[MOSAIC] Nancy Atwell

[Joy]

Thanks so much for this rich and diverse discussion. I love that we can disagree yet still respect each other's opinions and practices. I've been following this thread with great interest, because I've always felt I didn't do a good enough job teaching the strategies. I've been a bit heistant to talk in too much detail about my practices, because my approach is so casual. I feel inadequate sometimes among all the skilled and talented teachers on this list. 
   
  I model using the strategies through read/think alouds. I don't drill, test, or do long drawn out lessons about them. We focus on the literature. (Except determining importance, the kids LOVE the "House" lesson, and I find it really helps them understand how they can have different purposes for reading the same text.) I use whatever we are reading in other subjects as a springboard for strategy instruction, based on what the students need, and the type of text we are reading. (It's not uncommon to hear a student say:  "Hey, I thought this was math!"
   
  This past year I reviewed each strategy briefly, since some of my students this year had me in second grade (where they first learned about reading strategies) and we had some new students who I knew nothing about. (Plus, I'm not really sure what they did in third grade and felt we needed to come together with a common vocabulary) Then I dove right in with modeling as I did read alouds. I didn't focus on any particular strategy, just pointed out my thinking while I was reading. Sometimes this was during whole group instruction, sometimes it was during Lit. Circles, sometimes during our individual SSR reading conferences, or while students were doing research for their projects. I tried to make it more of a conversation than a didactic speech.
   
  Some of the students would tell which strategy they found helpful during book-tell, and I think that helped many of them realize how natural using a particular strategy could feel. I'm all about them enjoying their books, but I do have them keep track of what they are reading, and what they are thinking while they are reading (even if it is that they were surprised at a turn of events.) It has been very powerful for my students to see the stacks of reflections of their reading at the end of the year! (I keep them in a file and have them reflect on them each month (Thanks Lori for your help with this one!))
   
  I think it's important for me to remain flexible in my approach to reading instruction so I can always give my students what they need when they need it. I've had some criticism about what I do. Although the things I do are well researched, the research does not blend the various approaches together, so some have told me that I really am NOT using researched based instructional practices. Some have said you can't pick and choose, that following a best practice needs to follow the research as closely as possible in order to be valid. The way I see it, I am teaching children, not lab rats. I have to try to tailor what I'm doing to fit the needs of the particular set of children in my classroom.
   
  I really do want to go deeper next year. The set of students that are coming up has four students who are very capable thinkers, they need help with expressing their thoughts and not blowing them off. Then there are six or seven who have some major learning challenges, for them decoding is still an issue. I can't wait to see how it works itself out!

  Thanks again for this wonderful, inciteful, and reflective discussion.
   


                Joy/NC/4
  jwidmann at rocketmail.com
  How children learn is as important as what they learn: process and content go hand in hand. http://www.responsiveclassroom.org
   









  
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