After reading the Applegate article, I thought it was funny how it went over all the types of comprehension. I never thought about how I comprehend material. I knew I was different and sometimes I twist words up and make my own understanding of the question or the reading. That would make me an author in comprehension. Not only do I twist the answer around I also add my own story to it. For example I always relate things back to myself. I create examples that could be related to the question. I will also pull information out of thin air to make it lengthy and educational, that description makes me a minimalist. I will elaborate on issue that are unnecessary to the answer.
On the other hand, my children are left field and fuzzy thinkers. Since my class is a kindergarten, if that get asked a question without it being modeled, they will answer with a story. Their stories consist of what they like, what they did, or what they will be doing after school. For my fuzzy thinkers they pick up on the question, but are not able to give a concert answer. They are learning make-believe and real as of right now. As they continue to grow they will become more experienced critical thinkers.
I previously stated that my students learn by modeling. Their comprehension level becomes higher when given an example or a visual. For example the other day in class my CT had a question that was what job would you like when you get older. First answer a car wash and second was taking care of dogs. My CT chimed in and said well car washes don’t make much money and a person that cares for dogs and animals is called a vet. The children then began to think of the jobs their parents have and established a higher comprehension. This activity was meant to be open-ended but my CT had to simplify it for the children to become more aware of the topic. In the future visuals, charts,, and modeling is an extremely important strategy in teaching young children.
Like Danielle, I had never really thought about how I comprehend things before. From the article, though, I would call myself a quiz contestant. I try to relate the material to my experiences and how I understand them, but in so doing I tend to forget about the text itself. I try to make my statements flow logically and make sense, and yet I don't always see that they go along with the text. I am also very much a politician. I try to answer to the best of my ability what I think my instructor (or whoever is grading me) wants to hear. I don't necessarily aim to sound profound, using slogans and platitudes, but I try to answer in the way that I think my instructor would like to hear. This shapes my thought process and my response to proposed questions.
ReplyDeleteI am also placed in a kindergarten class, where I think the students are mostly left field and fuzzy thinkers. Most of them will answer questions with a personal story that has nothing at all to do with the question, and others will say something seemingly just to say something. Some of the students answer before they really know what they want to say, and are therefore very fuzzy thinkers. They say something, but they haven't really thought it through yet.
I believe that these are simply characteristics of young learners and that as the children grow older they will learn better comprehension techniques.
Much like Alison and Danielle I have never gave any thought as to how I comprehend text. I know that I have certain strategies and tendencies while I am comprehending a text but I have never thought about it in depth. I would say that I am a politician when it comes to my profile of comprehension. I tend to answer in a way that I feel would be the best answer for the present situation. I don't always answer the way that I feel, more or less the way that I think will get me the better grade. I would say that I have always been a politician as I have always tried to please my teachers. At other times I could also be considered a minimalist, this is where you stay quiet because you are not confident enough in your comprehension. I sometimes have a hard time comprehending text and often question myself if what I comprehended was actually right. This will at times cause me to not talk about what was read.
ReplyDeleteI am placed in a kindergarten classroom and I have noticed multiple profiles of comprehension. The most common I see are left fielders. Many of the students answer with analogies that they believe are correct but they don't have a real connection to the text. Many of there thoughts come out of no where and are very unpredictable. I have also seen fuzzy thinkers in my classroom, these students shortened responses that are vague and hard to comprehend. This could be caused by not being comfortable talking in front of the class or lack of comprehension skills. I have also seen minimalist in my classroom.
I think that it is important to remember that students use comprehend text in different ways. It is also important to give students the proper interventions in order to solve there comprehension problems. Starting as young as kindergarten is necessary in order to instill the best possibly way for a student to comprehend text.