This article was very enlightening. Going through the teaching program at USM, I've always known that using the frameworks and curriculum was a way to guide the topics to teach throughout the year. However, like this article said, there isn't must emphasis on teaching the students to comprehend informational text. I feel that it is definitely a good idea to incorporate informational text into early elementary grades so that the students will learn to read expository text while learning to read. Having the students be familiar with how to decipher informational text helps set foundations for better state and national testing where information text is utilized.
This is also the first time I've heard of idea circles being utilized as a strategy to enhance student learning regarding informational text. I think it was a good idea to have the students work together to answer the questions after reading the informational text because it helps the students to feed off of each other information one student may have gotten but another may have not.
Questions:
With grades K-3 having so much in their curriculum, when do we find the time to actually incorporate informational text?
Is there informational text and books for children's K-1 to read in order to begin comprehension?
I like the sound of the idea circles, as well. I think that it's a great strategy to allow students to discuss what they have read. Each student has his own perspective so they each have something to bring to the group. I feel that is beneficial for the students to listen to other's perspectives on the same information. Also, since the students come from different backgrounds, some of the students may have some prior knowledge that they can share about the topic that others do not.
ReplyDeleteYou asked if there was informational text for K-3. I think that is a valid question. Some students in kindergarten have minimal skills when it comes to reading. If they are using informative text right off the bat, I think that it would need to be simple. If you give a student something too hard to read in kindergarten, you are taking the chance of turning that student off of reading at an early stage. Therefore, I would like to know what informatioinal text for a student learning to read in kindergarten looks like.