Chapter 5 Learning through Reflection

     Reflection is the final phase in the PAR framework.  Reflection takes place once the reading has been completed.  Reflection demonstrates learning occurred, evaluate what was learned, and to extend the reading experience.  The reflective phase clarifies thinking.  Reflective thinking is what a student learned and what they have yet to learn.  The longer student’s reflect, the longer the knowledge is retained.  Reflection also creates students to be autonomous learners.  Autonomous learners are simply independent learners.  They know and understand how to take notes, read for meaning, and organize information.  Self-regulated learners keep mental notes of their learning which is called comprehension monitoring.  Students tend to exhibit comprehension through pausing, analyzing, recalling, and retelling information in their own words.

     There are important skills to stress in the reflection phase.  Being able to communicate and articulate one’s ideas are essential.  Students not only read to learn; they also listen, speak, and write to learn to have proper perspectives of what is in their environment.  Critical thinking also should be promoted in the classroom.  Children who actively participates in an environment that is taught critical thinking performs at higher levels in tasks. Critical thinking includes problem-solving and decision making strategies. 

Problem-solving steps include:  1. Gather ideas and information, 2. Define the problem, 3. Form tentative conclusions, 4. Test conclusions, 5. Make a decision.

     Critical literacy is analytical thinking or reading beyond the lines.  Students should consider author’s purpose, and position in writing. Juxtapositioning compare and contrast two text having opposing viewpoints.  Clarification by the students will take place giving the student’s a greater understanding to form his/her own standpoint.

   Cooperative learning allows the learner to be actively involved and engaged in the learning process.  Cooperative learning improves student achievement, as well as, various ethnic groups working together towards a common goal, therefore, respect is honored, and it improves self-esteem and the ability to work well with other people.

Cooperative Learning:  1. Positive interdependence-They are in the project together working toward a goal. 2. Individual accountability-Each member of the group is responsible for his/her own work. 3. Equal participation 4. Simultaneous interaction-Everyone is working.

Strategies and Activities for Reflection in Reading:

Brainstorming:  Students discuss a topic and come to an agreement or solve the problem.

 

Post-Graphic Organizers:  These are visual representations of one’s own interpretation that displays a connection after reading has taken place.  Graphic organizer should include the following three concepts:  1.) Preview the reading for main ideas 2.) Work in small groups and decide what the organizer will look like and consist of 3.)  Read silently and include information represented from the group 4.) Organize ideas and create a model 5.) Present

 

Making Connections:   Students make connections while they are reading. 

Text-to-self:  Connecting information from the text to oneself that includes personal experiences, feelings, and knowledge

Text-to-text:  Similarities or differences from one text to another

Text-to-world:  The text is related to world events, history, news, etc.

 

Double-Entry Journals:  Students keep a writing record of their responses to reading.

 

Rallytable:  The teacher gives the students an open-ended question to respond to and students work in pairs passing the paper back and forth.  The answer is written down every time the paper is passed until time is called.  Answers and then compared with each other.

 

Numbered Heads Together:  This is used for prior knowledge assessment or a review before a test.  Students are in groups of four with individual numbers.  The teacher states a question that the group must answer.  She will call out one number and choose the student with the number to respond to the question.  A different variation to this review game is to have the group come to a consensus to the question and hold up the answer on a dry erase board.

 

Paired Reading:  This activity works best with upper level students.  The students read a passage and are in pairs.  One student is the recaller and the other is the listener. The recaller restates what was in the passage; the listener only interrupts for clarification.  If any information is incorrect, the listener will summarize the correct information. 

 

Three-Step Interview:  This activity will work best with groups of four, however, the size of the group may be accommodated.  A question is posed.  Working in pairs, one student interviews partner two and vice-versa.  The team then shares knowledge with the group. This activity helps with prior knowledge, making predications, or sharing personal connections with the topic.

 

Repeated Readings and Text Lookbacks:  This is rereading the text information for comprehension.

 

Group Summarizations:  Writing important content in a brief summary.

 

Reflection Guide:  This guide is used after reading to promote discussion that will entail analyzing and decision making.

 

Think-Pair-Share: (Reflection and Cooperative Learning) Students will be given a question by the teacher that they must pause and think about what was stated and write down the answer.  Students are in pairs to discuss the answers.  Lastly, the teachers bring the entire group back together for further input.

 

Extended Anticipation Guides:  The guides reinforce or verify information students learned.  Predications may be changed or modified.

 

About/Point:  The students concentrate on what the passage is about and the main ideas covered. 

 

Self-Generated Questions:  Questions students come up with based on the reading material. 

 

Think-Alouds:  Orally thinking through the reading material forming a hypothesis, mental images, making connections, inferring, and using strategies