Analyst
Observing/Noticing
Titled: Reading at 23 months: Imitating or Summarising
Length: 4:18
For the purpose of this blog, the child in this observation will be called "Chris".
A 23 month year old boy, Chris, is reading a book called 'Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons' at the table. He opens up the book and skips a few pages, then stops at a page and goes "oh no, the button rolled away" and points to the big blue button on the right hand side of the page. He then turns over the page and mumbles a few words while imitating and repeats the word 'button' a few times. He then skips some more pages and says "popped, oh no the button rolled away" and points to the picture of the button that has been detached from the cat, on the other side of the page. Chris turns a few more pages and says "the button, the button...popped....ohhh no, the button rolled away", while pointing to the buttons on the page. He then begins to imitate while repeating the words 'button', 'popped' and 'oh no'. He then skips a few more pages and gets to the end of the book and says "the end" twice and closes the book. Chris then flips the book over, opens it and starts to read it again. He gets distracted by some background noise for a couple of seconds, and at the same time as he is listening, he flips through some of the first pages of the book. When he gets to a page with an illustrated button he stops and says "pop, oh no..the button rolled away". He turns through some more pages and says something which resembles "wheres my button" and then comes to a halt and repeats "popped, oh no.. the button rolled away" and points to the button on the page. He then says "my button, my button" while flipping through some more pages and stops at the next page with the cat and a button and says "pop...oh no the button rolled away". He repeats this for the next few pages where the cat is visible and continued to point to the button he sees on the page. He then says "the end" twice when reaching the completion of the book and then starts to read the book one more time.
Chris opens the book and skips a few pages until he sees a page with Pete the cat and says "popped.. oh no, the button rolled away". He then touches the buttons on the cat with his finger and seems to be attempting to count them. Chris then turns over to the next page and proceeds to count the buttons on the cat on this page as well. He passes a few more pages and then stops and says "popped...oh no the button rolled away" and points to the button he sees on the page. He then turns to another page and points to the top where the cat is displayed and says "1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7," really fast while tapping the page with his finger. Chris turns the page and says again "popped..oh no, the button rolled away" and taps the button on the page with his finger. He then imitates for a while before repeating "popped..oh no, the button rolled away" and repeats this phrase over the next few pages until he reaches the end of the book and announces "the end, the end" and closes the book.
Recognise
It seems that Chris has a great interest in reading this particular book, as he reads it more than once and seems to be very familiar with the story. Chris demonstrates clear signs of a literate analyst as he understands how texts are crafted according to the views and interests of the author. In this book Chris shows a repetitive pattern in the way he reads this book each time, and seems to understand the author's motive towards loosing a button, as it is portrayed as a significant blow to Pete the cat. This is evident when Chris repetitively says "oh no". Without reading the words in the story, the image of the cat with a spiral linked from its shirt all the way to the button on the other side of the page (refer to Image 1), was correctly interpreted by Chris as the button rolling away. The detailed illustrations in this story book seem to positively portray the storyline and makes it easy for the reader to interpret. Makin & Whitehead (2012) suggest that looking at the pictures in books helps children make sense of what is going on in a story.
Chris found the pages in the book with the cat and the button popping from Pete's shirt the most interesting, as he always skipped to these pages and seemed to be able to grasp the main concept of the story from these pages. The three main points on these pages were the word "pop", "oh no" "and rolled away" (refer to image 1). As this is obviously one of Chris' favourite stories, he may have already been aware of the stories main points and the words used, and thats why he was able to refer to what he has previously read, maybe at home or with an educator in the centre.
