Wow. What thoughtful and detailed answers! Thank you all for your input.
An aside: Last year I bought and used Stephanie Harvey's Comprehension
Toolbox. (I tried several of the lessons.) I found the lessons to be spot on
for my ESL students. They provided the scaffolding necessary. Plus, the
students enjoyed the selection of nonfiction articles. I believe the
students made wonderful reading gains over the year.
I have printed out all of your answers and will mull these over as I prepare
to videotape.
Kim
----- Original Message -----
From: "suzie herb" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group"
<mosaic@literacyworkshop.org>
Sent: Friday, November 28, 2008 11:11 AM
Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] whole class discussion question
Kim, I think you should do whatever you are comfortable with in terms of
the test you are sitting….but given that half your students are ESL and
you have a couple of attention issues you might like to just consider the
following. You are happy with their understanding of ‘fiction’ but they
need more work on non-fiction is what I am understanding you are saying.
ESL learners need more support with non-fiction. They actually need to
learn the text structure of expository text, ((Reutzel & Cooter, 2007).
e.g. Cause and effect, compare and contrast, description, questions and
answers and time order. Have you wondered why your students have not
transferred from fiction to non-fiction with the same level of
interaction? In using your piece on child labor I would be looking at
focusing your lesson with one of the above strategies, fine tuning your
questions so that you can build upon prior knowledge and so that your
students can make connections.
ESL kids and indeed most kids need more scaffolding for non-fiction and
most certainly attention to the academic language and or new vocabulary
that can be imbedded without context or pictorial support. And research
does show that whatever differentiation you employ in the regular
classroom for your ESL students is of immense benefit to your other
students as well. I think my reply today was too quick, I was thinking for
a ‘performance’ fiction would be an easier way to go. Content in
curriculum areas is of course important but providing support to develop
the skills for accessing information is paramount. A great starter would
be a ‘visual’ as in a photo on your overhead that ‘shows child labor’,
give the kids are context to build on when you are reading. And, maybe at
this point you could incorporate the language of the text in your
discussion if you think any of it is going to be new. Also, what is it you
want the children to understand
about child labor? This will help you develop the questions that will
promote thinking on both an ‘understanding/comprehension level’ and what
the students need to know and build upon in understanding for their Social
Studies unit. Good luck on this
--- On Fri, 28/11/08, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] whole class discussion question
To: mosaic@literacyworkshop.org
Received: Friday, 28 November, 2008, 1:12 PM
Hi Kim,
I am an NBCT (EC Gen) and I help facilitate candidate
support meetings here
in my district. I have a couple of thoughts for you.
First...what standards
are assessed in your entry? If one of your standards being
assessed is your
knowledge of students then you need to make choices that
show you know your
students and their needs and interests. To me, I think you
might have an
advantage using the non fiction piece if you include in
your writing the reasoning
why you chose this piece (they need help comprehending
nonfiction and they
have an interest in the topic.)
Why is it you think that the nonfiction metacognition
lesson might not
translate to tape well? Do you think the kids won't
talk? Will they not understand
enough to discuss it?
Read the article as a reader...not as a teacher. What are
YOU thinking
about as you read it? What are the main ideas? What
questions are left in your
mind? Now put yourself in your student's shoes. Where
will they be interested?
What parts do you anticipate will be confusing? What
strategies will they
try? Finally, put your teacher shoes back on... what does
this article scream
for you to teach. Will it make kids WANT to think? Will
they understand
enough to make them want to engage but are there still
tantalizing details that
will leave questions in their minds?
I think it is very possible to do a great lesson with
nonfiction for
metacognition...I think it may actually be easier than
fiction for kids struggling
with that process. What you need to do is make sure that
the article is going
to pull them in...make them want to learn more...it needs
to be full of
intriguing details but it should also leave them with some
questions or some
surprises...
Jennifer
EC Gen 98 (renewed 06)
In a message dated 11/27/2008 8:59:34 P.M. Eastern
Standard Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Hi All,
Forgive me for just jumping in, but I am so stressed at the
moment and need
your collective wisdom. I am a candidate for National
Boards (ELA Early
Adolescent). (I teach 6th grade ELA.) I am now working on
Entry #2 Whole
Class Discussion. I have to send in 15 minutes of a video
taped lesson which
I will analyze and reflect upon.
I spent considerable time creating a lesson on teaching
the reading strategy
of metacognition using a nonfciton text. The lesson
follows STW. I will
model using a think aloud, have students doing think,
pair, share, and then
eventually having them practice with guidance. My
instructional goal is for
the students to interact with the text as opposed to just
decoding the
words---to think about their thinking. (They are having a
hard time with
this. Half of the class is ESL. I also have two students
with ADD.)
My question/concern is this: Should I use nonfiction? It
might be easier to
have a whole class discussion about a piece of fiction,
however, my students
are fairly familiar with fiction. They *really* need help
with nonfiction.
The text is a short article about child labor in Equador.
(They've become
very interested in child labor issues.)
I'm getting nervous that the nonfiction metcognition
lesson might not lend
itself to the taping process.
Does anyone have any advice? Any and all thoughts would be
appreciated.
Kim
in NC
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