Student Work DisplaysA great example of a student work display is one that demonstrates the process of reading, language study and writing. The teacher's use of wall space as a portfolio indicates an understanding of how language-based behaviors influence comprehension. The unique approach is worth noting. This 5th grade example illustrates how a teacher can use punctuation and weave it into a deeper connection of comprehension, author's purpose and voice in writing. It would be easy and quite direct to teach the individual skill of comma or semi colon. However, that would be a surface structure and we are after deep structures! What this display shows is a deep understanding of how to teach punctuation and it's influence on reading and writing in an authentic/inquiry-based way. The students discovered how an author used punctuation and then sorted the examples to create their own meaning. Finally, the teacher use the rubric for voice rather than conventions to assess authentic writing.
Dr. Dorn states in Reading for Deep Comprehension, "... a reader's knowledge of the language system can influence his or her depth of comprehension. We might say that structural knowledge is the very architecture on which creativity is shaped; without this basic foundation, writing is built on a faulty framework and can interfere with the reader's comprehension." Reflect on your student work display. Use it as an opportunity to analyze your practices and work to implement at deeper levels during this genre study.
Mini or Focus Lessons
How about this for a quote from Dr. Mausbach's visit, "It is very apparent that what is being taught is showing up in quality student work." Additionally, she said, "No matter which classroom I went to I saw evidence of workshop being implemented." For example, we saw evidence of a strong mini lesson in share time. In a first grade classroom we saw a teacher reinforcing a concept with students sharing the events that corresponded into character action. She reinforced how this is a way writers respond to reading by using the character description of actions/events as a way to show understanding of narrative (problem/solution). What is so exciting is that this teacher didn't have a scheduled visit. It's an example of teacher intentional instruction rather than "show and tell". Planning the work and working the plan; thank you! A second and third example were with mini lessons viewed in second and fifth grade (language and writing respectively). Both used their mentor text to reach a curricular objective explicitly. In the writing lesson one would hear teacher statements like, "good word choice and use of punctuation can be a way that you could help your reader infer a character's feelings." The teacher modeled how a writer could revise text to make this happen. Very explicit. The language lesson in second grade was also very explicit without getting in the way of student inquiry or comprehension. She used a variety of mentor text with think aloud various choices an author makes to show character traits. She had a co-constructed chart with a blank column so student knew they could have the opportunity to bring a different example to share time. Dr. Mausbach felt that all of you have routines, practices and engagement under control. It was quite evident in our walk through. Your mini lesson is the springboard into deeper learning. Make every one count. As I continue my study of lesson planning I see that many of you have a specific plan and are systematically implementing it.
What is so exciting about last week's visit is how all of you demonstrated our school improvement plan in action. It is very easy for a principal to "talk" about the plan. I think it was best said by a teacher in a mini lesson: "Don't just tell me; show me!" YOU DID THAT! Congratulations!!
Prompt for response: Reflect on what have you planned this week that demonstrates the integration of strategic reading behaviors and it's influence on comprehension. What evidence are you collecting and how will you know kids are reaching your target?
In our kindergarten classroom we are working on rereading a passage when the meaning breaks down. Since many of my students are still working on decoding words, rereading the text is an important strategy that influences student comprehension. I am currently looking through running records to analyze who is using this strategic behavior independently and who still needs some reinforcement in this area.
ReplyDeleteWithin my fifth grade classroom, the shift in my thinking when planning my lessons really came through our collaborative efforts in grade-alike planning meetings on Mondays during professional development sessions. Through conversations with Diane, Erin, and Kim, we really took a look at how to fully connect all three of the workshops (reading, writing, and language) in a seamless way. One of the most beneficial ways for me to see whether my students are taking away the learnings and incorporating them in an independent level has been through personal conferring with my students. I have been working on lessons that have been focusing on how authors use dialogue, punctuation and description to help readers infer meaning and emotion within the text. While writing their personal memoirs, it has been evident to me that students are soaking in these concepts. I can ask them to show portions of their writing that they believe they have shown these concepts, and have seen them become more self-regulated in identifying areas (whether it be adding to a particular sentence or revising sentences to show emotions rather than tell the reader how their characters are feeling), where they can "beef up" their writing. Most of the time, as they read aloud from their writings, they can identify places where they have done this or places where they can incorporate these lessons. Also, when completing running records on my core students, I have been asking questions after their fluency check that are guided towards the author's writing style: "Did the author do anything that helped you, as a reader, infer how a character is feeling?" "How did the author focus their writing with clear, well-chosen word choice to help you as a reader understand their message easier?" By having that holistic approach where the students can easily see the tie throughout all the workshops and continuing to develop these connections, I've seen a lot of growth in a short period of time. Focus, focus, focus.
ReplyDeleteIn our class, we have been focusing on dialogue and speech tags and how that helps us determine the mood of a piece of writing. The author's word choice is so important! I can see their understanding of this skill in both the reading and writing workshops through their group discussions and how they are using these things to help them understand, and through their writing I can see that they are really reflecting on their word choice to help the reader understand how the characters are feeling.
ReplyDeleteIn first grade we are both learning to decode and comprehend text. Rereading is a strategy that we have learned to help when our comprehension is broken down due to our efforts in decoding the text. I can monitor who is using this strategy through running records, as well as listening to students read during partner reading.
ReplyDeleteIn one of our benchmark books this quarter, it says that "...he shed his wet jacket." Something we heard a lot of that we haven't heard before, is kids would say "...he she'd his wet jacket." Some paused and went back because they heard that it did not make sense, but some went on. This shows us that, even though they are older, we still need to focus on the internal questioning "Does that make sense"...and going back to reread until it does make sense.
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