February 17, 2017
February 17, 2017
- Happy Aloha Friday!
- Minimum Day today.
- Mass today followed by Town Hall.
• Paideia seminar
- Part IV on the piece entitled “Instructional Frameworks for Quality Talk About Text: Choosing the Best Approach” by Sarah Lightner and Ian Wilkinson in The Reading Teacher, January/February 2017. Lightner and Wilkinson believe there are nine approaches from which teachers can choose, depending on their overall goals, what they’re teaching, and their students’ needs. These approaches get students acquiring information, making emotional connections, and engaging in critical analysis. Here are the rest today:
– The teacher chooses a text that contains key values and ideas being studied and leads students through multiple close readings. As the class discusses the text, the teacher challenges students to identify consequential ideas in the text, facilitates without talking too much, keeps students from straying from the focus, and asks open-ended questions that get students seeking understanding in the text, analyzing details, and synthesizing ideas.
• Philosophy for children
– Students read age-appropriate texts that address enduring ethical and philosophical topics. The teacher then asks students to generate open-ended questions about the issues raised in the text and selects one or more of their questions as the focus of all-class discussion. The goal is to develop strong reasoning skill, help students recognize the difference between good and poor reasoning, and get them thinking about important philosophical issues.
Of course teachers can mix and match components of these approaches to accomplish their goals. Lightner and Wilkinson list the key variables: Who selects the text? What type of text is discussed? How is the class organized? When is the text read? Is the discussion led by the teacher or by students? Who decides what is discussed? Who controls turn-taking? Who decides if what students say is right or wrong? Is the focus on authors’ intentions? Is the focus on students’ emotional connections to the text? Is the focus on textual analysis? Is the focus on critical analysis?
- Wishing a wonderful long weekend with your family and friends and thanks for all you are and do for our kids. I have several school visits next week so I’ll see you in a week! God Bless you.