Although I have previously read Tompkins last year in TE, it was interesting for me to re-read chapter 7 and make note of things I do and don’t remember. One thing I do remember that I think is important is that comprehension doesn’t just begin when students are reading. Comprehension begins before the students read (pre-reading) as they activate their background knowledge that relates to the text. It is interesting to look at this and realize that because comprehension depends on both the reader AND the text, different people will often “comprehend” the same text in a different manner. I don’t think I considered this fact when I was planning my lesson plan to read a picture book about “Duke Ellington” to my students, but I was thoughtful in picking this book because the students previously read a book “Bud, not Buddy” that has many connections to Jazz, they are learning about Black History Month, and they are also learning about the Harlem Renaissance in class. I am interested to see which students use this knowledge to make connections with “Duke Ellington” and which students do not.
One important thing I didn’t remember as much about was how teachers must play a part in activating student’s background knowledge, because sufficient background knowledge is a prerequisite for comprehending a text. Teachers can’t just expect the students to activate their prior knowledge on their own, and if students do not have adequate prior knowledge the teacher must decide if it is world knowledge or literacy knowledge that they need and then provide experiences and information to develop that knowledge. This interests me most because I wonder how it will be to learn about each one of your students and consider their previous knowledge and whether or not it needs to be accommodated before reading a text.
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3 comments:
Jenny- I had a text to self connection while reading your post. I also believe students can just be expected to comprehend the text the way we want them to. As teachers we must scaffold and model ways to comprehend.
Jenny - While reading your blog I had a text to self connection. One of my biggest problems in Literacy growing up was that I didn’t always have proper background knowledge. Without this knowledge I felt lost throughout most of the text. I was a quite child, and hardly ever asked questions causing me to stay confused. I also like how you mentioned that if students are lacking in background knowledge, there are several areas a teacher needs to look at; is the students lacking literacy knowledge or world knowledge. As a child I believe I was lacking literacy knowledge. However now that I am older, when I become lost in my readings it is typically because I am lacking world knowledge that pertains to the text. Last I do think that prior knowledge needs to be address before reading the text because it will give students a greater understanding of what they are reading.
Jenny—you make an excellent point about connecting information to prior knowledge and front loading you lessons. Honestly, before this semester I never put much wait on activating prior knowledge using more than just asking a question or two, in fact I never really connected the fact that I do that much of the time, when I’m reading or even discussing things in class.
You asked earlier, what different types of learning experiences we must have had in understanding how I connect materials from subject area to subject area etc. All I can say here is that it started, well I noticed it more, my first semester of college during a social science class, when I realized that many of my classes connected in strange ways. Like environmental science connecting to 18th century history. I thought maybe if these connections carried over across subjects, I could use them to my advantage. What I noticed is that it really helped me understand and remember materials better, and I figured that might be helpful. As for how we each reached different points here connects not only to the fact that we have different motivations, experiences and the like, but what I think is so great about our diversity, is that we each see things differently and I think that is good. Because as I share my experiences with you, you can learn and growth from them, just as much as I can learn and grow from yours, and now we both have more connections and experiences to share. And of course we are simply modeling what our students may take from shared experiences as well.
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