Welcome

 Book Study Introduction

In 1997, the book, “Mosaic of Thought” was published. Ten years later, a second edition of the book was published. The story that led to the book being written and the many popular books written in between them is interesting.

A group of teachers, sat around discussing why kids in their classes were struggling to understand what they read. They could decode words just fine. This group of teachers had lost confidence in traditional reading instruction because their students were not engaged in their reading. They knew there had to be a better way. They knew that teaching reading implies more than hoping that all the worksheets and comprehension questions, somehow added up to the real thing.

And so the changes began. Teachers left controlled, teacher-proof reading programs that instruct, ‘Say this’ in bold print. They created reader’s workshops, created inviting places where children love to read, filled their shelves with wonderful children’s literature, read great books to children, created writing workshops, began book clubs, began using mini-lessons centering on small groups of children, began using graphic organizers.

As these teachers began visiting classrooms around the county, they found that all of these activities were doing little to improve children’s comprehension while they were reading. They found many classrooms where a great deal of direct instruction focused on a string of isolated and unrelated skills. Teachers were happier and more creative than before, but they were having trouble in putting together the “what” we have to know to teach (instead of returning to programmed instruction). They knew something was missing…

Does this sound familiar to any of us? How many times have we, Edgewood teachers had these same conversations?

The study of literature in a workshop setting combined with deep, focused comprehension instruction – instruction that targeted the thinking that occurs during reading, thinking that determines how deeply the text is understood.

These teachers began a search. The search led to learning what it is that good readers actually do. They sat around having conversations about what they have learned in their experiences. They came up with ideas, experimented with that idea and continued to find better ways that worked.

It is their hope that their new edition will give teachers new ways to think about their own reading, and effective ways to inspire children to read deeply and carefully.

A Challenge….. It is my hope that we can begin book studies on current researched-based strategies, share our thoughts and move beyond these books to expand and deepen our understanding of teaching language arts, continually sharing our ideas with each other, working through obstacles, and creating an EDGEWOOD MOSIAC OF THOUGHT to improve our Language Arts Program to help our students reach higher goals.