After reading the Tompins chapters, I have realized that when I read the most frequent comprehension strategies I utilize are monitoring and predicting. I have been an avid reader for as long as I can remember, and whenever I encounter a phrase or term that I am not familiar with, I realize it and take steps to fix it. I remember when I was about 10 years old, I read the book A Ring of Endless Light by Madeline L’Engle, and she used the phrase, “thirteen going on thirty” to describe one of her characters. I was confused because fourteen logically followed thirteen, so I asked my mom what that meant because I felt it was important to understanding this character. After the phrase’s metaphorical meaning was explained to me, it made more sense and the character became more real for me. This precisely fits the meaning Tompkins provided when he wrote. “Readers supervise their reading experience, checking that they are comprehending and raking action if they become confused.” That was when I realized that understanding everything I read can be very meaningful. I also like to predict what will happen based on what I know from prior knowledge and/or events and information from the book. I like to make guesses and see whether I am right or wrong, and why. I love a book with a good plot twist precisely because I cannot predict what will happen. If I am kept on my toes, then I am much more likely to want to continue the book until its completion.
I have viewed similar processes occurring in my classroom. This past week I watched the class read aloud a chapter book for the first time. My CT was reading a Goosebumps book. She had the students use their connecting skills (text to text, world, and self) after she had completed several chapters, as they had just recently learned that comprehension strategy as a class and my CT wanted to have an informal review session. They also practiced predicting, especially at the end of chapters (usually a cliffhanger). At one point my CT wanted to stop, but the class insisted she read another chapter because they wanted to know if their predictions were right or wrong, and she conceded because it was a short chapter. She knew it would help encourage the students to read, and to enjoy it. It was a lot of fun to watch and to participate in because she was making reading enjoyable for the students and for us as teachers.
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Did you have your own idea of what "thirteen going on thirty" meant? In your classroom when you give students books with confusing metaphors like these do you plan on going over these first? Or do you think it would be beneficial to have the students come up with their owns meaning first?
How do you plan on incorporating prediction in the classroom? Do you have any ideas for a lesson plan? I thought it might be interesting to have each student write down their predictions and then switch papers with another student in the class and comment on that students predictions. Do you think this would be beneficial for students? How would this help them with the idea of prediction?
I'm glad you enjoy predicting during reading, because that is also one of my favorite things to do. I'm glad you were able to see it in the classroom because it is so interesting to see how students minds work and to hear the various view points.
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