comprehension of my students the best though. As I was reading through it I could often think of students that fit the descriptions she was giving. I have a left fielder who will often give answers that seem to come from no where. There is a fuzzy thinker that can never seem to give a complete answer. However, she noted in the text that sometimes students fit into more than one category. I thought this was especially true. For example the student I thought of when she described the left fielder also came to my mind when she described the author because sometimes he will make up stories that could have been from the text, but don’t have any real support. I actually found this to be the most helpful of the readings and would recommend at least skimming it if you didn’t have to read it.
Joel, I agree that there are many different ways to introduce comprehension and understand how each student comprehends things in different ways.
ReplyDeleteIn the Gregory and Cahill article there are many great things to do involving comprehension in young children. This is great for my classroom of first graders. I don't see many book discussions as I stated in another blog post, so I enjoyed reading about different things you can do with students to teach about comprehension. The schema was the first idea talked about and dealt with using previous knowledge and relating it to that which could be a great idea with young children. I also enjoyed the idea of the velcro theory which was defined as when we learn something new it's easier to remember if we stick it onto something already in our heads. These are just small ways to teach comprehension in younger graders and I will definitely keep these in mind.
It sounds like mine and Joels class has similar mornings with reading. My CT also lets students free read after they eat breakfast. She also pulls small groups aside and has them do choral reading with her and lets others read to one another, to themselves, or listen to audio and write about it. However, I think I am opposite of you when it comes to the type of readers we are. I usually comprehend something better if I can relate to it. I sometimes can read for pages and pages and when I am done, I couldn't tell you about what I read. It's very frustrating and makes me feel that I am not very good at comprehension. The more I enjoy or relate or am interested in something, the better I can comprehend. Sometimes I have no interest in the readings I have to complete for class (usually non-major readings) and I can't relate to them or see how they apply to my life what-so-ever, and I just don't comprehend them at all.
After reading the Applegate reading, I noticed that I have a wide range of students in my classroom. I have a few great literalists and many great students in between as well as a few authors and minimalists. It's amazing how one classroom can have such a range, but it does. This probably leads to not being able to relate to the reading and not making connections or not being interested. I agree that Applegate says that all students can have an incorrect response, but it is a pattern that should be noticed about a reader to say what type of reader they are and what type of comprehend-er. Applegate says that the key to effective instruction lie in the teacher's keen observational skills and the expansion of teaching repertoires to directly address the needs of students (56). I think this is something that is very important. We talked about accommodating to students needs last week and I believe this is what the statement is suggesting.
Similarly, my CT also begins the day with about 20 minutes of silent reading time. He also plays really cool and relaxing music, and there are no overhead lights (there are lamps and stuff) so it is a really nice atmosphere to be in. This gets them quieted and ready to start the day. Their entire morning is dedicated to reading and writing, so it is definitely a good way to begin and segway into those subjects. I am in a fifth grade classroom, so they are a little more advanced than the students in the Gregory and Cahill article, but I really liked the ideas they had.
ReplyDeleteThe main points in this article revolved around no grade being too young for comprehension. Even Kindergarteners can understand schema (the things you already know) and can "velcro" new ideas to the schema they already have in their head. To better facilitate this, they can do physical cues during learning times to show that they are making connections between what they are learning and what they already know.
Different strategies to faciliate comprehension are making mind movies or visualizing, questioning (or "I wonder..."), inferring and using your brain, and making connections. The kids will make different gestures with their hands as they are doing either of these strategies and that shows the teacher that they are comprehending and making connections, as well as reminding the students of what they are doing and making it more meaningful.
I would like to teach lower elementary, so I thought this article was really neat. I especially liked how the teacher had the kids close their eyes as they listened to the story and then had to draw out what they saw in their "mind movie" and then compare it to others' and the illustrator's pictures. Moreso, I think it is a good thing to incorporate the techniques the teacher in the article used as well, Kindergarteners are capable of doing comprehension tasks and the sooner they are introduced to them, the better they will become at them. Having them do physical motions to convey that they are cognitively thinking about the connections to the story show the teacher that they are doing what they are supposed to be doing, but they also serve as a reminder to the child of the task they are supposed to be doing. That strategy will keep them on task and give the teacher a silent cue that they are understanding what is happening.
I also like the questioning strategy because it challenges kids to think of meaningful questions about the topic. When kids think, they generate other ideas and other ways to expand upon the topic they are learning about and that can lead to greater connections. Sometimes kids just take what they hear and store it in their brain because the teacher said it was true, so it is neat to see these kids making their own questions to push their learning further. Starting these things early will only help them more in the future. I will definitely use these strategies if I end up in lower elementary. It was a very good article (and a quick read!)