READ 3204 Feb. 9, 2010, Comprehension

1. Fundamentals of Reading Instruction Tuesday, February 9, 2010 READ 3204

2. Review Emergent Literacy Phonemic awareness: awareness of and ability to manipulate individual sounds in words Concrete words: “important to them” words; the foundation; Queen or King for the Day Read aloud: Once I Ate a Pie by Patricia MacLachlan and Emily MacLachlan Charest illustrated by Katy Schneider Bell and Jarvis article: Value what kids already know in terms of literacy. Model reading and writing. Foster an environment in which kids see themselves as “highly literate human beings, and their understanding of what readers and writers do will motivate them to be lifelong members of the ‘literacy club.’” (p. 23)

3. Announcements How is the LSS project with Voice Thread going? Mary Lois Staton Conference: Feb. 16th Tar River Reading Council Meeting: Feb. 18th 4:30 Scholastic Book Orders – order was placed on Thursday.

4. Reading is a multifacetedprocess involving word recognition, comprehension, fluency, and motivation. Readers integrate these facets to make meaning from print.

5. Comprehension …. What is it?

7. Thinking while reading Making meaning from print

8. Good readers make predictions, make pictures in their minds, draw inferences, make connections, self-monitor and self-correct, reread when necessary, determine the most important events, draw conclusions, compare, contrast, exhibit emotional reactions to the text, summarize, talk about the text.

9. “Because of fragmentation of the specimens, full histomorphometric analysis could not be done; however, using a magnification of 100, we counted the number of osteoblasts per high-power field in biopsy specimens taken both before and after transplantation (five fields each). There were 4.6 1.8 (s.e.m.) osteoblasts per high-power field in the sample taken before transplantation, compared with 16.0 3.0 in the sample taken after transplantation (P = 0.005, t-test). Fluorescence microscopy showed linear, single and double tetracycline labeling, indicative of improved bone formation and mineralization. Similar histologic changes were apparent in biopsy specimens from patients 2 and 3, taken from the iliac wing opposite the initial specimen (not shown).” (Horwitz et al.,1999)

10. What impedes comprehension? If phonics is emphasized too much; if meaning is not emphasized If the words are too difficult to decode Lack of background knowledge Lack of knowledge about text variations and features

11. So, the question is … How can we get all of our students to do these things so they comprehend the text they encounter when they read independently?

12. I know!!! You ask them questions at the end of the story!!!!

13. Where in chapter 3 do Cunningham and Allington talk about this?

14. Literature Circles Student choice in reading materials Authentic student talk about text to achieve deeper comprehension Move away from traditional classroom discourse (teacher initiates, student responds, teacher evaluates) Scaffold student talk (gradual release of responsibility to the learner – L. Vygotsky) Roles “All learning is social at first, with an expert guiding the learning through scaffolding. An expert teacher gradually turns over the responsibility of the task to the learner, moving back in to the dialogue as needed.” Strategies such as non-evaluative responses (hmmmm … ok…) tell students that they are to continue the dialogue Foster a classroom environment in which collaborative work and sharing of ideas is promoted.

15. Are you ready for the literature circle activity this Thursday? Response Activity available now on Moodle; submit via Moodle. In addition, analyze the role sheet (also on Moodle) and come prepared to play your role.

16. Literature Circle Groups for Listen to the Wind Meeting (Feb. 11)

17. Read Aloud WILD ABOUT BOOKS by Judy Sierra, illustrated by Marc Brown

18. For Thursday … Literature Circles: Listen to the Wind Submit response activity/bring a hard copy. Prepare for your role in the circle.