I am always amazed at how the most simple of ideas can have such a significant effect. I remember watching Dr. Frye model writing in her journal for the first time and thinking to myself – -”well, duh!” – I know quite profound thoughts I have – -but really I was thinking –why have I not thought of this before –how can we expect children to know how to write their thoughts down, how to make just right word choices, how to move from what is in their thoughts to words on paper – without showing them exactly how we do it ourselves – -but – sometimes it is the most obvious of solutions that are overlooked. I have taken part in writing workshops with children where we have demonstrated so many different types of beginnings, middle, and endings…..given countless ideas for writing….and yet still have not reached many of the seven and eight year old writers. Modeling how we write, crossing out words mispelled or words that we decide are quite the right fit de-mystifies the writing process for many learners. This is how I see the modeling of reading for comprehension, vocabulary, text structures and features described in this article. It seems so simple, yet it is so effective in guiding the older readers to read more effectively.
I think the out-loud stream of consciousness reading de-mystifies the more advanced skills a reader must develop to enrich their comprehension, vocabulary expansion, and understanding of text structure and other features. I like the examples that flow directly from the teacher thoughts to student to student discussion of what they have just read. This gives the students a chance to practice these new reading for comprehension/vocabulary/structure skills.
I definitely want to include this in my classroom, however would like to get a bit of practice in before doing so.
September 30, 2009 at 3:52 am |
I like how you related this to Dr. Frye’s writing process. It is very similar. I just know that shared reading is such a sucess and I do want to use it as well. It can only benefit the kids.