The inferences section in Ch. 6 stuck out to me. What made an impact on you in these chapters?
Chapter 6 was an eye opener for me! I knew the general definition of inference and I know that I have made them while reading, but I have never read a text that explained all of the different types of inferences before. Each type of inference requires readers to use a variety of skills and I am going to spend time working with my students to comprehend using all the different types of inferences. I love the resources in the Appendices; Appendix B Signal Word and Appendix C Words with Multiple Meanings. The list of signal words and examples within each category will be useful when planning vocabulary instruction and gathering text with those particular examples. Appendix C Words with multiple meanings will be great to keep track of the words taught and understood by students. Vocabulary learning will be helpful as students learn to make inferences to help understand text.
I also think it is important to demonstrate and model our thinking as we struggle through text to teach our students what all readers need to do to understand text.
-How do you respond to students “who don’t get it”?
When students say, “I don’t get it”, I try to ask them questions to attempt to understand what they don’t get. The student and I continue our discussion until we identify what is not understood. I ask students questions to get to the route of what is not understood. These chapters have given me names to the types of inferences readers may or may not know how to do and more than likely don’t know how to name. It would be wonderful if students said, “Ms. Reome, I have a pet dog but I don’t get what the word, pet, means in this sentence; Sara is the teacher’s pet and always gets special attention.” It will take modeling and practice, but maybe we can get our readers to name their confusion.
-Comprehension, understanding, and change is the goal of any reading. What will you do differently in your teaching after reading this section?
After reading this section, I want my students to understand what kind of inferences that they are making by being able to name the different types of inferences they are making. This will require me to compile text with examples of the types of inferences being made to use as models and to use for practice. I will use the word lists in the back of the book to teach signal words and multiple meaning words with repeated practice to ensure mastery. Vocabulary instruction and building background knowledge is crucial to understanding text.