Chris is showing critical thinking skills as he also recognises the numerate aspects of the book. At some stages in the video he proceeds to tap the page with his finger while counting numbers really fast. This initiates that Chris has picked up the emphasis on the numbers of buttons that Pete the cat has throughout the book, and finds the need to count them as he notices a pattern where Pete has one less button each time one rolls away. Although he may not get the exact concept of the order and sequence of numerate counting, he was still able to recognise when the cat lost a button. Image 2 shows the page in the book after Pete the cat looses one button and has three left. In this observation, Chris often skipped these pages and decided to focus on the pages where the button popped and rolled away. This indicates that Chris saw this as the main and most significant message that the author was portraying in the story. Chris can also identify the ways in which information or ideas are expressed and how this influences the reader, listener or viewers' perceptions. This is demonstrated in Chris's constant story telling, especially the tone in his voice when something significant happens in the story. His pronunciation of "oh no" is very clear and outspoken which explains that he understands how to portray these important parts in a storyline to the listener's or readers.
Chris also understands that texts can be critiqued, reflected and revised (Freebody & Luke (1990) as this is evident in his re-telling of the story numerous times throughout the observation. Chris is often adding in his own details within the story, which shows that he is being creative in scaffolding and structuring the story to what he believes the author is portraying. By this, Chris is exploring the intention of the author/illustrator while accommodating for a wide range of viewers. Chris demonstrated a clear understanding of the main structure of a story story which consists of a beginning, middle (climax) and end.
Image 1
Chris also understands that texts can be critiqued, reflected and revised (Freebody & Luke (1990) as this is evident in his re-telling of the story numerous times throughout the observation. Chris is often adding in his own details within the story, which shows that he is being creative in scaffolding and structuring the story to what he believes the author is portraying. By this, Chris is exploring the intention of the author/illustrator while accommodating for a wide range of viewers. Chris demonstrated a clear understanding of the main structure of a story story which consists of a beginning, middle (climax) and end.
Image 1
Image 2
Respond
In response to this learning opportunity where Chris is showing signs of an analyser, it is important to encourage and challenge further development towards becoming a critical thinker. It is also important to not overwhelm a 23 year month year old child with too many complex activities in order to develop their thinking skills, as it is best to work on what they have showed an interest in, and expand accordingly. As Chris obviously shows a great interest in reading books, it will be wise to simply introduce him to a greater variety of story books where he is able to read, interpret and respond to what the texts are saying or the message they are portraying. The more exposure he has with books the better he will become at thinking critically about what the author is trying to convey to the readers or audience.
This particular story Chris was reading is part of a series revolved around Pete the Cat with each book telling a different adventure story. It will be interesting to provide a sample of these books to Chris as he is extremely familiar with this character, and see how he responds to different illustrations and a contrasting storyline in the book. Providing children with things they enjoy is a great tool for learning and can positively encourage critical thinking when ideas are challenged. Sequel's of books often follow similar story structure and pattern with the way the story is told, therefore it will be interesting to see if this is noticed by Chris, and if he picks up on the different author intentions.
Most young children enjoy reading to adults if they are invited to do so (Makin & Whitehead, 2012). It is extremely important for children to have opportunities to read with adults as they are able to read the story, or sit back, listen and absorb the way a story is structured and told by an adult, noticing the beginning, climax and end of a book. Vygotsky (1934) emphasised that learning was a social process and that children learn from more shared experiences with peers and adults (Knaus, 2013). If Chris gets a chance to read to an educator, he may change the way he expresses the important parts in the story or may alter the parts in which he decides are important for the reader to hear. Asking Chris 'why' and 'how' throughout his reading will encourage critical reasoning and responses, and encourages him to give an explanation for what he sees. Thinking behind 'reality' or 'fantasy' can be explored and questioned by asking Chris 'do cats usually wear shirts, or is Pete the only one?'. This can trigger deeper thinking towards pretend and reality and may influence Chris's narrative interpretations of wider society.
During this observation, Chris also showed numerate thinking while reading the book, especially when he was seen counting the buttons on the cat's shirt. Although he did not pay a lot of attention to the pages with the large numbers written (refer to Image 2), Chris was still becoming familiar with number patterns and observed the appearance of the numbers 1-4 when flicking through these pages.
