Based on the Reading Street curriculum how could authentic questions be worked into the lessons? When planning for my guided lead teaching it is important to think of what the outcome has to be, what the students really need to learn. It is imperative to teach with the end in mind, therefore, there must be a pre-assessment, formative assessments, and a summative assessment. The summative assessment is where the authentic questions would be found. They have learned the material so the next step would be to connect it to something else, connecting it to something in their life, connecting it to other concepts, or just being able to think about why this concept might be taught.
There is a writing sample from a student on page 125 of Strategies That Work, the student is responding to the idea of authentic questions. The student explains that they like the use of open ended questions that require some research, time, and could trigger a debate or further discussion. This shows that students are aware of how helpful authentic questions can be, and they appreciate that they gain a deeper understanding of a concept.
I think that authentic questions are very important to add into classroom discussions in order to promote and get at a deeper level of thinking for the students. I think that as for using these questions within the Reading Street curriculum, you could add them in everyday to the concept talk that happens during the first block of literacy. You could also add them into the discussion surrounding the book that is the main book of the week (which is read twice during the week) and during other small story readings. I think that there are a lot of opportunities to add in authentic, open-ended questions during our day, especially since most of it is literacy and this is an area that can include a lot of discussions.
ReplyDeleteWhile I am not really sure that students understand that open-ended questions are better for their learning and that they are aware that authentic questions can be helpful, I do think that it is important to work towards this goal. I think that if students not only understand WHAT they are learning (by being aware of the daily objectives) but also know WHY they are learning it and HOW it helps their understanding then they will become better students and learners. So I would like my students to be megacognitive in their learning so they can become deeper thinkers and better learners. I think this can be done by using authentic questions and then talking about those type of questions and making sure the students are aware of this process. Actually carrying out this idea might be difficult though because it is hard to force students to think about why they are learning something. What do you think we could do to put this plan into action? How can we use authentic questions in other subject areas in a meaningful way?
I definitely agree that I would like to start incorporating more authentic questions while I am teaching. I think that it is easy to try to rush through something that you think the kids “get” and not ask enough of these important, open-ended questions that are really getting the kids to use their reasoning. Often times, during Reading Street curriculum, we are so limited in time that I almost feel like I don’t have time to even ask an authentic question! I know that may sound ridiculous, but it happens. I end up having to do “thumbs up/down” activities, which are based off of yes/no questions.
ReplyDeleteIn the reading for this week, I chose to focus on Chapter 10 (Determining Importance in Text), which can really tie into authentic questions. As an English lover, I think that determining the importance of what you are reading is so important! I love when my students are telling me the main idea of the story and how they related it back to themselves. Here, in a whole group (but mainly small group) setting, I would like to use authentic questions while teaching my students to find the importance of their stories. Again, I also chose to focus on Chapter 12 (Content Literacy) which discusses the importance of understanding what we are reading in Science and Social Studies curriculum. Reading in these subjects can be quite different than reading a story because it is generally informational text. I think that I actually use MORE authentic questions during my Social Studies unit because I have more “leisure” time with them. The other day, we read an interesting passage about Michigan’s sand dunes. Not only did I ask authentic questions relating to how they felt about it, how they think sand dunes are made, etc., but I also was able to focus my students’ thinking towards the idea that although Social Studies reading is different, it still has a main idea and supporting details and you can still determine the importance from it, too!