My students do not read independently yet, but I read-aloud to them several times a day. I like to use visuals, including graphic organizers, with my students. This past week, we enjoyed a theme unit on penguins. (Our letter this week was "Pp"). Together we created a KWL chart on penguins. My students are not quite ready for mnemonics or letter strategies that employ acronyms, but I use poems and songs to teach many concepts.
One area that I am currently working on is questioning. I am trying to move from the basic knowledge and comprehension questions, to more higher-level thinking questions. My students amaze me sometimes with the answers (and insight) to questions that I ask about a book I have read. I have recently tried to implement group projects with my students. At first, I did not think that 4 year-olds could work collaboratively and cooperatively together (other than centers, of course). I have been pleasantly surprised.
I will continue to work on questioning strategies with my students. I also plan to do more group work with my students. For the most part, they have worked very well together. Additionally, I am going to do more modeling self-instruction or think-aloud skills.
I always think it's interesting to learn how elementary teachers teach reading. It's on a more basic level but we use the same concepts and strategies such as KWL sheets and graphic organizers.
ReplyDeleteMoving from basic questions to higher level thinking is something I really need to work on! This not only checks for understanding, but it also keeps the students on their toes and keeps them thinking.
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