I encountered a similar situation in a preschool -- a three-year-old boy who
spoke very little. Much like the girl described by Pat in her post, below,
Xavier would respond with body language and facial expressions, but he
would't talk. For story time, I unrolled a scroll of "Harold and the Purple
Crayon". I had the children retell the story by taking turns doing picture
walks -- real walks -- along the scroll. Xavier volunteered to go first.
He used his fingers and body to communicate -- and he had a lot to "say"
(without speaking, of course!). Of all the retells, his was the best. He
really understood the big picture -- and how the details of the story went
together to make a whole.
With the scroll layed wide open and the whole story in full view, the
children in that 3s class were able to communicate their thinking much more
easily than they would have if we had been restricted to the fragmented
display provided by the bound book version of this story. The result was
real engagement and, at a three-year-old-appropriate level, some very
sophisticated thinking (lots of questions, inferences, connections, etc).
This was the kind of Mosaic-inspired book-"talk" that many on this listserve
would recognize -- and it was quite rigorous, as well as hands-on, social,
and lots of fun.
Which leads me back to this thread, which is (mostly) about the Common Core
and standardized testing, and to what it means to apply this level of rigor
to kindergarten and preschool. The current stampede towards standardized
testing is a disaster -- and it is not going away anytime soon. It is an
ill-informed quick-fix-fantasy, fueled by politics and money. It will run
it's course, if only because it can. It is a juggernaut.
But the Common Core is, in my view, a very different animal. I like it --
or at least I like it in the early grades, which is the part of the CCCS
that I have studied most carefully. I can't speak for Ellin Keene or Debbie
Miller, Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, or Ruth Shagoury and Andie
Cunningham, or any of the other authors who have inspired me and informed my
thinking about reading, but I see in the Common Core their influence (even
if indirect). I hope that this does not offend or horrify them.
Assuming that I am right about this -- that the CCCS are, to put a simple
label on them, "Mosaic-friendly" -- then here's my concern: If we don't take
ownership of the CCCS, those who see testing as the solution will. They
will hijack a good idea, and turn it into a bad one. I think that the
Common Core Standards, as they now stand, get things mostly right. They see
reading as thinking, as problem solving, as social interaction, and as hands
on learning and exploration.
Am I wrong? If so, gently, please: I am interested in reading your thoughts
on this!
Dave Middlebrook
The Textmapping Project
A resource for teachers improving reading comprehension skills instruction.
www.textmapping.org | Please share this site with your colleagues!
USA: (609) 771-1781
email: dmiddlebr...@textmapping.org
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/textmapping
linked in: http://www.linkedin.com/in/davemiddlebrook
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Patricia Kimathi" <pkima...@earthlink.net>
To: "Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group"
<mosaic@literacyworkshop.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2012 1:18 AM
Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Rigor of Common Core in Kindergarten
Years ago when I taught kindergarten. I had one young lady who would not
talk. But I could see her brain working when we talked about things. She
would smile or look up or light up. I just knew something was going on.
She would perform simple task witht eh rest of the clas just would not
talk. Her parents said she talked at home. I just waited and gave her
the same attention as anyone else. Never changed the way I treaated her
included her in every discussion. The other students of course followed
my lead. One day I asked her something and she started talking in full
complete sentences and did not stop until she went to first grade. It
was an unbelievable experience. We never do know what is going on in a
child's mind.
PatK
On Sep 17, 2012, at 8:46 PM, Beverlee Paul wrote:
One difference between a child and an engine is that you can see "into"
an
engine as it makes its way down the assembly line and so you know exactly
what has been done and what is left to do. We're just plain foolish if
we
thi
PatK
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