Edok Chapter 8

Chelsea Hardy
Literature Discussion Groups on Comprehension Strategies



Reference
Berne, J. I. & Clark, K. F. (2008). Focusing literature discussion groups on
comprehension strategies. The Reading Teacher, 62(1), 74-79.
DOI:10.1598/RT.62.1.9
Main Idea
+Discussion groups are a vital aspect of students comprehension, reading
engagement, motivation to read and appreciation of literature.
+Discussion groups should be modeled and practiced multiple times prior
to working is student-led small groups.
+With scaffolding and practice, literature discussion groups will be a key to
successful readers.
Supporting Details
+Literature discussion groups can benefit the students in more ways than
just in understanding the text. This will help students to develop their
comprehension process, which will help them in many aspects of life. The
text states that it helps increase oral language development, engagement
and enjoyment of literature, and feelings of efficacy about the ability to
understand and interpret text.
+Students benefit from not only pointing out specific strategies in which
they recognized in the text, but also to state the name of the strategy. This
will help the students to become more familiar with the strategies and
what exactly they mean.
+It is extremely important to model the discussion group procedures and
process prior to getting into small groups. This will reduce any confusion
from the students and build their confidence in the task. Letting the
students know exactly what behaviors are appropriate and inappropriate
during the discussion groups is necessary. Giving the students examples of
questions and behavior will help to alleviate any wasted time.

Reflection
This article discussed in great detail the steps in order to facilitate successful
literature discussion groups. This article broke down step-by-step how to prepare
students for literature discussion groups. As a teacher, it is important to remember
that procedures and practice are so important. Even with literature discussion
groups, they wont get perfected in one day, or one week. Prior to grouping students,
these discussion groups need to be modeled and practiced over and over again. This
article gave specific examples as to why these groups are so important and why they
cant be taken lightly. This would be a perfect article to reference when beginning
literature discussion groups. Giving many details on why they are important and
how to make them as beneficial as possible will be important to understand.