Question, Quote, Qonnection - Chapter 6

I'm going to start with my personal connection because my question is based on my connection. I absolutely hate graphic organizers. I realize I just said something very broad and to be fair some of the more linear, organized, clear charts aren't...horrible. It's the big sprawling mind maps with lines all over the place that just do absolutely nothing for me. I've had at least two (possibly more?) classes now where we had to make Inspiration-style mind maps for assignments and I could not stand doing it. They are a great big mess to me and I would much rather just make a nice, neat outline. My adviser likes the big mind maps with lots of connections and bubbles and stuff. She looks at them and suddenly understands all the information on the page. I just get overwhelmed. I skip those charts when they are featured in textbooks (you know, "figure 1.2 arranges the information into a chart" or whatever - when the text tells me to refer to a figure, I just skip it.)

So, how do you use graphic organizers with students who find them stressful? Do those kids get to organize their information in another way? How do you figure out what kids benefit from graphic organizers and which ones don't?

I did think the part about using graphic organizers as a metacomprehension tool was sort of interesting. I think maybe using one of those mind maps with information I already KNOW, things I just need to organize, might work. I've always used them to try to learn new information.

"It is more than just understanding -- it is being consciously aware of what needs to be done in order to support one's own learning, planning and executing the strategies, then reflecting on their effectiveness. The opportunities presented through graphic organizers activate these comprehension strategies and metacognitive skills." (103)

I chose that quote because it sounds great. If graphic organizers really do all those things -- support learning, planning and executing strategies as well as reflecting on the effectiveness on those strategies -- then they are very useful tools indeed. I have just not been exposed to many effective graphic organizers.

Another thing about them, and this might just be me not understanding subtleties, but how are these not just more worksheets?

Text Talk/Chapter 4

This article deals with methods not just for reading aloud in class but for making read alouds more productive educational opportunities. The article deals with young students' tendency to respond to teacher-generated questions about read-aloud text based on pictures and background knowledge rather than by analyzing text content. They suggest waiting to show students pictures until they have answered questions based on text material and redirecting students from using background knowledge by asking specifically what the book tells us about the question. They also suggest some, i think, very engaging methods for approaching vocabulary instruction based on read alouds.

Chapter 4 goes hand-in-hand with the article, suggesting strategies for read alouds for specific content areas in older grades. The text says using read louds to motivate older students is an often overlooked method, but can be effective. The tet advises ensuring you have selected an appropriate selection, good planning involving questioning and engaging students and methods like shared reading.

How do you balance students' useful background knowledge on text topics with their desire to "rabbit chase" and take background knowledge in other directions or let it overshadow the information they are getting from the text?

How do you make read alouds interesting for older students when using trade/expository texts?

Chapter 8 & Article

"Writing to learn 'involves getting students to think about and to find the words that explain what they are learning, how they understand that learning, and what their own processes of learning involve" (140-141). I think this perfectly pinpoints why this strategy is so useful across the content areas -- knowing answers is great and useful, but knowing the process and being able to put it in your own words and relate that process or information as well as the "why" behind it indicates a much deeper level of comprehension. The text and the article compliment each other, but I think the text does a better job exploring how useful the writing to learn process is across content areas. The article features lots of useful strategies, but the text provides ways to implement those strategies in non-language arts specific classrooms, which is something that I consider a challenge. The text, then, is a useful supplementation of the article, providing insight on how the proposed strategies may be successfully implemented across the curriculum.

1. How harshly or leniently do you "grade" students' writing to learn pieces? It seems there would be a delicate line between keeping them "low stakes" and ensuring students take them seriously enough that they be useful.

2. Do you think it would be more effective to adopt, say, one or two "go to" strategies that are used across curriculum to cut down on time spent explaining the strategy or is it worth that bit of extra time to keep things "fresh" daily or from subject to subject?

Bio Poem

I loved writing the bio poem the other day because I was in a fun group and we picked a light subject. I can see how the activity would be beneficial in classroom setting inasmuch as helping a student retain information about a specific person. I really did learn more about Oprah and I really did retain it. Moreover, I really did learn about Bessie Coleman, who I knew nothing about, and I really did retain it. I'm pretty sure had we not written the poem, it would have been less effective. Like, I'm pretty shocked I just remembered her name and exactly what she did and that was just a blurb of information that I encountered on Wednesday; normally, if I want random blurbs of information to stick in my head, I have to "study" them. So I can see how it could be an effective tool and it's definitely more interesting than memorizing facts for a test.