Unfortunately, I was unable to meet with R this week, but luckily my partner did and I was able to catch up on how their time was spent. I was informed that R read fluently and comprehended both the Amelia Earhart piece as well as the piece on steam engines. This came as no surprise to me. In all of our conferences with R, he has demonstrated strong fluency in his reading and has been very precise in his comprehension and retelling.
One interesting thing that my partner told me was that, while she expected that he would respond stronger to the piece of his initial choice (the steam engine piece), this was not the case. While he was proficient in both readings, she felt like he was strongest with the Amelia Earhart piece. She suggested that this had to do with the fact that R had more background knowledge on this topic. I completely agree with my partners thinking. In our past meetings with R, he has shown special interest in topics that are relevant to his prior knowledge and areas of interest. During our first informal reading conference with him, R chose to read Holes rather than another book we suggested to him because the cover showed a boy his age. Being able to read about a character his age made the reading more appealing to him.
From these observations, as well as other things we have learned about R, it is obvious that grade level text is easy for him to read, comprehend, and make inferences about. One idea I had about pushing R's reading and comprehending skills would be to provide him the opportunity to explore other types of writing. A lesson on poetry would be valuable for R, considering it pushes for deeper thinking and compression, while also being engaging and relevant. R could also greatly benefit exposure to higher grade level readings.
Taryn,
ReplyDeleteI think exploring different types of writing would really help R in terms of the areas of growth we identified in our assessment of his writing. His weakest areas were his development of ideas, word choice and voice. Teaching other forms of writing, especially poetry, would especially help develop those areas as the focus would be more on language and development of personal meaning rather than conventions and organizations, where R is already very strong.
Thinking of Routman, Tovani, and Cooper, what comprehension strategy might be a good topic of focus for a reading lesson? What kind of text might you choose?
ReplyDeleteTaryn,
ReplyDeleteHaving R explore poetry and find meaning (which is difficult for a lot of people of all ages), would be a good way to understand his thought process and to see his ability to make inferences. If you proceed with this path, finding poetry about his areas of interest may help engage him. Other than poetry, I wonder how R would be at comprehending a passage in a genre that he may not have a lot of prior knowledge of, like fantasy. Many of these types of stories have more hidden meanings and would cause R to think more deeply in order to make inferences. I hope that R will be open to exploring literature outside of his interest or comfort zone.
It sounds like R might be above grade level for reading, but I wonder about his comprehension and how to better support that, especially when his prior knowledge is low. I like the use of poetry. That will definitely challenge him to think outside his comfort zone. What strategy will you focus on with him?
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