Reading and Thinking

For the most part, third grade is a joy to teach. The children have a little more awareness of the world around them than they did in first and second grades, and many are starting to develop a sense of humor. But there’s a few rude shocks which await them in third grade. We all know about cursive and multiplication. But reading has its surprises, too, particularly for those who thought they had it all down.

Reading at heart is a thinking activity. We use reading as a tool to improve our knowledge of the world and to gain specific needed information. Even when reading fiction, we use what we already know about the real world to help make sense of the fictional world.

But for students entering third grade, reading has been mostly about sounding out words. Students have not really been challenged to use what they already know to understand a text, nor are they accustomed to making inferences from the text or basing critical judgments on the text. It’s been all about getting the word right.

Now we pull the rug out from underneath them and say, “Sure you can say the words. But what do they mean? Explain it in your own language.” And most of them are completely baffled.

That’s a good description of our work in Reading this morning. We discussed drawing conclusions, the way Open Court terms making inferences. And they were positively baffled at the answers I was hoping to get from them because they just were not there on the page where they could be right or wrong.

The good news here is that our third graders are not unusual. This happens to all children this age, even those who are supposed to be “gifted.” Learning to think while reading takes time, and though it seems hard or even weird to them right now it will in time beyond second nature.

I’ll be gone to a district meeting tomorrow. We have a nice substitute lined up who was a teacher in her own classroom for many years. I’m sure the kids will be fabulous and have an excellent day.

Homework:  (1) Study spelling for Friday’s test. (2) Review chapter 3 in the math book as needed. There will be a test tomorrow. (3) Do “Synonyms and Antonyms,” pp. 25-26 in the Reading and Writing Workbook. (4) Subtraction, p. 60 in the Math book, numbers 2-26 only. Do not worry about estimating right now.