The teacher that
I am observing pairs up her students in order to have them read aloud to one
another. She matches stronger readers
with weaker readers and then she has them sit next to one another and take
turns "whisper read” to each other. I honestly don't know how I feel about
this particular reading strategy. My
first reaction is that stronger readers will just read and get it out of the
way, while the less advanced students will read softer so that their mistakes
will not get noticed. A part of me feels as if this is more busy work and does
not actually help the students become better readers. While I am in the classroom, I notice that
unless I am attentive to each of the pairs all the time, the students do not read. Rather than read, they talk to one
another. Some finish faster than other
pairs and then they talk. I want to
know if you have ever observed this approach to reading and how successful do
you think it is? Am I wrong for thinking
that it isn't really helping? I am
anxious to learn how to teach my students to become competent readers and I
could use more input that will help me to assess this particular approach. What do you remember from our ED 340 class? I look forward to having you share your
thoughts with me. Thanks.
Hi Hazel, I think I have heard of this approach sometimes used in schools as well, and I have the same thoughts as you. I think this approach as you said, can have these downfalls. I think that it would not be fair to either of the advanced and struggling reader. Because every child has an individualized reading level and reading rate. How would a teacher catch students struggling if they are only whispering the words? I have learned about various graphic organizers that can be kept in a book mark format to help students with their reading challenges. Also, the Teachers College of Columbia's reading website has some good reading resources, such as running records. For one class we also read When Kids Can't read by Kyleen Beers.
ReplyDeleteHi Diana,
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting. I have never personally seen this type of reading approach before in my field studies. Something the teacher I work with this semester does reading groups A-D. Each group has the same book and they meet with the teacher group by group. I like this idea because the teacher is able to assess the students in what they have read thus far. Also, if the students are talking instead of reading the teacher could work with the students individually at the end of an assignment or have the students do something that requires more attention and the teacher can work with the students in small ground to make sure they stay on task.
Hi Diana,
ReplyDeleteI have heard of this approach before, but never seen it in a class I observed. This approach has its pros and cons. Of course, the obvious is that the stronger read will just read the entire thing without a problem, whereas the weaker reader might be embarrassed. This is where the teacher has to set up rules for the stronger reader to focus on. If the weaker reader is having difficulty pronouncing a word, the stronger reader will help by sounding out the word. Also, the stronger reader should read first so that the weaker reader can recognize unfamiliar words. I feel this approach will eventually workout after lots of practice. I basically feel the stronger reader should play a role as a teacher while being paired.
Hi Diana,
ReplyDeleteI have heard of this approach and I am not sure how I feel about it. It makes me think that the teacher really doesn't know if the students are learning how to read or not. I do agree that the teacher should also take time to read with the students. In one of my previous placements for observing a first grade class the teacher would pair students to read, as well as work with them individually every other week. The teacher also had the students sit in a circle and everyone had the chance to read aloud.
I do believe that the teacher you are observing should try to change some things, such as actually monitoring the students and their reading as well as switching up the groups they are placed in.
Hi Diana,
ReplyDeleteI have heard of this approach also, but I also have not seen it done in any of the places I have observed. I think that in some cases this approach could work, for example science or social studies, but I do not necessarily agree with it during reading. When I have observed the teacher groups the students together according to their reading level and then she has them go off and read individually and then they meet in their groups to discuss what they have read. She also meets individually with each student to make sure that they are comprehending what they are reading. I believe that with this particular approach the stronger reader is just going to do all of the reading while the less advanced reader will just slide by. I can see why this teacher thinks this approach is a good idea, but it is not the stronger readers responsibility to help the less advanced reader to read. Plus, I feel that it puts a lot of stress on the child who is not as quick a reader as their partner. They may feel embarrassed or not smart because their partner is a better reader.
I believe the teacher should change how she has her students reading. I feel the students should be grouped together by their reading level