Okay, so this chapter is by far my favorite one. I have never been taught how to teach comprehension to students, and I have to say this chapter sort of scared me at first. What I really liked about this chapter is the "And Just How Do I Teach Any of Those Strategies?" section about teaching comprehension strategies. It really put me at ease, and showed me just how to teach comprehension. I think the most effective method is the "think aloud" method of teaching. I followed along really easily with it and thought it would be a perfect way to teach comprehension, even to high school students. I also liked how she told the steps to achieving teaching it correctly. It made me feel more confident about teaching to students who aren't good readers.
Again, I liked the transcripts she used as well. It gave me an example of how not to teach and how to teach it correctly. I feel that looking back at the section I will be able to effectively teach comprehension strategies to my students without embarrassing them, or confusing the students. I also found figure 4.1 to be very helpful in identifying the difference between direct instruction and scripted instruction. I had never heard of scripted instruction before, so it made it easier for me to understand the differences.
I have to agree with you that this was my favorite chapter as well. I think one of my biggest worries is that I will not be able to stimulate active participation in my classroom and truly get the students to think about the material at hand. This chapter helps so much to make sure the content is there and that the teacher knows how to make it understandable for any student. We cannot force students to understand the material in the snap of a finger, but we can help guide and instruct them how to. I also agree that think aloud is a good way of keeping the conversation going in the class and to keep all of the students (even those who don't want to) engaged and participating the whole time.
ReplyDeleteI also like how Beers "walks" the reader through the steps of teaching reading strategies.
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