Janice
I have been struggling with this idea for years. Recently there was a post on
Mosaic that made me rethink what is meant by 'developmental" . Development
doesn't just happen. You can lead it by providing opportunities, modeling etc.
Last year, as we worked on comprehension lessons in Kindergarten and first
grade through the lesson study process, I saw tremendously high levels of
thinking. What seems to be developmental is the way those thoughts are
expressed...through movement or pictures. We saw that we needed to give the
kids the words, the language, to express the high level thinking they were
ALREADY capable of doing.
I am still thinking this all through, because I know that physiologically the
brain develops over time...so perhaps there are things that kids are not ready
for...but now I am thinking that the environment we provide helps build the
brain...
Jennifer Palmer
Reading Specialist, National Board Certified Teacher
FLES- Lead the discovery, Live the learning, Love the adventure.
"Children grow into the intellectual life around them."
-Vygotsky
From: Janice Friesen
Sent: Mon 9/22/2008 6:39 AM
To: Special Chat List for "To Understand: New Horizons in Reading Comprehension"
Subject: Re: [Understand] Beginning with Chapter One
Jan brings up her own experience and I also resonate with that. I
remember being frustrated in HS with teachers that tried to get you
to find more in a book or short story than was on the surface level.
I also remember my Master's Program where someone said to me for the
first time "what do YOU think" and expected me to have my own
thoughts. It was really the first time that I had the amazing
thought that I could actually have original thoughts! I often wonder
if this is developmental and so when I hear complaints coming from
kids about looking for deeper levels of meaning I just have to accept
that they "can't think that way yet..." What do you all think?
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