Many students, especially struggling readers and writers, have difficulty determining what the author intended to be the central idea or key details. Connected with this is the parallel issue for developing writers who don’t yet know how to emphasize the most significant ideas in their writing, or how to support their central idea or claim with enough strength.
Reading strategy 8.9, “Most Important...to Whom?” and Writing Strategy 5.34, “Weight the Parts of Your Piece” from Jennifer Seravallo’s Reading Strategies and Writing Strategies books can help teachers develop these skills in focusing on what is most important, while pointing out the connections between the reading process and the writing process. Reading Strategy 8.9 asks readers to consider what they think the most important from the text. Developing readers are understandably self-centered readers. They are expending a great deal of mental energy simply trying to understand the general meaning of the text. The easiest way to understand is through their own lens. But, the second part of this strategy is key to pushing readers to the level of being critical readers: ask them to consider what the author thinks is most important; follow that up with having them return to the text and find support, being sure to ask a lot of questions like “Do most of the details support that?” or “What’s different about your idea and what you think the author’s idea might be?”. When conferencing with young writers, it is important to get them to consider whether or not their readership will be able to determine what they, the authors, want to convey as most important. Writing Strategy 5.34 addresses this skill development. Have student examine their drafts and draw lines or boxes around the different parts of their text. Help them to question which part is most important by carefully considering the amount of writing and strength of writing in each section. Do they need to cut from a lesser section? Do they need to elaborate more in the area they want readers to find as most critical?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Author
Educational Leader providing challenging and equitable learning experiences for students. Archives
July 2018
Categories |