Monday, May 10, 2010

Book Study (Part 1)--What We Learned

*Common language is very important.


*Model EVERYTHING (all strategies/routines) including thinking, process, final products.


*Gradual Release; increase level of responsibility (Me-We-You)!


*In all subject areas, surround students with meaningful text in all genres.


*Make Connections (Text to Self…/Tracks…) Shows understanding.


*Self Monitor, Check for Understanding, Questions? Go back!


*Reinforce the need for think alouds and modeling.


*No particular order when teaching strategies.


*Learned that the word ”parse” means to break down or analyze.


*This is all backed by research.


*Explicitly teaching things is SO important.


*In the content areas, students seem more engaged when we build some common experiences (labs, hands-on activities, etc.)


*Our students seem more engaged when we use real life texts (ie..newspaper, TFK, magazines)


*We need to be more intentional about doing “Think Alouds”.


*Maybe we should be more aware of individual reading styles and not expect all students to use the same strategies at the same time.


*We need to allow more time for students to discuss what they’ve read.


*Use more “authentic” reading situations in the classroom (ie: book clubs).

No comments: