I support the struggling reader by having the book available on tape, and the special education teacher I have in my in-class support class takes them into small group to support the process of using strategic thinking. I lead a group in my other class for this same purpose. This way, they are able to to participate in discussions about character traits, theme, setting, etc. I think it is valuable to have a mentor text that all students can refer to as we read other books with a common theme. For students whose reading ability may be higher than the book, I request them to go deeper in their written reading response.
It is the dilemma of a mixed ability classroom. I decide on the essential knowledge that I think the kids must acquire, based on our state standards. Then differentiate by product, content, or process. For example, we read The Pinballs by Betsy Byars as a whole class read. I asked students to create a timeline of important events for any of the three main characters. They were to choose moments that were important for a character's personal growth and development, since determining importance in text was a strategy we had been working on. They had to justify why an event was chosen. I was looking for at least three major events for the character. They could present the timeline in one of many options...a traditional timeline done on a sentence strip, a cartoon strip timeline, a puppet show, an acted out timeline with a script or notecards, or a song or dance. I used a rubric to guide them and to score the work. They all did well with the reading and understanding of character deve lopment. Some children had simple products and others were quite elaborate. However, I feel that the essential knowledge, analyzing a character's change through the course of the book, was adequately achieved by all. Do you not do any whole class books with your class? Maura -------------- Original message ---------------------- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Maura, > > Sounds like you have lots of good things going on in book clubs. If the > roles work and you are hearing good discussions then that is great. One > thing > I > wonder about and that is when the whole class reads the whole book. How is > ONE book "just right" for everyone in your class? That is the only thing > that confused me about your plan. > > Off to bed..... > > Leslie > > > In a message dated 2/9/2008 11:53:04 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, > [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > Laurie, > It doesn't sound like you have done anything wrong! I think you should > continue to monitor the groups, allowing those students who still do not > seem > to > get it to share their observations of those who are more successful. > Reflection on what the others did and how he or she could do better the next > time may > help. > > Third grade students are developmentally diverse, or so I found when I > taught third. Some students may just not be ready to fully take on the book > club > roles. I am now teaching fifth grade, and I find that four or five students > out of 26 come unprepared for lit circle. I have them stay at their desks > completing their role sheets before they can join the group. This way they > are > still getting the in-depth analysis of the text, which, to me, is the > purpose > of the roles. They are sometimes finished in enough time to join their > group. > Sometimes they are not. We have class discussions about the impact on groups > when a member is not prepared. Fifth grade children are somewhat motivated > by peers to get it together. > > I have an inclusion class in which I know a couple of the children will not > be able to completely do this yet. However, they continue to benefit by > seeing the exemplary model of others. At this point in our lit circles, all > students have the same roles. So each group can see how each student > completed > the > same job. We have one more job to go. After that, we'll try the circles with > each child having a different job. Evaluations (self and group) are also > part > of the learning process for them. This is the most structured I have been in > setting up lit circles. I have mixed feelings about the formality of roles. > The books we use are presented as a choice within our thematic units. We are > doing "Coming of Age" now and have read ON MY HONOR and FROM THE MIXED UP > FILES OF MRS. BASIL E FRANKWEILER. When we try the lit circles with > different > jobs, they can choose from BRIDGE TO TEREBITHIA or HATCHET. > > Perhaps you can move away from roles. I rarely used them in third. I would > rather give all the students the same comprehension task, such as bringing > three questions and the answers or predictions. Perhaps they would need to > identify two important moments in the text for the character. This way, even > if > a > student did not do a thorough job, they still were lifted by those in the > groups who did better. They learned from each other and improved. I also > tried > "talking chips" for groups who needed guidance in sharing the conversation. > Each student was given four two-colored counters. Each time he or she spoke, > the chip had to be placed in the center. When all of a child's chips were > used, > he or she had to wait for others to use their chips before that child could > share again. I also found it easier to have everyone in the class reading > the > same book. This way, we could have whole group discussions to supplement the > smaller book club meetings. > > So hang in there with it. Look at what you want the children to learn from > the lit circles and focus your teaching there. You sound like you put a lot > of > thought into it! > Best, > Maura > 5/NJ > > -------------- Original message ---------------------- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Dear Readers, > > > > My third grade class is struggling with book clubs this year. I purposely > set > > out to model, model, model what is expected of a book club member. We > read a > > book in a whole-group setting and practiced the four roles so that every > > table group had a chance to experience each role. The roles are: Word > Wizard, > > Summarizer, Big Idea Sketcher, Question Master, and Character Monitor. We > even > > did a few "fish bowl" discussions where I sat in to model how a > conversation > > works. while the rest of the class sat in a circle around us and observed. > I > > thought we were ready. Now that they are half way through the books, I > see that > > perhaps even more modeling was needed. > > > > I stressed how important it was to come to the group prepared and how it > was > > their responsibility to get the reading done on time. I felt that I gave > them > > plenty of time to do the reading and prepare for their jobs....however, as > I > > circulate from group to group during the discussin time, I notice that a > good > > third of the class is not prepared. They either haven't finished the > reading > > or their job is only half completed. During the discussion time they get > so > > loud that no one can hear themselves talk. Again, I've modeled and we > have > > role-played and brainstormed....what have I done wrong? > > > > Thanks for any feedback you might have to offer. > > > > Laurie Tandy > > Third Grade > > California > > > > > > > > > > ************** > > Biggest Grammy Award surprises of all time on AOL Music. > > > > > (http://music.aol.com/grammys/pictures/never-won-a-grammy?NCID=aolcmp00300000002 > > 5 > > 48) > > _______________________________________________ > > Mosaic mailing list > > Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > > > > > > **************Ideas to please picky eaters. Watch video on AOL Living. > (http://living.aol.com/video/how-to-please-your-picky-eater/rachel-campos-duffy/ > 2050827?NCID=aolcmp00300000002598) > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
