Routman's chapter 8 breathes new life into room 111 as we start our new year!
In Kindergarten we spend the first half of the year building a solid foundation in letter sounds and letter identification. We work countless hours on making sure that students show mastery of these skills before the end of the year so that when we return from the winter break (after a quick review) we are able to move on to bigger and better things.
This chapter was great because it is particularly applicable to kindergarten. The students (most of them anyways) come to us not only as a blank slate, but knowing less even that was is expected from most schools on the first day of kindergarten. However after a lot of work the first semester, we return in January with the hopes that we add on to the skills and knowledge that we have already built, and we do that by using several of the strategies that Routman talks about.
Since the first day of school we model several of the strategies including: rereading, surveying text, making connections, interact with peers, self-monitoring, and recall. These are things that we all do everyday! I did it even when reading this text for this blog, we use these strategies because they are what we have been taught to do while we read in order to comprehend what it is we are reading.
It is one of my favorite things to see when we return from break: the light that sparks when a child reads their first book or writes their first story. It is a fantastic time in a child's life...however as a teacher this moment is made better when we realize that they not only can read the story, but can understand what they have read! I look forward to this time with my students, we are so close!
I read this chapter for my Jan/Feb blog, too, and I loved it so much. I was so encouraged when I read your post, Kelly! I had no idea that comprehension strategies were taught in K5! How exciting that they are already being exposed to thinking while reading! I bet it IS so fun to see them come alive when the letters and sounds they have learned start taking on meaning. I want to come watch! :)
ReplyDeleteI always feel like in K we are teaching two worlds of reading: the world of comprehension (which is often taught through read-alouds) and the world of decoding (which is taught through letters, sounds, and the like). Both are important, but comprehension especially can't be overlooked! Letters and sounds will always be safe in kindergarten curriculum, so I'm not worried about those. Ha!! :-)
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