Developing Thoughtful Comprehenders

 Fun and Exciting Comprehension Strategies:

 

Books provide a great opportunity for self-expression; allow

them to get into their "interview characters" (3) maybe even having

the interviewer pkay one of the characters in the book as well. 

1). Literature Conversations: Remember to treat every text as a conversation piece, and open up the conversation to the entire
                                               class by asking open-ended, primarily opinion and experience based questions that can relate 
                                               to the given text.
 2) Questioning the Author: Split up an in-class reading into sections, position your classroom in a circle, and draft up  
                                              questions that focus on what message and information the author is trying to convey,
                                              highlighting what the student is already expected to know as a reader. 
3) Oprah Winfrey Interview: The teacher can set the classroom up into an interview room, with an interviewer
                                               and the cast of a specific book at the forefront. The teacher 
                                               begins the activity as the interviewer the first few times, and slowly releases autonomy
                                               over the activity to her students over the year. *this activity is a great opportunity for self-
                                              expression and for the students to take on the persona of the characters.        

Remember to institute the Gradual Release of Responsibility model in your activities. Begin by modeling what behavior you expect and then allow the students to garner more and ore responsibility until they are able to lead the activity themselves. This may take a month or it might take a year, depending on the activity. 

How would you determine as a teacher how quickly to let your students assume responsibility for certain activities? 

And finally, Happy Belated Halloween!

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/363384263654895437/

 

Disclaimer: I have been doing my readings according to the original syllabus on accident, and thus these readings are for last week, and last week's blog is technically on the material we were to have read for this week. 

Pardo. What ever teacher needs to know about comprehension.
Allington, Richard and Patricia Cunningham. Classrooms that Work: They Can All Read and Write.