from synthesis

Ellin Oliver Keene, in To Understand, writes

“In dozens of classrooms with kids of all ages and ‘ability levels,’ I read aloud and invited children to use the comprehension strategies, but I went to the next step- I asked them to define and describe what they understood after using the strategies that they might have missed if they hadn’t used them.  I asked them to describe what it is like when they truly understand.  I wanted to hear about their insights into texts, but also their experiences in the process of understanding.  I wanted to use their descriptions to define and describe the comprehension process- in terms of both cognitive and behavioral experiences- to others (p. 10, Keene).”

Later she says, “If instead I recast my language – “think about all the questions you have as I read and then pick one or two you think best help us understand more about the story (p. 14)…”

These quotes inspired me with my fifth grade class today, and led to a much more powerful seminar.  I love Keene’s idea- and connecting it to discussion makes it really sticky.  In the guided reading group (it’s a large group of 30 kids who are all on level V), we are reading Bud Not Buddy. In their partnerships, they generated 6 sticky notes each of questions that they felt deepened their understanding of the text.  (As they wrote these questions, I noticed a range of thick and thin questions). 

Like Keene recommended, I pushed them to pick the one sticky that they felt best helped their partnership better understand the story (I think doing this in partners is really important).  Then, they wrote why on the back.  Of the three partnerships that shared out, one felt the question got to a deeper understanding with the main character, Bud.  They reflected that the understanding would continue for the entire book.  Another felt that the question would give them insight about the ending.  The final one felt that the question linked to the most important part of the story.

Isn’t it interesting that all three of these questions were ultimately synthesis?

We then moved to the circle for the seminar.  The seminar focused  on the guiding question, “Which of Bud’s decisions do you disagree with?” While at first they danced around decisions that had ultimately happened recently in the chapter or were silly decisions, the kids then honed in on an animated debate over whether or not Bud should have left the orphanage for his quest (the whole premise of the book).

We connected back to the idea that those type of deepening questions really look at the book as a whole, in the same way that this discussion (their best yet) also analyzed the book as a whole.  It reminded me how important the synthesis strategy really is.