Elizabeth, I would be interested in how you set up your strategic thinking journals. Please share. Thanks! Denise Frederick 5th grade teacher
-----Original Message----- From: mosaic-bounces+dlfrederick=lisd....@literacyworkshop.org [mailto:mosaic-bounces+dlfrederick=lisd....@literacyworkshop.org] On Behalf Of Elizabeth Sledge Sent: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 1:06 PM To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Reader's Workshop Conferencing Hi Emma! I created strategic thinking journals...a readers hands on tool to assist in maximum comprehension of a variety of authentic literature tasks to teach, guide and reinforce strategy use...including all the key comprehension skills, literary elements and devices. Would be glad to share. Elizabeth Sledge On Feb 29, 2012, at 10:09 AM, Renee <phoenix...@sbcglobal.net> wrote: Emma, I am wondering.... Have you done a letter-to-you writing minilesson? Perhaps students are not putting in their letters what you need to read in order to conference with them effectively. What is it that you want, exactly, from these letters? Maybe that's a question that you need to answer for yourself. What about a whole group brainstorming session on what could be in these letters to help in the conferences? Another question you might ask yourself is, What do I want to know, exactly? Also, since you have older students (well, older to me, as I am primarily a primary person) who already know how to read proficiently, they may not need as much help as you'd like to give. From your description below and your list of what your focus is, it seems as though you are doing ok here. So, to come full circle, what if you had a list of things you'd want students to choose from when they write a letter to you? For example, a reference chart of strategies with the list: foreshadowing, theme, type of conflict, symbolism, etc.... with a prompt at the top: "How does this book show....." This could be something your students could refer to when they write the letters to you, to choose JUST ONE of those things to tell you about. And.... here's what I think is the absolute number one question to ask in a reading conference: "Tell me more." It's so open-ended that the student can choose where to go with it. THEN, your job is to really listen, without a preconceived notion or idea or goal, and have a true conversation with the student about what he or she is reading. At least that's my opinion. :-) Renee On Feb 28, 2012, at 6:06 AM, Emma Takvoryan wrote: To answer all your questions (and I am so thankful to everyone for replying because I feel overwhelmed with what I am trying to implement at times): 1. I teach 5th and 6th grade multi-age at a Montessori school. I have 10 students.2. I have 1 hour, 3 days a week to teach reading (crazy, right?)-I use 10-15 minutes of that to do a Read-Aloud, which is where the bulk of my reading instruction comes from.3. I teach mini-lessons at least once or twice a week for the first 10-15 minutes. 4. I have had them write letters because when I researched about RW I kept seeing them at as way to keep track of what they were thinking. I also liked how it gave me a starting point for conferencing. I guess what I am finding is just that maybe I don't know well enough how to take what I'm seeing in their letters and use that effectively. I don't know if part of that is because I have such a small group of students and almost all are proficient readers??--Reading above grade level, able to make inferences/draw conclusions, make connections, predictions, ask questions, etc... That's why during my read-aloud I try to focus on looking with the students at taking the novel to a deeper level-look at foreshadowing, theme, types of conflict, symbolism. Sorry for this lengthy response! Howard Zinn: "If teacher unions want to be strong and well-supported, it's essential that they not only be teacher unionists but teachers of unionism. We need to create a generation of students who support teachers and the movement of teachers for their rights." _______________________________________________ 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 _______________________________________________ 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
