In chapter 6, multiletter chunking is introduced at varies grades in an array of ways. In my third grade class, some of my students are doing this. One of my students was reading for my master teacher. She came to a word in her book that she got stuck on. My teacher had asked her if she could chunk the word into bits. The word was carpenter and she chose to chunk it as car-pen-ter. She said it quickly and still seemed confused. My teacher asked her if she knew what it meant. There were no pictures to give the student any clues. Turns out she didn’t know. It wasn’t a part of her vocabulary and this student just happens to be ELL also. This goes along with what Fox said.....if the word isn't in their vocab, they won't know how it is pronounced/know what it means. In this case, my teacher told her what it meant.
One of the things we discussed in literacy class this week was doing a running record. I have seen this done multiple times in my main placement. My teacher has sheets preprinted out with the text printed on the front. On the back are a few understanding questions. There are some answers or key words that teachers are to look for in the student’s response. One of the things I’ve noticed is that some of the students had a hard time retelling the story (that was one of the questions they ask the students). The students say what the main thing is that happened; they don’t tend to start from the beginning. I know that their teachers in 2nd grade have worked with them on this. I wonder if this is because of standardized tests. Students tend to be asked for the main idea or the action part of the story and when asked to retell, maybe they see the beginning as background information.
While chunking can be effective for sounding out words, students are often unable to understand the word. I liked in Fox where she discusses compound words and how the parts don't always have to do with the whole. If the student were to chunk the word carpenter, and they did not have the word in their vocabulary, they would not be able to gain meaning from the parts. The meaning of carpenter doesn't have anything to do with a car and a pen. I am constantly amazed at how students learn to read and comprehend with english being such a tough language!
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