WHAT ARE
SOME WAYS TO TEACH COMPREHENSION IN THE GUIDED READING PORTION OF 4 BLOCKS?
Here are some suggestions posted by 4 block mailringers...
The subject of GR is comprehension strategies.
First I do a mini lesson. It might be on plot. I would explain plot.
I
would use a previous story they are familiar with to point out the plot
of
that story.
Next, I introduce
the new vocabulary in some quick way. Just enough so they
can read and know the new word. Then we preview the new story. Sometimes
introducing vocab. and previewing go together. This builds background
knowledge. Talk about their predictions. Set a purpose. I give my third
graders a focus question, usually about the mini lesson. They must respond
to it in a journal. This has two purposes: 1. It keeps the faster
readers busy when they finish and 2. I check these about once a week
to see
where their comprehension is. I often get my minilessons from these.
I don't think first could do the journal, but then I haven't taught
first.
Next, they read
the story in some format as described in the 4 block books.
Last, we share.
We discuss the point of the mini lesson. We also might discuss any confusing
parts that weren't clear to them when they read it.
Sometimes we fill
in a graphic organizer before reading and after reading, and even sometimes
during reading.
I try to have a
good mix of ways to do GR so they don't get bored with the
same old thing. But basically I do GR as described above with some
changes. It also depends on the type of text they are reading. Of course
a
longer story would take 2 days while a poem usually only takes one.
Hope this helps
you. GR is my favorite block. I know for others it is their least favorite.
I can't explain why I like it.
Diane/3/IL
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someone posted these
ideas:
I am unfamiliar
with "Rivet" but this is how I introduce vocabulary
to my first graders. It has proven to be very effective.
1. Talk about each
word as they visually look at them on the
overhead. Use personal stories, animation (i.e. pound the fist on the
desk for "enough"), or relate the word to their own personal lives.
2. Next, take the
words away and ask what words we learned. Write
the words on the board. As a class, go over the words one more time.
3. Give clues and
ask individual students to come to the board to
underline the word. They say the word as they underline it. (Clues might
be: Which word has the same beginning sound as "clock", or Which word
rhymes with
boat, or "Which word is the opposite of "day", or Which word means "to
go back")
4. Finally, tell
a story using the vocabulary words. Each word is
in a sentence. Say "blank" and ask individual students to circle the
word that best goes in the sentence.
5. At times I do
not have enough clues or sentences so that
everyone has a chance to come to the board. When this happens, I ask
those who haven't been up to the board to come play "Wipe Out". This
is when I say a word and
they students take turns erasing the word I say. They really love this!
Hope these ideas
are helpful.
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Laura posted this awhile ago:
Hi. On day one
I introduce the vocabulary with an activity like RIVET. Then
we build background. This is done several ways. One way is a picture
walk.
Sometimes I start a graphic organizer. An example of an organizer began
prior
to reading would be a sequence chart. Day 1 of Chapter 2 in Little Bear
-
after vocab. introduction, we look at the first page of the chapter
and read
it together. We write the first event on chart paper. I tell the children
to
read the chapter in groups. I instruct them to list, after they read,
who
came to Little Bear's birthday, as well as what they brought. Then the
children read the rest of the selection alone. They select a writer
for the
group and a speaker. They make their list and bring to the rug to share
when
finished. As they present we fill in our graphic organizer started in
the pre
reading phase. This has worked well for me. I spend 50 minutes on guided
reading. 10 prior, 25 reading, 15 sharing.
One day 1 example for a basal selection (Seven Sillies) - first I introduced
the vocabulary. They made a few oral predictions based on the title
and that
vocabulary. Then I read the first two pages to the group. I put them
in
partner groups and did ERT find out who or what the seven sillies are.
They
went into groups and read the rest of the story. When we came back together
they reported orally to the group who their group thought the seven
sillies
were. (School monitors showed up during this lesson. They seemed very
impressed at how the children moved through the lesson, and were able
to read
the selection alone.)
As for the question about the non-readers. My low functioning readers,
about
9 out of 20, are often in a guided group with me. We read the story
together
chorally, echo or popcorn. They are able to read some of it alone, but
not
enough to be completely independent. Some days, I pair them up with
a better
reader in play school groups. They have made nice gains using this format
and
I have been able to move a few out of the support group for some selections.
Personally, I think they get more out of trying to read independently
with a
peer. They have been taught strategies and I have modeled what good
partners
do. I find that the motivation is up since they have started to read
independently. I only started this format in February. Prior to that
we did
Shared Reading of the selection for 2 days before they moved to independent
reading. Hope this clears up your questions. If you still have further
questions, e-mail me privately and I'd be happy to clarify further.
Laura
neophytelm@aol.com
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Destiny posted this earlier:
One comprehension strategy I teach is types of questions. Sometimes
it helps kids to answer questions if they know how the author of the
question thought it up.
