|
The Meaning of Words
Excerpted from “The Story Reader as Teacher” by Virginia Stern
Teachers often consider story reading to be a special kind
of teaching-learning experience. For example, in order to
understand a story, children must understand the words, i.e.,
the object, action, quality, etc., a word represents. When
a teacher as reader thought a word (or what it represented)
was unfamiliar to the children, she would ask them if they
knew what it meant. She would explain it to them or show them
the concrete object it represented, a picture of it, or the
action it denoted.
Curious George at Sea
“Curious George,” the story of a
monkey who acts out his curiosity in ways that are exciting,
upsetting to the adult world, and potentially but not actually
dangerous, was read to the 4-5s several times. It contains
an episode describing the monkey’s experiences on a ship.
| Text: |
“On the deck he found some
sea gulls.” |
| Reader: |
Does anybody know what a deck
is? |
| Douglas: |
A deck is you jump off a boat. |
| Reader: |
It’s a part of the boat. It’s
this part (pointing to the picture). It’s like the floor
— the boat word for floor. Instead of saying, “I’m
walking across the floor,” you say, “I’m walking across
the deck.” |
The reader first tried to find out, by asking
a direct question, whether the children understood the meaning
of the word “deck.” Since Douglas defined the word concretely
in terms of the story action and no one else responded, the
reader explained it by connecting it with a word they all
know, indicating the similarity between the two words in terms
of the function they served.
The Word “Curious”
Less direct methods were used in connection
with the work “curious.” Since this is a key word in the story,
the reader felt that it was important that they understand
it. She asked whether anyone knew what it meant. Several children
offered their definitions.
The reader, aware that the word “curious”
might have taken on the meaning of the various activities
or qualities ascribed to George in the story, or that something
in the context in which it had been used at home or at school
suggested these meanings, accepted these responses as valid.
She pointed out, however, that “sad” and
“crying” were almost the same, and that “curious” did not
mean any of these things. Because of the affective nature
of the children’s definitions, she felt that an explanation
at this point would not produce clarification and also that
it might be worthwhile to let them figure it out for themselves
from the story. So she said, “At the end of the story, see
whether you can tell me.”
Throughout the reading of the story, the
reader reminded the children that George was ‘curious’.” At
the end of the story, she asked again what “curious” meant.
There was no response. She reviewed several of the situations
in which George displayed curiosity, and asked what else he
was curious about. From their responses, it was obvious that
the meaning of the word had not come through to them, although
they had enjoyed the story very much. The reader then defined
the word, giving several concrete illustrations from the story.
A few weeks later, when reading a story
in which there was another difficult word, the reader asked
the children whether they remembered the “hard word we had
before, “curious.” One child answered, ”Means you want to
know something.
Regardless of the technique she used, the
reader’s aim was to lead the children from their vague
understanding of words to specific, differentiated, and precise
meaning.
About the Author
Virginia Stern was a long-time Associate
in the Research Division of Bank Street College, engaged in
a variety of research projects. Of particular interest was
her involvement in a study of two-year-olds and her special
attention to dramatic play. In addition to lecturing and writing
on early childhood, she was a successful sculptor and a teacher
of classical piano. “The Story Reader as Teacher”
first appeared in Young Children in October, 1966.
|
