Friday, February 8, 2008
Reading and Writing Connections Made in Tuesday Experience
A lot of what I have seen in Tuesday Experience has been reading and then responding to questions. The students will read a short excerpt whether it is on a work sheet or in their Time for Kids magazine. after they have read the passage they resond to questions using evidence from the text and their own ideas from real life to make connections. This type of work is a way that they are practicing for the CMT's because that is basically all they are doing in the classroom. I like that the teacher has involved other things into her reading and writing time like the Time for Kids, this keeps the students updated on events around the world and important information that they should know about the U.S. It is also a good practice for the CMT's comprehensive part. Some of the stories they read in the TFK's are not that easy to understand, but with the prompting questions the teacher comes up with the students are able to relate to the text and find an understanding of it.
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This is very different from what I have seen in my Tuesday Experience. I am in a 5th grade class at Whiting Lane, and I have not seen a lot of CMT prep yet. They had a very extensive unit on poetry, which allowed them to be creative, instead of trying to figure out what they are supposed to say. This week, they will be preparing fo the CMTs. They will be using Time for Kids, as well. They have four questions that they need to answer about the article. As was explained to me, in their answers, they must restate the question to start their answer, quote part of the article, and make a connection. As long as those three parts are there, they have correctly answered the question. I wonder what we are actually teaching them, because using that formula for a correct answer, their response can be three sentences long! I was shocked that I was not told they should be able to elaborate, explain, or add details, as well as the three parts of the formula.
This is also very different from what I have seen in my classroom. We have all be told that in the higher grade levels all that happens is prep for CMT's but I did not realize that that is really all the day is comprised of. I am happy to hear that your teacher found a way to keep the students interested in what they will be testing on. The connection I can make to my class is that my teacher is always asking the students for evidence.
I think thats really great and interesting that your students are doing Time for kids. I can remember in Elementary school doing that kind of worked and how much I loved it. What you are doing is different than what I am doing. Since I am in a 1st grade classroom, CMT prep is not required just yet. I wish I had the opportunity to see some CMT prep though. Even though my classroom doesn't do CMT prep or TIme Magazine, they are very active in other things such as reading and response. There is a ton of writing and reading in my classroom! Much of the reading and writing is broken up throughout the day for the children so it's not to redundant. In many schools around this time of year, I feel like all the teachers are doing is craming for the CMT. When talking to Nancy about that last week she said that "a good teacher will incorporate all the children need to know for the CMT's throughout the school year so when it comes time for testing, there will not be any cramming and new material being learned." I think that is really true and gives us something to think about.
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