Investigating the topic of my last post a bit further by googling just as had the googler below, I follow some links to some happy discoveries: Teacher directions to sixth and seventh graders at two different schools regarding their upcoming reading of Steinbeck’s The Pearl.
Ms. Monique Goosby, teacher at Harte Elementary School in Chicago, IL, has this as part of her class instruction on the reading:
*Infer-Reading between the lines to draw conclusions, to make predictions before and during reading, and to identify the theme to help myself understand what I am reading.
At Dana Hall School in Wellesley, MA, the incoming 7th graders are instructed thus:
Example: Chapter One (near the end): Why does the doctor say to his servant, "I am a doctor, not a veterinary."
The doctor says, "I am a doctor, not a veterinary," because he does not like to give care to the Indians, whom he considers animals.
At this early stage in their reading careers, I think these kids will be on the right track. My hat is tipped to these and other dedicated teachers who appear to be teaching theory and thinking in their students.
Except, of course, for maybe those few who googled me instead.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology