Hello:
As I was flipping through the book I came across the term “Goldilocks Strategy” developed by Oblhausen and Jepsen (1992). They suggest students choose books by categories “Too Easy” books, “Too Hard” books and “Just Right” books. This model comes from the folktale story book of “The Three Bears”. As I read the information, I thought about the kindergarten students I am observing using this model. Many students are still not reading but do recognize most letters. There are a few who able to read a couple of sentences as I noticed when they do reading activities on the computer. In the class I am in, students are able to pick their own book after all seat work is done. As I have observed, many students flip through their books fast, close the book and go get another one. Other students do take the time to create their own stories as they read. Then there is the neighbor student who just says “You can’t read that one because it’s too hard”. The student may ask why! The neighbor then replies “Look at how big it is”. Listening to their conversation made me think of the term “ Goldilocks Strategy“. I realize that this is not exactly how it’s suppose to work but I found it amusing. When you think its been a long day working with all those kinder students moments like this just help make the day better.
This strategy is suppose to work at all grade levels. Do you see it working out any different than I did for the Kindergarten student?
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4 comments:
The Goldilocks Strategy sounds a lot like the reading assessments we are doing right now. We are supposed to find their independent, instructional and frustration levels. I suppose students of all ages should be choosing books to read that are at their instructional, or “just right”, level. I think this would work at any grade level. If they are reading books that are too difficult, they won’t be getting much benefit from it. The “just right” level should be something they can read successfully, but that still challenges them.
Indeed, the spontaneity of children can make your hard days better. With regards to your question, the class I'm in does basically the same as your students. During "library station" the children get to read any book they want. However, what I have observed is that the kids have practically memorized the books that are at their independent level. However, when they pick more advanced books, they use the illustrations as guidance to figure out what the text is about. They have a couple of very advanced books, but not even the pictures they have are able to get the kids' attention.
In the kindergarten class I worked in, we did something sort of like this. After students checked their homework, they were able to select a book from the class library that they wanted to read silently at their table. They could choose any book they wanted. Some students chose books that were at their level, some chose books that were familiar reads, and some chose books that were a little above their level. There were never any books too advanced for them to read. The students who chose books a bit above their level would still try and do their best to sound out words even if they did not know them. I have also seen students look at the pictures and make up their own story as they tried to read. I think this is a good strategy for kinder and first graders, but second and on I think students should read at their level or maybe just a bit above, but not too much. But, nothing lower than the level they are at.
I think the Goldilocks strategy is important in the classroom sometimes but not all the time. It's important for students to be able to read what they want sometimes to keep them interested and to show them how important literacy is. If they are forced to read something they will learn to hate reading and not want to do it at all. I think doing a mixture of both would not only help the students but keep them interested in reading as well.
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