Week 5 Assignment

Dear Participants:

We have two weeks more to go although I will offer those of you who couldn’t participate with us right away the opportunity to make some of that time up with an extra week of discussion. I would like to propose an Open Forum where any topic related to teaching reading, no matter where or how, will be a valid one for discussion. I would also like to propose that during that 7th week, anyone wishing to discuss an issue related to teaching should post it and get suggestions/comments from other participants. To get us started, I will ask that you jot down between now and the end of the training any thought that might be an issue for discussion. For example, some of you have mentioned what time pressures do to your creativity and to your willingness to implement some of the new or modified strategies we saw here, or, indeed, anywhere – conferences, professional development sessions, meetings, etc. Whether you participate or not is up to you, but if you think you might like that, jot ideas down. I have a short list of topics I will propose, but , as long as it is a teaching issue, you may propose a topic yourself.

For Think-Alouds, I would like for us to focus for discussion purposes on Chapter 4, “Navigating Meaning: Using Think-Alouds to Help Readers Monitor Comprehension.” It is an essential tool for independent readers – and isn’t that our final goal, having students be able to understand the toughest of readings on their own? Read this chapter reflectively. Although some of you will say that getting students to this point in their reading skills would take up too much time, think about the time earned from then on if students have the skills to tackle the hardest reading assignment.

The connection with Youngest Learner is the emphasis on awareness and thought-provoking activities. If our students start learning to think for themselves from infancy, just imagine what they will be capable of by the time they reach you. All the different centers the new chapter discusses teach children to pay attention to knowledge presented in whatever form possible: art, tapes, computers, etc. As reading and writing teachers, you know that we teachers use graphic organizers – art, isn’t it?

Online Training 02/25/09 — 03/03/09 Week 5
Texts: Think-Alouds and Youngest Learner

Reading Assignments

Youngest Learner: Chapter 9, “Spaces Beyond the Book Nook and Writing Center, “ pp. 161 - 179

Think-Alouds: Chapter 4, "Navigating Meaning,” pp.93-110.
Pay special attention to the Flow Chart and the Student Checklist on pp. 98 – 110.

Prompt: Read the Youngest Learner material first. Then read the Think-Aloud material through p. 100. Stop, reflect on what you have read for a few minutes. Practice using the self-monitoring strategies as you complete the chapter. Take notes on your thinking and questioning as you read pp. 101 – 110. We teachers are so used to reading and to the strategies we use to understand things well that we use strategies without even noticing them. Our own awareness of our use of strategies will help us teach our children how to be strategic readers.

If you want an extra challenge, try a self-monitoring think aloud with a partner or two. Take turns reading and questioning, noting, predicting and , yes, even using fix-up strategies when you get to pp. 109 – 110.

For your post this week, discuss the strategies you used (you may really have to be super aware to make yourself notice them; with us, they are automatic). In addition, if you thought of a spot where someone might have needed a fix-up strategy, discuss that too.
Did the experience tell you anything about how to get students to do this? If we can’t get ourselves to do it, can we ever hope to teach it?

I can’t wait to read your posts!

Vicky

P. S. In a day or two, I will send out the template for the presentation you will need to make over distance learning. Some of you have been worrying about this; please, don’t. It is nothing out of the ordinary. Throughout this whole time, one of our purposes has been to get you to use the technology. This is a safer place to learn than in the classroom in front of 30 smiling children.