Week 6

Mary could not recall many details from the text “Whales and Fish”; she recalled 16 ideas out of 49 in total.  Mary also had very little prior knowledge when she began reading the text.  The ability to recall details and activate prior knowledge can be considered weaknesses for Mary.  It is important that Mary learns how to sort between prior knowledge and unfamiliar details in a text in order to better comprehend what she is reading.  For Mary’s intervention I would focus on the ability to make connections between texts being read and prior knowledge and to self monitor comprehension.  I think it would be helpful for Mary to re-read the same text and look back to identify more details from the text.  The use of graphic organizers can be helpful to improve Mary’s ability to recall details from the text.  As Mary is reading I would have her pause to write down or discuss any new details she has read aloud.  I am unsure of how long the intervention would need to be.  I feel like the length of an intervention depends on the individual student and the gains they are making.  Interventions can be short term or long term depending on the student and their weaknesses.

The mini-lesson I would use to help Mary recall details and make connections between a text and her prior knowledge is one that use Knew/New charts.  I would discuss the difference between knew and new with Mary (preferably in a small group) and why it is important for readers to distinguish between the two.  Thinking about what you knew before reading a text can help you make sense of the new information in a text.

I would model how when I am given a text I immediately think about the title and try to relate it to something I have read before or heard about before.  I would choose a text read the title and begin to brainstorm a list of things I already knew about the topic.  I would stress how using this prior knowledge helps me to better understand the new information in the text.

I would read the text aloud and model how when I come across something I already knew about I jot it down on a “Knew” list.  As I read I pick out new information and think aloud about anything that might be unfamiliar to me.  I add these details to a “New” list.  It is important to let the student(s) know that the Knew list will be shorter than the New list most likely; this proves you are growing as a reader and gaining new information.  I would also stress how gaining new information is what reading is all about.

After modeling the strategy I would provide a different text for students to complete the same process.  Once the students have completed their own chart we would share aloud the connections we made and the new information we learned about as we were reading.

This practice help readers keep track of details from a text and monitor the new information in a given text.