jotting notes

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Home : 2008 : April : 13

jotting notes
By BookMuncher

I think that we need to think about what the comprehension strategy is that we're teaching and whether or not it's imperative that the thoughts be publicly written then and there. For example, if you're teaching questioning
and you plan to collect their questions today and answer them tomorrow, why not just write them on a clipboard? It's quick, you don't have to be neat, and the kids see you taking notes like a grown-up really would. The same goes for any other strategy where you are collecting things in order to continue the discussion tomorrow-- like collecting connections in order to evaluate their helpfulness

the next day or mental images to evaluate how the author elicted them the next day.

On the other hand, if we're teaching a strategy in a way that everyone needs to see the thoughts as they are written, then stopping the read aloud to chart is useful. For example, if we're slowly synthesizing a book over the period of one day or many days.

I think that it's your own personal teaching style; I'd rather jot the kids ideas on a clipboard saying, "I'll be sure to write all your ____ and tomorrow we'll learn from them." Perhaps it's a result of my schedule- I don't have time for read alouds that go over 15 or 20 minutes this year. I have to make the most of my time and get the most teaching in as possible. Writing in front of the kids usually slows me down and sometimes causes some wiggling. I have more luck with writing on charts that already have most of the writing on them-- like coding inferences or adding details/sources, etc...