Knowing how the text is structurised is important. It helps to know how to read the text. People read a text book differently than they read a graphic novel and knowing what type of text you are reading before beginning to read is helpful in comprehension.
Helping English Language Learners develop reading comprehension can be difficult. One thing the Gibbons article really pointed out was breaking down the story at various points in the reading. I think this is where the graphic organizer can be beneficial. Organizing the story on paper and in your own words can help the student to understand what is happening. Also making a sketch of the characters and their personality traits would be helpful while reading. An ELL could have this sheet out as a reference and if there is any confusion they could look at the sheet and keep them on track with the characters.
I agree with you that comprehension is a difficult subject to assess. I thought that the Gibbons reading was very helpful for teaching us about how to assess comprehension of English Language Learners. I agree with you that these students in particular are in need of going more in-depth and being more repetitive about what is going on in the focus book. This way if they miss something about what is going on, possibly by hearing it over and over they will be able to comprehend more each time they hear it.
ReplyDeleteFor students in a mainstream classroom I think that book club is a very good thing to do IF AND ONLY IF it is done correctly. I think that even though we were given many great ideas (3 pages) in our TE 402 class, I think young students need to have more of a focus when they are reading so that they are able to not be distracted by trying to answer all the questions at once. With proper guidance, the students will best comprehend the material.