Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Chapter 7: Developing an Interpretation
I absolutely agree with this chapter that as a teacher, I do not feel as if I hit enough of these objectives while reading with my students. I think it opened my eyes to different discussions that I can have with my students. I discuss characters with my students, and I always think "How hard can it be to identify the character of a story?" That is often what their "reading tests" consist of is testing them on a different skill each week. The skills are repeated throughout the school year. I often find them pointless. After reading this, it reminded me that there are so many other things that I can discuss with my students about characters. I decided that I am going to reread "Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon" to discuss the characters more in depth. This will cover objective B1-c: Compare these two characters ____ and _____. We discussed what the theme was and how Molly felt, but I now want to use the graphic organizers on page 154 and the T Chart on page 155 to discuss the similarities and differences between Molly Lou and the bully. I also want to discuss objective B3-a: Prove that (character/person) is very _________. This will get them started on proving their answers and looking for evidence in text which is something I have discussed, but probably not enough especially since it is a big part of Common Core. We will most likely complete page 188 together or I will help them write their sentences since their writing is limited.
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Megan,
ReplyDeleteLike you, this chapter made me reflect on the questions I ask my students during group/individual discussions. I too feel I need improvement in this area and this book has helped me to see the types of text dependent questions I should be asking my students during D.I. and whole group instruction. I also really like how you said you are going to revisit the book from last weeks discussion to look at the characters more deeply. Sometimes it's overwhelming when reading a book that covers multiple standards. I know I have a bad habit of getting off focus because I tend to ask too many questions instead of focusing on one objective at a time. I'm excited to see your results! :)
I think characterization is something that can be so deeply developed, and I was really excited when I saw tons of things to work with for our students in this chapter. I understand your difficulty with characterization. I feel like whenever I read children's books, I don't really think about the characters being as deep and I would see with literature, but I love that these activities are helping us work with characterization and understanding it on a deeper level at such an early age!
ReplyDeleteI also think that this chapter gave us a lot of great activities and ideas for character development. I remember when I gave Liv her interview at the beginning of the semester that she told me that she liked to read about things that could happen to her. Even though she didn't say it, I know it is because she could relate to these characters and put herself in their shoes. I like the idea of comparing Molly and the bully because the students will be able to use evidence from the text which, like you said, is an important part of Common Core and maybe it will also help them to relate more to the characters.
ReplyDeleteMegan, I am curious if you are referring to Reading Street when you mentioned "testing them on a different skill each week" and "the skills are repeated throughout the school year"? As a Reading Specialist, Reading Street drives me CRAZY!! You are expected to spend only 5 days trying to teach a complex comprehension skill or strategy with text that is often well above most students' instructional level. There is an overabundance of "activities" thrown in which seem to only distract from the true objective. I have actually had students come to me the day before or day of test day and I ask them to tell me what they know about the strategy or skill they are supposed to be targeting that week and they look at me with a totally blank look on their face and have no idea what I am talking about. I am curious as to what type of "curriculum" the rest of you are following, particularly Caitlin on the high school level. Is there a reading series, a list of literature that must be covered, or is there free reign to to access whatever resources one feels necessary to achieve the goals set forth in the standards?
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