|
Coteaching Reading Comprehension Strategies in Elementary School Libraries: Maximizing Your Impact
Chapter 5: Questioning:
Emerging Lesson
|
This is photograph shows an example of the team teaching approach.
|
This lesson was field tested by first-grade teacher Gigi Plowman
and Judi Moreillon, serving in the role of teacher-librarian.
Gigi teaches at a charter school in Tucson, Arizona. In March
2007, she had fifteen students in her classroom.
After conducting the motivation for the lesson as a whole class
and then dividing the class in half for the presentation and
guided practice (posing before, during, and after questions),
Gigi and Judi brought the class back together as a group to
compare their questions and complete the graphic organizers.
When they compared their questions, students saw that different
readers pose different questions in order to make meaning as
they read. Students then selected the question that most helped
them understand the story.
|
Information about Cultural Authenticity
in The Day of Ahmed's Secret
I selected The Day of Ahmed's Secret as the anchor text
for this lesson for several reasons. First and foremost, it is
a lovely story about the gift of literacy. Ahmed's secret is that
he has learned to write his name. He carries his secret with him
while he does his work and is proud to share his accomplishment
with his family at the end of his work day. The book also shows
the everyday life of an Egyptian boy. Few children's picture books
offer a window into Middle Eastern or Muslim cultures. I have
also used this book successfully with elementary students as well
as with preservice classroom teachers in children's literature
courses.
|
When Collaborative Strategies for Teaching Comprehension
was in publication, I learned of the controversy surrounding the
authenticity of this text. Marge Knox and Peter Duckett authored
an article that appeared in the Journal of Children's Literature
in 2001. Dr. Duckett has links from his Web site that offer educators
the opportunity to read the article as well as illustrator Ted
Lewin's response. Access these resources at: www.peterduckett.net/
The fact that is book is used for the questioning strategy
puts these controversies in a position to serve as teaching
opportunities. Learning to question authors and illustrators
and the text itself are part of developing a critical literacy
perspective. One important point to make with young readers
is to look at copyright dates. In 1990 when The Day of Ahmed's
Secret was published, the camel market was indeed on the
outskirts of Cairo. It moved far out of the city in 2000. Students
can learn that it is important to compare information provided
in a text with more up-to-date sources. The Internet pathfinder
shows some of the facts students learned that contradicted with
the information in the text.
|
Internet
Pathfinder: Egypt |
First-grade students illustrated the Egypt pathfinder. At the
end of the emerging lesson, the educators posed a question that
students had not considered: Are there camels on the streets
of Cairo today? Students were asked to investigate this question
on their own over a weekend. Some of them did. Others were wise
and asked their classmate who was born in Egypt what his parents
had said. The students learned that today one would not find
camels on the streets of Cairo, a city of 15 million people.
They were able to make a connection between horses on the streets
to Tucson (which still happens each February during the annual
Rodeo Parade) and camels in Cairo. Students learned that transportation
methods and needs change over time.
|
AASL Standards for
the 21st-Century Learner:
- Develop and refine a range of questions to frame search for new
understanding. (1.1.3)
- Read, view, and listen for information presented
in any format (e.g., textual, visual, media, digital) in order to
make inferences and gather meaning. (1.1.6)
- Collaborate with others to broaden and deepen understanding. (1.1.9)
- Display initiative and engagement by posing questions and investigating
the answers beyond the collection of superficial facts. (1.2.1)
About | Web
Support | How-to Chapters | Pathfinders
| Workshops
Launched: March 2007
Updated: 3 June 2013
|