We are using 4 types
this year.
Right There-The
answer is directly stated in the text and you can put your
finger on the answer.
Think and Search-The
answer is directly in the text, but you have to look in
more than one spot, because it's in different sentences.
Author and You-
You have to use what you already know about the life and
combine it with what the author is telling you to assemble a reasonable
answer.
On Your Own-The
answer is not in the book. The answer comes from prior
knowledge or experiences. You know the type, Have you ever.... What
was it
like when .... How would you ....
After teaching questioning,
we work on parts of the story so we know what
we're looking for this year we used:
Setting
Characters
Problem
Events
Solution
(Last year we used a goal for each character, but it was really too
hard for first grade)
We also teach retelling
or paraphrasing strategies to the kids.
We teach visualization.
What does that look like? If you were describing what
happened to someone who had never seen the bok what would that look
like?
Draw it. Compare your drawing to another student. Discuss why they're
different. Which one is right? How can they both be right? ETC.
Vocabulary study:
What do you do when you come to words you don't know. Do
you looking every word up? Do you use context clues? Use the cloze strategy
to practice this. Discuss synonyms and antonyms. Use new words in sentences.
Make a list to keep or dictionary.
Play jeopardy wiht
the question, involve students in question writing.
Practice fluency.
Show kids how looking back and rereading are important to
comprehension. We read a few pages and then write down every imaginable
thing
we know about it in blue. Then we read it again and add things we remember
in
red. We read it again and add things we remember in green. Discuss how
many
more things we remembered each time. Show choppy reading compared to
fluent
and how that is important to comprehension
Teach to rephrase
questions in their own word. What does the author of hte
question want to know? Did I completely explain myself? What kind of
question
was that?
Make new situations
what do you think Junie B. Jones would have done at our
school when the lights went out during the storm? Important to get kids
to reason reason reason. Why do you think so?
This list is by
no means exhaustive. Just want I could come up with off the top of my
head.
Destiny-hope it's
what you wanted.
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Becky wrote:
Right now I'm using our social studies book for guided reading. A couple
of minilessons I've done:
How to turn chapter
headings into questions to help focus while you're reading.
How to deal with
words that have the pronunciation in parentheses right after it - tropical
(TROP if kul)
How to figure out
the meaning of a word in context.
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Cathy wrote:
Here are some 1st grade comprehension strategies we teach in our district:
1.Fix-Up Strategies (What can you do when you come to a word you don't
know)
2. Main idea and details in nonfiction
3. Story mapping of fiction (elements of a story)
4. Venn diagrams to compare and contrast
5. Sequence charts
6. Webbing of concepts, ideas, characters, etc.
7. Story picture boards that depict all the settings and what the main
character was doing.
8. Summarizing in both fiction and nonfiction
9. Literature discussions
10. KWL charts (Know, Want to Know, Learned)
11. Cloze procedure
Hope this helps you!
Cathy
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Susan wrote:
One thing I ask
my students to do, to focus their attention on the meaning
of a story, and which I also use to help build my students' understanding
of word choice and how it affects both the reading and writing end of
literature, is to ask them to find words or phrases in the story which
they
think belong in our "Words Too Good to Forget" book.
This book is just
two pieces of a big cereal box, covered with solid
colored contact paper, on which I have written the title, and filled
with
writing pages.
This idea originated
with Mem Fox. I was fortunate enough to have a
lecture/workshop from her when she was on a U.S. tour a few years ago.
I
would love to take a class from her at the university. What a creative
teacher she is!
Another thing that
she pointed out was that *everyone* plagerizes from
those they admire. She said that even her own work is based on multiple
ideas that have been percolating in her brain from other sources. Of
couse, she adds her own creative spark. =) I relate this to my students,
and give them permission to use words and phrases that we save in our
book.
This task seems
to help them understand the meaning of a story better, and
it definitely helps them write better. It also makes better listeners,
because they listen for such words and phrases when I am reading to
them,
as well. If there is something I really like, and they miss it, I orally
savor it and then write it in our book. After a while, they really begin
to see that word choice aids our understanding as readers and as writers.
Susan Nixon
Phoenix, AZ
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Someone wrote:
Play school groups -- The purpose might be to create a new ending for
the story,or to tell about why something happened in the story, or "what
if" something else
had happened instead of.... Sometimes the purpose is just to identify
the main characters, setting, or sequence. Our favorite purpose is to
come up with a question
about the story to ask the other groups. It doesn't matter if a slower
reader is the leader. In fact, that is the best scenerio since the leader
gets to dictate how the
playschool group will read the story. The leader can just listen as
the others read if she wants. Sometimes, if I choose too many slower
readers for one group, I'll
say, "I want to save this person for another group.
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