Every time there is a blog assignment dealing with Content Area Literacy, I always try to figure out a way to approach my classroom differently. Since I only teach reading, Literacy is the content area in my classroom. I know that all teachers might say this, but I think I have the hardest task--only because comprehension is so contextual. Reading comprehension is the foundation to success in all subject areas. The discussion in this chapter about how contextually dependent comprehension is made me reevaluate how things are going in my classroom. How do I scaffold my students’ acts of making meaning? How do I mold their thought processes? Can I actually do a mass overhaul that requires completely reprogramming them? This seems like a daunting, maybe impossible, task. I do think that I am slowly learning how to help my students though. I just wish time could slow down at this point.
When reading Chapter 3, I immediately thought about Question and Answer Relationship (QAR). I think it is essential when a reader has a learning experience with a text. We spent a couple weeks on QAR in my class, but I think only a small number of my students understood the purpose of it. They did understand that the “Right There” questions are lower level, and are the ones they usually have no problems with. The “Think and Search,” “Author and You,” and “On Your Own” questions are the ones that we are still having big issues with. We did guided practices where I showed them how to identify these questions. Then, we went through question packets where they identified what type of question it was before they answered it. The main issue with QAR is the importance of prior knowledge. Most of my students have minimal prior knowledge. It’s so hard for them to make connections to the text because they don’t pick up on idiomatic language, cultural references, and functions of words. So, we aren’t really at the point where we can even say that we’re “Making Meaning” through the text. The author states on page 45 that, “Youth who can comprehend complex prose are better students in all the subject areas as compared with their peers who struggle to understand what they read.”
I completely agree, and that statement makes perfect sense. Nevertheless, that is what’s holding my students back. This also has direct implications on the state test. 7th Grade Language Arts is a state-tested subject. This means that my students will be exposed so Expository and Prose texts. They will do fine with expository texts, because they are straightforward and don’t require much inference. The prose narratives are the speed bumps. Students have to be “active” readers to be able to follow those texts. I’ve read some of the texts on the state practice exams—they are terse. I’ve been trying very hard to model active reading for my students, but I don’t think I’ve been very effective with it. We also read texts, then go back and talk through them, but that hasn’t been very effective either. Since I’m not modeling this well enough, I don’t know if my kids will be ready for the novels I want to teach next semester.
I know that Chapter 3 discussed a lot more information, but the QAR really stuck out because it is something that I’ve taught and implemented in my classroom. Hopefully, we’ll find a way to expand their knowledge so that prose texts don’t seem so foreign and overwhelming. This is my task. This is my duty.
Prior knowledge...what a challenge sometimes. As a math teacher I love days where I can start from scratch and not worry about what their 6th grade teacher taught them or other strategies like that. Stay strong DK and i find that even when I backtrack a little to refresh the prior knowledge my students are much more likely remember the material.
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ReplyDeleteI went to a science conference a couple of weeks back, and the Keynote Speaker discussed how he was the superintendent in a school district that was not doing well. And the way he brought up test scores and reading comprehension, etc. was through science inquiry learning as the foundation not reading or writing. I'm not exactly sure how this worked, but reading may not be the foundation for all subject areas.
D.K., I truly think you are one of the great ones. I think a lot of students ar so use to not being held accountable for their studies. I think there are so many students who just simply can understand whats going on in the classroom. I think this new generation of teachers are being groomed to address the needs of all students and not just a select few.
ReplyDeleteDK. I feel when reading these chapters i am in desperate need of what your school has. A reading teacher that is going to be trained and specifically seeking out these strategies every night. I often times ask myself how do I help my kids read and understand what they have just read. To be honest I still do not know if what I am saying to them is making any kind of difference because there is really no way we are tracking their reading levels. i know that these strategies are helping, but I just do not know what kind of difference I am truly making. I hope that you are able to track the best ones for our kids so that I can use your techniques and apply them to my kids.
ReplyDeleteDK, I feel for you. Being isolated to only reading seems like a difficult task. On the other hand, I'm envious that you get to work with younger students. Sometimes I feel as though its just too late in the game for my students to learn how to comprehend reading. They have already succumbed to a broken educational system and regardless of my effort, they will never be where they are supposed to be academically. Comprehension will always be an Everest for these kids, but with time, maybe a few of us can help.
ReplyDeleteBROTHER! You're right. Your job is particularly challenging because it lends itself to that of everyone else's. I am trying to apply relevance to shapes and numbers, but if a student cannot properly comprehend the numbers, then the issue is much greater and complex. Several times, I've had students miss questions on tests, not neccessarily because they were unfamiliar with the topic, but because they did not understand the question. For example, when the question tells the student to "draw a conclusion", and the student literally draws a picture. Comprehension starts early and often, and I'm thankful that strong teachers like you are paving the way for these students when they reach the next level.
ReplyDeletePrior knowledge is the deciding factor for our students. Without prior knowledge, or even just prior exposure to words, word sounds, letter combinations (things that we take for granted) it makes it that much harder for them to even understand a question, let alone answer it. As you know, I have kids do a LOT of reading in my class as well, and sometimes i'll find that even questions which are basically worded as slightly rearranged versions of sentences from the text are impossible to answer for some students. I guess are job is just to expose them as much as possible to make up for the lack of exposure in the past.
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