While still following through with Chris's incredible interest in picture books, it is important for this numerate learning opportunity to be expanded by providing Chris with books which advocate numeracy learning. This can be done by prompting mathematical conversation with Chris while he is reading a book by asking 'how many shoes is he wearing?' 'how tall is that ladder?' and so on. Knaus (2013) states that an effective teacher will ask questions to provoke children's thinking an introduce language of mathematics to help children see the connections between the world and mathematical concepts. Many story-lines in children's books are also specifically crafted around numeracy, which are great sources to use with children to introduce numerate learning at a young age. Parents and caregivers can use any books that their child reads at home, to emphasise these notions of mathematical questioning and to encourage numerate understanding. Even encouraging counting with regular household activities in the kitchen such as cutting and serving pieces of fruit, or talking about the quantity of milk for cereal is a great tool for numerate responses in everyday scenarios.
This particular story Chris was reading is part of a series revolved around Pete the Cat with each book telling a different adventure story. It will be interesting to provide a sample of these books to Chris as he is extremely familiar with this character, and see how he responds to different illustrations and a contrasting storyline in the book. Providing children with things they enjoy is a great tool for learning and can positively encourage critical thinking when ideas are challenged. Sequel's of books often follow similar story structure and pattern with the way the story is told, therefore it will be interesting to see if this is noticed by Chris, and if he picks up on the different author intentions.
Most young children enjoy reading to adults if they are invited to do so (Makin & Whitehead, 2012). It is extremely important for children to have opportunities to read with adults as they are able to read the story, or sit back, listen and absorb the way a story is structured and told by an adult, noticing the beginning, climax and end of a book. Vygotsky (1934) emphasised that learning was a social process and that children learn from more shared experiences with peers and adults (Knaus, 2013). If Chris gets a chance to read to an educator, he may change the way he expresses the important parts in the story or may alter the parts in which he decides are important for the reader to hear. Asking Chris 'why' and 'how' throughout his reading will encourage critical reasoning and responses, and encourages him to give an explanation for what he sees. Thinking behind 'reality' or 'fantasy' can be explored and questioned by asking Chris 'do cats usually wear shirts, or is Pete the only one?'. This can trigger deeper thinking towards pretend and reality and may influence Chris's narrative interpretations of wider society.
During this observation, Chris also showed numerate thinking while reading the book, especially when he was seen counting the buttons on the cat's shirt. Although he did not pay a lot of attention to the pages with the large numbers written (refer to Image 2), Chris was still becoming familiar with number patterns and observed the appearance of the numbers 1-4 when flicking through these pages.
While still following through with Chris's incredible interest in picture books, it is important for this numerate learning opportunity to be expanded by providing Chris with books which advocate numeracy learning. This can be done by prompting mathematical conversation with Chris while he is reading a book by asking 'how many shoes is he wearing?' 'how tall is that ladder?' and so on. Knaus (2013) states that an effective teacher will ask questions to provoke children's thinking an introduce language of mathematics to help children see the connections between the world and mathematical concepts. Many story-lines in children's books are also specifically crafted around numeracy, which are great sources to use with children to introduce numerate learning at a young age. Parents and caregivers can use any books that their child reads at home, to emphasise these notions of mathematical questioning and to encourage numerate understanding. Even encouraging counting with regular household activities in the kitchen such as cutting and serving pieces of fruit, or talking about the quantity of milk for cereal is a great tool for numerate responses in everyday scenarios.
Freebody & Luke (1990). "Four resources model". Adapted from: Literacy for Learning, p. 9.
Knaus, M. (2013). Maths is all around you (1st ed.). Albert Park, Victoria: Teaching Solutions
Makin, L., & Whitehead, M. (2004). How to develop children's early literacy. London: Paul Chapman.
Videatives,. Reading at 23 months: Imitating or Summarising. Retrieved from http://streaming.videatives.com/assets/1187
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