Chapter 3-Select one of the teaching strategies introduced in this section to model for students.Teach one or more students to use the strategy.Blog your feedback on the success of the strategy you selected.
I already use the strategy in my reading class of thinking aloud. Whenever we read our class books, I model reading a paragraph and then do a think aloud. Our reading series "Soar to Success" also teaches that strategy at the beginning of starting the series so the kids practice it during the first 2 books and then it's supposed to become a habit. With sped kids though, this strategy is hard for some because they are struggling to read the words let alone trying to come up with questions in their heads of "I wonder why so and so did this?". When I have reg. ed kids included in my reading groups that always helps because they do pick up on the modeling and think alouds and do those strategies in front of the sped kids.
This year I've limited myself to only a few classes I actually teach. For those of you who don't know, I've been through 11 paras to date. If it hadn't been for Linda backing me up, this year would have been a bust. The lowest reading class I teach is with News2You. The kids know that there is a specific pattern to what we do. I still set up a purpose for the weekly news reading. (And it's not just 'for a grade' that my 8th graders want.) The kids get excited when they know that it's a birthday of something, football, or a topic that I used DiscoveryStreaming and showed short clips. Setting the purpose is the beginning of reading.
I used the purpose for reading strategy starting on page 24. I feel this is the basic starting place for all readers. It helps them draw meaning from the text, narrow their focus, and increase their comprehension. I feel students over all, not just my sped kids, lack a purpose in reading. I don't know whether the teachers are not doing a quick intro before reading, which I think they are, or if the students are not paying attention or not making the connections the teachers are trying to make. I think it's the latter! This is a critical first step in reading, more so for sped students who struggle with reading overall! My reading class did the activity on page 25. I made each student 3 copies of the passage/text and gave each one 3 different highlighters. I read the passage to them first and told them to highlight everything the felt was important. They were all over the place, highlighting all sorts of information. I asked them to tell me what would happen if I were to grade it and had a different perspective of what was important. They agreed they would get an F on the assignment. Next they switched highlight colors and marked from the perspective of a potential home buyer.(I thought some of things were interesting that they marked would not come with the house!) That was easier because it gave them a specific focus. Last they got a different color, each time with a clean copy of the story, and marked it from the perspective of a robber. That was their favorite one, go figure! We discussed each time what they marked and the increased meaning it gave them to have a specific purpose for the passage. I reminded them that their teachers give them a purpose and to pay attention to that, it will help their focus and meaning and things will make more sense to them! It was fun, at least I thought it was! I told them they were helping me with my homework, they weren't impressed but they liked the activity! Reading requires so much more than reading words, the purpose/focus needs to be there to catch all the little things that help it make overall sense, that is what will be difficult to my students. The purpose for reading is the start!
As much as I think purpose is everything and is good to explain to your students why they are doing something. I did the thinking aloud strategy which I think is just important. With my students we spend a lot of time reading a loud and taking turns. What I have noticed when we do this is that some of my students were just reading because they had to and were not comprehending what we were reading. I have done think aloud before reading it in the book. Having my students think aloud after certain parts of the reading, helped my students develop ideas and discuss them amongst themselves. It was also nice to see the different points of view and have them discuss it amongst themselves. Doing think alouds not only made them focus on the reading itself, but it helped some of my other readers who still were having a hard time comprehending the text. As we talked through it out loud the kids started to make since of what they were reading. I was also amazed to see some of my students who do not like talking in class participate in the discussion because they started to understand and had something to add to the conversation. Think alouds are really great tools and I like using them in my classroom for several reasons.
I also use thinking aloud with my students. I've used it with my Spell/Read class and my study skills classes. During Spell/Read we read together as a group. The students and I take turns. After each page we read, I ask a question that starts a discussion. We work on drawing inferences and talk about author's purpose. I like to hear their different ideas and it is interesting that they all have such a differing points-of-view. When we get to the end of the story, it's great to watch a student's face when they realize the inference they made matches the conclusion of the book! They feel rewarded. I've also had them discuss what they think would happen if there was a sequel written to the story. Think-alouds are a great tool to start discussions and make students think for themselves.
I feel that think aloud are used to help students understand what we are thinking as we read and process information in the text. When I read I stop and tell the students what I am thinking. I am thinking of might happen or what is happening. I think about how the characters all interact with each other. As I am thinking these things I am speaking them outloud for the student to hear. what I am thinking
Think alouds are a great start. Many of our students do not have language skills that allows the activation of prior knowledge. I always like to ask questions aloud so I know where the students have got off track or where the gap in their prior knowledge exists. So often we assume they have middle class values and experiences just like most of our lives, but they do not.
