I just finished reading Chapter 3 and it contains a lot of information. It will be a chapter for re reading. Anyways, it was encouraging to see how I use reading workshop in my classroom is similar to how they are expanding the skills needed for state tests. There are so many ways to expand to help students understand how to locate the main idea in different texts and poetry. I wish the book provided pictures or examples of the anchor chart with the headings on them, so you don't have to keep going back through the book to remember each anchor chart. I have started a list but an example to see would be great!
I have created some anchor charts for the grade levels that go along with the book, but I think it is also important for the students to help create those anchor charts as you teach those specific reading/test taking skills, so they have a vested interest in the chart and it has meaning to them.
I just finished reading chapter 3 and I gained a lot of new insights into helping students locate the main idea and identify the questions that are asking for the main idea. I like the idea of the anchor charts to give students reminders and visuals of how to use the strategy. The mini lessons that are included are great! I am excited to incorporate these lessons into my reading time.
I think main idea is a pretty important skill for our students to master - not just for standardized tests. I did wonder about the book's definition, though. The book lumped main idea and theme together as synonyms, but I see theme and main idea as different (related, but different). When it comes to the SOLs, how do they ask main idea questions? In other subjects (especially math, science, and even the grammar portion of writing) it is pretty easy to extract questions from the SOLs to get a feel for what kinds of questions are asked. I think that it's harder to pull out reading questions by skill on the SOL, so I feel less versed in the wording of reading SOL questions.
I was also surprised to see that the authors used the terms main idea and theme interchangeably, especially after they said how important it is to use specific language in our teaching.
This is a chapter I'll need to re-read, but I can't get past the interchanging of "theme" and "main idea"
I agree with Lisa, I think the words are very similar but not entirely the same.
On page 40 when they quoted from "Strategies That Work (200)" that "Themes are they underlying ideas that give the story its texture, depth, and meaning." "We infer themes." .... The ability to find themes requires higher-level thinking ..... all of these statements make it harder for me to interchange theme with main idea throughout the rest of the chapter.
The practice questions on page 43 also makes me think of theme rather than main idea....
I do enjoy the lesson ideas and hope to make sense of this and what I need to use to effectively prepare my students in the future - because if I am this confused reading this chapter, then I must not be using the correct language to best help my students on the SOL for reading.
I agree with Abby and Lisa that main idea and theme are two separate concepts. I think it is important to teach students both concepts and the book provided some new ideas for me to try this year when teaching these skills. I liked the "Be the Test Author Game" on page 53. This game promotes critical thinking and usage of vocabulary. It would be a great game to utilize in all subject areas, especially before a unit test.
This chapter was a great reminder of consistently and clearly demonstrating to students ways to think while reading. It also drove home the importance of using the content-specific vocabulary and displaying those vocabulary words on anchor charts where students can refer to them. It can be difficult for students to grasp the concept of main idea and (again) this book gave a bunch of great lesson ideas. Lynn Pickering
I just finished reading Chapter 3 and it contains a lot of information. It will be a chapter for re reading. Anyways, it was encouraging to see how I use reading workshop in my classroom is similar to how they are expanding the skills needed for state tests. There are so many ways to expand to help students understand how to locate the main idea in different texts and poetry. I wish the book provided pictures or examples of the anchor chart with the headings on them, so you don't have to keep going back through the book to remember each anchor chart. I have started a list but an example to see would be great!
ReplyDeleteMichelle,
DeleteI have created some anchor charts for the grade levels that go along with the book, but I think it is also important for the students to help create those anchor charts as you teach those specific reading/test taking skills, so they have a vested interest in the chart and it has meaning to them.
I agree to have students to create them but I'm totally a visual learner myself that if I saw some examples in the book it would just be helpful.
DeleteI just finished reading chapter 3 and I gained a lot of new insights into helping students locate the main idea and identify the questions that are asking for the main idea. I like the idea of the anchor charts to give students reminders and visuals of how to use the strategy. The mini lessons that are included are great! I am excited to incorporate these lessons into my reading time.
ReplyDeleteI think main idea is a pretty important skill for our students to master - not just for standardized tests. I did wonder about the book's definition, though. The book lumped main idea and theme together as synonyms, but I see theme and main idea as different (related, but different). When it comes to the SOLs, how do they ask main idea questions? In other subjects (especially math, science, and even the grammar portion of writing) it is pretty easy to extract questions from the SOLs to get a feel for what kinds of questions are asked. I think that it's harder to pull out reading questions by skill on the SOL, so I feel less versed in the wording of reading SOL questions.
ReplyDeleteI was also surprised to see that the authors used the terms main idea and theme interchangeably, especially after they said how important it is to use specific language in our teaching.
DeleteChapter 3: What's it All About?
ReplyDeleteThis is a chapter I'll need to re-read, but I can't get past the interchanging of "theme" and "main idea"
I agree with Lisa, I think the words are very similar but not entirely the same.
On page 40 when they quoted from "Strategies That Work (200)" that "Themes are they underlying ideas that give the story its texture, depth, and meaning." "We infer themes." .... The ability to find themes requires higher-level thinking ..... all of these statements make it harder for me to interchange theme with main idea throughout the rest of the chapter.
The practice questions on page 43 also makes me think of theme rather than main idea....
I do enjoy the lesson ideas and hope to make sense of this and what I need to use to effectively prepare my students in the future - because if I am this confused reading this chapter, then I must not be using the correct language to best help my students on the SOL for reading.
I agree with Abby and Lisa that main idea and theme are two separate concepts. I think it is important to teach students both concepts and the book provided some new ideas for me to try this year when teaching these skills. I liked the "Be the Test Author Game" on page 53. This game promotes critical thinking and usage of vocabulary. It would be a great game to utilize in all subject areas, especially before a unit test.
ReplyDeleteThis chapter was a great reminder of consistently and clearly demonstrating to students ways to think while reading. It also drove home the importance of using the content-specific vocabulary and displaying those vocabulary words on anchor charts where students can refer to them. It can be difficult for students to grasp the concept of main idea and (again) this book gave a bunch of great lesson ideas.
ReplyDeleteLynn Pickering