Moving on to schema unit in Comprehension Connections has really got me thinking about how many assumptions are made in terms of kids' prior knowledge..... I know I started threads on retelling before but..... as I reviewed my first grade DRA's taken in October I noted how many teacher prompts I needed to give most kids in terms of the comprehension section. Seems to me the DRA itself, and its makers, assume that kids know how to retell.... Now, I am expecting posts back about how retelling is a lower level comprehension strategy... a rehashing of the author's words.... but really the more I teach through retelling..... as a unit of comprehension itself ...the more I learn about gaps in kids' experiences with texts....the way they internalize author's words in their heads In my opinion, retelling is an intricate and symbolic cognitive process.... kids need schema for story elements, story genre, story maps, thinking forward and thinking back, and God forbid they make it to a level where they write their responses... then kids need to process all that thought into written format (which is a whole other multi-step ball of wax) The point? Maybe before the DRA assessment and before any teaching of comprehension strategies.... there should be more immersion in story and grand conversations (the "what do you notice" kind) Maybe then retelling should be taught as extensively as connections, visualizing, determining and so on.... I am wondering if retelling and following directions are closely related... so many of my first grade dilemmas are because kids do something that seems like they are not listening to directions but now I am thinking that if asked to retell the directions ...the directions they internalize would be a far cry from my intentions. I am also thinking about developmental stages ... do we teach into retelling or let it evolve with maturity???? These types of ponderings bring me back to teaching methods... more concrete modeling... less written and abstract work....more reading and less written templates.... Just some thoughts before bed... what do you all think????
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