Children need to have the ability to understand book concepts before they are able to comprehend the actual text of the book. At Apple Tree my student was able to identify many things about the book concepts. She knew where the title was, the front and back covers, and many more. She knew very well where a large majority of the concepts were. After my partner and I showed her where and what the other concepts were, , we began reading to her. The book was Biscuit Visits the Pumpkin Patch and because my student was able to identify most of the concepts, she comprehended well what the story was about.
While reading the chapter I was reminded of many important things. I was reminded that comprehension is the main goal for reading instruction. I also was reminded that this process is active and it involves having the student make connections between what they already know and what they are being taught. If the student is able to infer about what happened, analyze the words in the text, and come to conclusions then he/she has very strong comprehension abilities.
Along with being reminded of some important concepts, I also learned new things that would be very beneficial when teaching concepts about books, especially. One of those things was Big Books. Big Books are exactly what they sound like. According to the text on page 201, it says that Big Books are, "oversized picture storybooks that measure from 14x20 inches up to 24x30 inches. Holiday (1997) suggests that the enlarged print and pictures help get children involved with concepts about books, print, and the meaning of text." What are other methods that you can think of that would be beneficial when teaching book concepts?
One thing in the chapter that I really like and agree with is the "Collaborative Reading" section on page 220. When students participate in collaborative reading they are working with each other and they are interacting with each other. I think this method is great because not only are the students gaining knowledge of different perspectives on the book but they are also learning that not everyone may think the way they do and they may all have different opinions. The author calls these groups "response groups" as well and mentions that, "allow students to exchange ideas, listen to each other, refine ideas, and think critically about issues related to hat they listened to or read." I did something exactly like this in my EDRD204 class. We all read Wonder and then got in groups (lit. circles) to discuss the reading. I really liked discussing the reading with others because I loved hearing about how they interpreted different things and how they felt about certain parts in the story. After we finished the book we talked about how we could do these lit. circles in the classroom and how we could keep the students focused, and so on. I will definitely have my students be a part of lit. circles in my classroom.
Here are some tools that I think would be helpful in the classroom when teaching about comprehension: Reading Comprehension Reading Cube and Guided Reading Games and Activities for Comprehension. Can you think of any other resources that would be beneficial when teaching about comprehension?
Jasmine,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that comprehension is an active process and it allows the students to make connections between what they already know and are being taught. Children must have personal experiences to make connections. One method that would be beneficial when teaching book concepts is the use of repetition. Repetition can allow students to understand other concepts. For example, students can point to a picture, then point to the print. The students can identify them and the teacher can ask the question, “Which do we read, the picture or the print?” The teacher can then repeat this question after reading some of the book. I also agree with you about the collaborative reading section. One of the most important things that students do in response groups is the ability to think critically about the issues that come up in the text. The textbook states that the teacher models how a response group will look. An interesting fact I learned in the text is that one type of collaborative strategy is visualizing.
One connection I made with your post is about reading the book Wonder in EDRD 204. My teacher divided the class into literature circle groups. We would discuss what happened in the section that we read, and share our assignment with the group. It was very helpful to see other student’s point of view on a certain chapter and this allowed me to expand my knowledge. Literature circles can even be used in Kindergarten and First grade. In these younger grades, the teacher is the guide that facilitates the discussion.
One resource that would be beneficial when teaching about comprehension is Reciprocal Teaching. This is a strategy that works best in a collaborative setting. Children are given different roles, and then they can do the strategy independently after they have learned about it. The teacher discusses the procedures, the importance of them, and how comprehension is used. After this, the teacher can model the different strategies. The teacher allows the students to get involved with the strategies. The children are split into four groups. The four reciprocal strategies are prediction, questions, clarifying what is confusing, and summarizing. I also liked the Reading Comprehension Question Cube that you wrote down as a comprehension strategy. I could see myself using this tool in my future classroom.