Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Butterflies Galore in Room 11
Our story a few weeks ago was a beautiful piece by Eve Bunting, The Butterfly House. It is a story of a young girl who saves a larva from a bird and how her grandfather teaches her how to care for it. One of the best things I do all year is to buy Painted Lady Butterfly larvae for my students. We purchase it from a company in Wasco called Insect Lore. They provide food for these creatures that are a sometimes less than a centimeter long. As the students know, they eat and grow, eat and grow, and eat and grow more. It is wonderful to see their excitement grow each day as they witness the transformation and life cycle. Last Thursday we returned to the room from lunch and their were two butterflies, hatched from their chrysalis. There went the rest of the day! We had eight by the day's end on Friday only to return Monday to find 23! Oh, my!!! We released them today, fearing rain tomorrow. What a glorious experience for us all. I know this has nothing to do with my project, however there has been lots of reading and writing about this experience. Additionally, it's just too fun and I had to share. Thanks!
Monday, November 10, 2008
When the Original Piece is Unaltered the Students Fare Well
Last week we read Butterfly House, a beautiful piece by Eve Bunting. The difference between browsing in the anthology and browsing through the original authentic text yielded only one difference. My book had an illustration that was reduced in the anthology. From my picture the students noticed that the characters were in the kitchen or dining room. The specific setting wasn't evident in the anthology version.
What I gather from the student observation differences is that when all of the pieces are there the children have the opportunity to predict and gather meaning necessary for them to connect with the text for understanding. When many pieces are missing the students are clearly at a disadvantage. Why would we ever want our students to be at a disadvantage? WHY?
My findings thus far in my project have had a major impact on my teaching practices. One of my colleagues who has implemented the same changes commented to me how surprising her test scores have been. Without teaching vocabulary in isolation has shown to increase her student's vocabulary skills. It is exciting to both of us.
The single most important finding is in comprehension development. The majority of the stories in the anthology are well above grade level. Why are we testing for reading comprehension with stories that are above grade level? What I have found is that students have great listening comprehension and the listening comprehension is evident on the "Friday Test". I am able to teach reading strategies through the read aloud and students are engaged---the proof is in their test scores. Reading comprehension should be at a level where the students are fluent and can read for understanding. I sound as if I am standing on a soap box! :O)
Bottom line, or as I keep hearing on the news, "At the end of the day"---I am pleased with my changes and my findings. Life is good in room 11!
What I gather from the student observation differences is that when all of the pieces are there the children have the opportunity to predict and gather meaning necessary for them to connect with the text for understanding. When many pieces are missing the students are clearly at a disadvantage. Why would we ever want our students to be at a disadvantage? WHY?
My findings thus far in my project have had a major impact on my teaching practices. One of my colleagues who has implemented the same changes commented to me how surprising her test scores have been. Without teaching vocabulary in isolation has shown to increase her student's vocabulary skills. It is exciting to both of us.
The single most important finding is in comprehension development. The majority of the stories in the anthology are well above grade level. Why are we testing for reading comprehension with stories that are above grade level? What I have found is that students have great listening comprehension and the listening comprehension is evident on the "Friday Test". I am able to teach reading strategies through the read aloud and students are engaged---the proof is in their test scores. Reading comprehension should be at a level where the students are fluent and can read for understanding. I sound as if I am standing on a soap box! :O)
Bottom line, or as I keep hearing on the news, "At the end of the day"---I am pleased with my changes and my findings. Life is good in room 11!
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