Читать книгу Comprehension [Grades K-12] - Douglas Fisher - Страница 11

In the introduction, we noted that students needed instruction in the skill, will, and thrill of comprehension. But that may leave you thinking that these are discrete and separate activities that are linear in nature. To dispel that myth, let’s take a look inside Bridget Gengler’s third-grade class. They were focused on the upcoming Veterans Day. As Ms. Gengler explains, “It’s more than a day off school. It’s a holiday to recognize some very specific people. Unlike holidays that recognize people who have died, this holiday focuses on people who are alive. Are you interested to know who gets a holiday in their honor?”

The students were excited to get started, in part because Ms. Gengler was enthusiastic, and she made the information sound interesting to them.

There were a number of skills that were taught and practiced throughout the unit. Ms. Gengler had modeled annotation, for example, and students annotated the complex texts that they read. The students had been taught how to take notes and to create graphic organizers (see Figure 1.1 for a sample). They had previous lessons on fluency and vocabulary, including word solving. The students knew that when they encountered an unfamiliar word, they could use context clues, word parts or morphology, or resources. They also understood how to summarize information and ask questions. All of these skills were put to the test when they encountered a complex piece of text that explained veterans and Veterans Day.

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Figure 1.1 Student graphic organizer.

The skill aspect of the learning was not in isolation. Embedded in the experience was a recognition of the need to attend to the will to read. Ms. Gengler’s framing of the lesson helped, but so did the fact that they would have a day off of school the following week, and no one had really explained why there were specific school holidays. They also knew that there was a celebration at their school and that they could present at the celebration if they wanted.

As part of the design of the experience, students understood that they would have opportunities to produce things as a result of their reading. Students were invited to write letters. Some wrote to military veterans; others wrote to explain the day. See Figure 1.2 for a sample letter written by a third grader to a veteran. Some wanted to present at the school celebration; others did not. Some wanted to share their understanding with family members; others wanted to create posters comparing Veterans Day with Remembrance Day, held on the same day in other countries.

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Figure 1.2 Sample student letter.

What could have been an ordinary, compliance-oriented task turned into an opportunity to deepen students’ understanding about the holiday and, at the same time, allow them to practice their comprehension skills, enable them to build background and vocabulary knowledge, show them that reading was cool, and reinforce their ability to take action in the world. To our thinking, that’s what comprehension is all about. As David Pearson (personal communication, 2018) noted, the goal of comprehension isn’t comprehension; it’s to do something with the knowledge gained. The goal of comprehension is to take action in the world and to make a difference. That’s why we all work so hard to ensure that students can, and do, read.

As David Pearson noted, the goal of comprehension isn’t comprehension; it’s to do something with the knowledge gained.