As I read this article, I kept hearing in my mind something that I have said for years. "Good teachers hit many standards and strategies everyday, no matter what the focus is supposed to be." As I am going through a guided reading text with my students, I always hit skills and strategies that are not necessarily the focus of the lesson. That to me is just good teaching.
In the beginning of the chapter, Routman discusses how so much emphasis is being placed on reading fluency and not on understanding. When I am working in small groups, I often have my students read the passage we are reading more than once to make sure that they can truly understand what they have read. I tell them that we are reading once to get the words, and we read again to get the meaning. They often get frustrated with me when I tell that books, articles, and stories should be read more than once because they want to rush and move on to the next thing. I remind them that rereading will bring more meaning. This usually satisfies most of them.
I had a "that's me" moment as I was reading the top of page 123 when Routman writes about writing in the margins and underlining key passages. I even wrote, "Me too!" in the margin beside the paragraph. My personal nonfiction texts are often littered with marks and notes as I write while I read. This section gave me an idea for how I could apply this strategy in my own classroom. In our next small group sessions, I plan to bring in one of my personal books that I have read to show where I have written as I read. While I don't want my students to start marking up their textbooks and library books, I will encourage them to make notes on the passages of which I give them copies.
Another strategy that I want to share with my students is how I ask questions, make connections, and stop and think as I read. When we went to D6 University earlier this month, Nicole Brown shared a giant thought bubble that could be used to show your thoughts as you read. It looks a little silly, but it would emphasize to the students how important it is to think as you read and not just rush through the text. I do believe I have a giant thought bubble to make.
This chapter really gave me a lot to think about, and my plans for my small groups are now done for the next few weeks. We've got to start thinking about our thinking!
Melanie, you're right, students need to see how all of the standards integrate to lead to true understanding. Just like Routman says, teaching any skill in isolation only will not lead to permanent learning. Your strategy of guiding students through reading multiple times while seeing you think aloud is a great way to help students see how everything they are learning works together to improve their reading. Another great strategy is to pre-read books. Look through images and talk about what students already know. Activating this prior knowledge is also a skill they need to use when approaching new texts.
ReplyDeleteHi Melanie,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and with Routman that it is important that we model the same strategies and processes in our own reading that we want students to apply in their independent reading. Routman's optimal learning model is a gradual release of responsibility that advocates providing students with multiple opportunities to practice with support and feedback before they are expected to implement independently. This is similar to how you guide students through the reading. Thanks, Dawn