During this activity we read “The Foot Book” by Dr. Seuss. We did choral reading in the form of small group reading. One person in the group held the book and each person in our group read one page of the book, or one stanza of the poem. Then we discussed the characteristics of our reading and shared what we found with the class.
After viewing the handout: Michigan’s Grade Level Content Expectations, It was clear that the choral-reading activity required me to use or develop certain speaking, listening, and viewing skills. When working on the activity and presenting to the class, I used speaking conventions. I used the tone of my voice and changed the pace of my speaking while reading the poem to enhance the meaning of specific words or phrases. My group noticed that we usually raised our voices and spoke faster during the repetition words of our poem. For speaking discourse, after reading the poem as a group we discussed the poem and the features of how we read it to socially construct meaning for it. We also had to plan and deliver an informal presentation to the other groups in the classroom to show them how we read the poem and explain the meaning we found behind it.
The GLCE handout also includes expectations for listening and viewing. I believe I used the listening and viewing conventions when we had to listen to the other group’s presentations. During these informal presentations I listened for key factors and compared/contrasted them with the key factors of my group’s choral reading experience.
Almasi and McGee both noted that choral reading should improve student’s knowledge by helping them grasp meaning and share insights. Although I didn’t grasp a deeper meaning of the Dr. Seuss book itself, I believe I got a deeper meaning of the coral reading process through our class discussion. We also had the ability to share our personal insights about the benefits of choral reading after our group experience reading the book and then also with the rest of the class while comparing and contrasting our experiences. For working toward capacity goals, I enjoyed being able to experiment with oral language and expression. Our group found ourselves trying to read the poem differently to see how it sound and felt. I also believe I was able to internalize the rhythms, patterns and lyrical qualities of language during this exercise.
When reflecting on my participation and learning during the choral reading activity, I realized that as a teacher I will need to first scaffold my students so they know what I expect of them during class discussions. However, once my students understand interpretive discussions I will need to back off and let my students take control of the discussions. As I plan and teach my language arts lessons I will also need to pay attention to the Great Lakes Content Expectations to make sure I am teaching my students about what will be expected of them in the future for other grades and state-wide testing.
3 comments:
Jenny- I agree with your ideas on scaffolding. I think it is very important for students to understand what is going on and why this activity is important. The students also might need to do a few of these activities in a row to get the hang of it and see which one works best. I think it is important to look at the GLCEs when planning this type of lesson.
I agree that scaffolding is an extremely important aspect to any new or challenging activity within the classroom setting. It is interesting because often we don't think about ways in which we need to scaffold when reading out loud, but it is true, children do need to know appropriate behaviors and during a read aloud. How do students show they are listening and activly engaged in the activity? How would you perpare students to do these things? These are new questions I had to ask myslef after the activity in class.
Jenny, I agree that the choral reading exercise did not help me grasp a greater meaning of The Foot Book. However, one group in our TE class read a book that keep repeating the same phrase, and the group would say this phrase together. I have seen this type of choral reading take place in my first grade classroom and it did help the student grasp onto the concept of the book much better. Therefore I believe, that depending on the story and the type of book, choral reading can help students grasp ideas better.
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