[MOSAIC] dra ...a bit off the beaten path

[Laura Cannon]

Well said and I agree.

-----Original Message-----
From: mosaic-bounces at literacyworkshop.org
[mailto:mosaic-bounces at literacyworkshop.org] On Behalf Of Kukonis at aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 11:26 PM
To: mosaic at literacyworkshop.org
Subject: [MOSAIC] dra ...a bit off the beaten path

Moving on to schema  unit in Comprehension Connections has  really got me 
thinking about how many assumptions are made in terms of kids'  prior 
knowledge..... I know I started threads on 
retelling before but..... as I reviewed my first grade DRA's taken in  
October I noted how many teacher prompts I needed to give most kids in terms
of  the 
comprehension section. Seems to me the DRA itself, and its makers, assume  
that kids know how to retell....
 
Now, I am expecting posts back about how retelling is a lower level  
comprehension strategy... a rehashing of the author's words.... but really
the  more I 
teach through retelling..... as a unit of comprehension itself ...the  more
I 
learn about gaps in kids' experiences with texts....the way they
internalize 
author's words in their heads 
 
In my opinion, retelling  is an intricate and symbolic cognitive
process.... 
kids need schema for story elements, story genre, story maps,  thinking 
forward and thinking back, and God forbid they make it to a level where
they write 
their responses... then kids need to process all that thought  into written 
format (which is a whole other multi-step ball of wax) 
 
The point? Maybe before the DRA assessment and before any teaching of  
comprehension strategies.... there should be more immersion in story  and
grand  
conversations (the  "what do you notice" kind) 
Maybe then retelling should be taught as extensively as connections,  
visualizing, determining and so on....
 
I am wondering if retelling and following directions are closely related...

so many of my first grade dilemmas are  because kids do something that
seems 
like they are not listening to directions but now I am thinking that if
asked 
to retell the directions ...the directions they internalize would be a far  
cry from my intentions. I am also thinking about developmental stages ... do
we 
 teach into retelling or let it evolve with maturity???? 
 
These types of ponderings bring me back to teaching methods... more
concrete 
modeling... less written and abstract work....more reading and less  written

templates....
 
Just some thoughts before bed... what do you all think???? 
 



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