I already use the strategy in my reading class of thinking aloud. Whenever we read our class books, I model reading a paragraph and then do a think aloud. Our reading series "Soar to Success" also teaches that strategy at the beginning of starting the series so the kids practice it during the first 2 books and then it's supposed to become a habit. With sped kids though, this strategy is hard for some because they are struggling to read the words let alone trying to come up with questions in their heads of "I wonder why so and so did this?". When I have reg. ed kids included in my reading groups that always helps because they do pick up on the modeling and think alouds and do those strategies in front of the sped kids.
ReplyDeleteThis year I've limited myself to only a few classes I actually teach. For those of you who don't know, I've been through 11 paras to date. If it hadn't been for Linda backing me up, this year would have been a bust. The lowest reading class I teach is with News2You. The kids know that there is a specific pattern to what we do. I still set up a purpose for the weekly news reading. (And it's not just 'for a grade' that my 8th graders want.) The kids get excited when they know that it's a birthday of something, football, or a topic that I used DiscoveryStreaming and showed short clips. Setting the purpose is the beginning of reading.
ReplyDeleteI used the purpose for reading strategy starting on page 24. I feel this is the basic starting place for all readers. It helps them draw meaning from the text, narrow their focus, and increase their comprehension. I feel students over all, not just my sped kids, lack a purpose in reading. I don't know whether the teachers are not doing a quick intro before reading, which I think they are, or if the students are not paying attention or not making the connections the teachers are trying to make. I think it's the latter! This is a critical first step in reading, more so for sped students who struggle with reading overall! My reading class did the activity on page 25. I made each student 3 copies of the passage/text and gave each one 3 different highlighters. I read the passage to them first and told them to highlight everything the felt was important. They were all over the place, highlighting all sorts of information. I asked them to tell me what would happen if I were to grade it and had a different perspective of what was important. They agreed they would get an F on the assignment. Next they switched highlight colors and marked from the perspective of a potential home buyer.(I thought some of things were interesting that they marked would not come with the house!) That was easier because it gave them a specific focus. Last they got a different color, each time with a clean copy of the story, and marked it from the perspective of a robber. That was their favorite one, go figure! We discussed each time what they marked and the increased meaning it gave them to have a specific purpose for the passage. I reminded them that their teachers give them a purpose and to pay attention to that, it will help their focus and meaning and things will make more sense to them! It was fun, at least I thought it was! I told them they were helping me with my homework, they weren't impressed but they liked the activity! Reading requires so much more than reading words, the purpose/focus needs to be there to catch all the little things that help it make overall sense, that is what will be difficult to my students. The purpose for reading is the start!
ReplyDeleteAs much as I think purpose is everything and is good to explain to your students why they are doing something. I did the thinking aloud strategy which I think is just important. With my students we spend a lot of time reading a loud and taking turns. What I have noticed when we do this is that some of my students were just reading because they had to and were not comprehending what we were reading. I have done think aloud before reading it in the book. Having my students think aloud after certain parts of the reading, helped my students develop ideas and discuss them amongst themselves. It was also nice to see the different points of view and have them discuss it amongst themselves. Doing think alouds not only made them focus on the reading itself, but it helped some of my other readers who still were having a hard time comprehending the text. As we talked through it out loud the kids started to make since of what they were reading. I was also amazed to see some of my students who do not like talking in class participate in the discussion because they started to understand and had something to add to the conversation. Think alouds are really great tools and I like using them in my classroom for several reasons.
ReplyDeleteI also use thinking aloud with my students. I've used it with my Spell/Read class and my study skills classes. During Spell/Read we read together as a group. The students and I take turns. After each page we read, I ask a question that starts a discussion. We work on drawing inferences and talk about author's purpose. I like to hear their different ideas and it is interesting that they all have such a differing points-of-view. When we get to the end of the story, it's great to watch a student's face when they realize the inference they made matches the conclusion of the book! They feel rewarded. I've also had them discuss what they think would happen if there was a sequel written to the story. Think-alouds are a great tool to start discussions and make students think for themselves.
ReplyDeleteI feel that think aloud are used to help students understand what we are thinking as we read and process information in the text.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read I stop and tell the students what I am thinking. I am thinking of might happen or what is happening. I think about how the characters all interact with each other. As I am thinking these things I am speaking them outloud for the student to hear. what I am thinking
Think alouds are a great start. Many of our students do not have language skills that allows the activation of prior knowledge. I always like to ask questions aloud so I know where the students have got off track or where the gap in their prior knowledge exists. So often we assume they have middle class values and experiences just like most of our lives, but they do not.
ReplyDelete