The Gill article, "The Comprehension Matrix" was also a very interesting article. It detailed on how many resources are available for teachers to use, however, what we often see is the resources collecting dust. It is very important to remember that new and improved ways of teaching are always out there for teachers to use and we must continually update our information. Comprehension is one topic that Gill says is extremely difficult. Comprehension, according to Gill's definition includes schema theory, transactional theory, and constructivist theory. Gill gives the comprehension matrix as a way to help students with their reading, they include: prereading, during reading activities, and post reading activities. This is a "Reading Comprehension Song" that could be used with younger students (and this website has a lot of other fun songs to make teaching more interactive). Although teaching comprehension can be a difficult task to take on, we can certainly master the task with methods and ultimately have students who comprehend comprehension. Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Comprehending Comprehension
"Kindergarteners can do it too! Comprehension Strategies for Early Readers" was an extremely interesting article and gave future teachers an insight on how to incorporate subject material that is generally for older students into a classroom of younger students. I thought that the methods of this article were extremely interesting. I have read to children before and was unsure what to do about their inquisitive nature while I was trying to read. This article suggests using a method that will get the students involved and get their cognitive gears going. Students were instructed to make a "C" shape with their fingers if they had a connection to share, a "V" shape if they had a visualization and to wave their index finger if they had a question. Not only does this method allow for open discussion, it gets students thinking about things in a rather sophisticated manner. How do you think this would work in a classroom? I believe it would be very beneficial in a classroom setting because it would keep the students from blurting out things and would also be somewhat challenging for a younger group.
The Gill article, "The Comprehension Matrix" was also a very interesting article. It detailed on how many resources are available for teachers to use, however, what we often see is the resources collecting dust. It is very important to remember that new and improved ways of teaching are always out there for teachers to use and we must continually update our information. Comprehension is one topic that Gill says is extremely difficult. Comprehension, according to Gill's definition includes schema theory, transactional theory, and constructivist theory. Gill gives the comprehension matrix as a way to help students with their reading, they include: prereading, during reading activities, and post reading activities. This is a "Reading Comprehension Song" that could be used with younger students (and this website has a lot of other fun songs to make teaching more interactive). Although teaching comprehension can be a difficult task to take on, we can certainly master the task with methods and ultimately have students who comprehend comprehension.
The Gill article, "The Comprehension Matrix" was also a very interesting article. It detailed on how many resources are available for teachers to use, however, what we often see is the resources collecting dust. It is very important to remember that new and improved ways of teaching are always out there for teachers to use and we must continually update our information. Comprehension is one topic that Gill says is extremely difficult. Comprehension, according to Gill's definition includes schema theory, transactional theory, and constructivist theory. Gill gives the comprehension matrix as a way to help students with their reading, they include: prereading, during reading activities, and post reading activities. This is a "Reading Comprehension Song" that could be used with younger students (and this website has a lot of other fun songs to make teaching more interactive). Although teaching comprehension can be a difficult task to take on, we can certainly master the task with methods and ultimately have students who comprehend comprehension. 
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I also read the Kindergarten article and loved the idea of the C,V and wiggly finger. It is hard for young children to sit through stories when they have nothing to think about, but if you explain to them before hand about the special task that they have, it becomes a fun challenge! They will be engaged with the reading and will want to be a part of the discussion so they will really sit and listen with intent to see if they can make a discovery.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question about what it would look in like a classroom...I believe that this strategy would definitely need some practice from the students. This is a deep-thinking activity and is challenging for some students. If the teacher can set the stage for the students by effectively teaching what these visual, mental, and real world connections look like, then this could be extremely beneficial to the students.
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