Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Week 8

Comprehension and Think-Aloud

The article Kindergarteners Can Do it, Too! Comprehension Strategies for Early Readers was inspiring and so creative. Mrs. Hope taught heavy comprehension strategies to such young children. She taught them how to be smart readers by breaking down the text. They learned what schema are, how to continually ask questions while reading, and also how to visualize and then express the mental images they have while reading. Mrs. Hope explained these concepts explicitly and on a level that the little ones understood and embraced. The kids were taught how to raise their hands to represent what they wanted to share. I think that idea is awesome and can be applied to all instances when a child raises their hand in class. They could use a "B" in sign language to ask to go to the bathroom and not interrupt class. I really took away a lot from this article. I had a "wondering":

  • Does anyone remember clever ideas like this that their teachers used to introduce BIG concepts to you when you were very small?

3 comments:

  1. I, like you, really enjoyed reading this article. I do not remember learning about schemas until I took psychology my senior year of high school. I think that it is great that teachers now know that young students are capable of understanding big concepts if these concepts are presented in the right way. While teachers must be mindful to respect the cognitive level of their students, teachers should not underestimate these little students.

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  2. I always remember I could grasp big concepts in grade school if they were connected to something that might happen in my everyday life. I think teachers should not be afraid to teach their young students certain concepts but work to find ways in which the young students can make a connection with the concepts.

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  3. I too recall in my younger level of school had the ability to hold on to new concepts if they were reflected in every day life, which could also be developed thru the use of schema. I don't specifically remember any o my teachers using the idea of schema but I do think that the whole idea of relating new info to previous things that children already know is a great way of helping them hod on to these new things but also a great way of reviewing previously learn info.

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