I Tried It, and I Liked It

I'm like a teacher that has something new to try out. It is all I can talk about. My family and friends are probably tired of hearing about it. But I am so excited that I just can't help myself.

Comprehension Strategies.

The "stuff" that has had me crying (what in the world are they talking about?) and wondering (how do they know this stuff?).

Tonight my son, husband and I went to see the Star Trek movie. They were both surprised that I agreed to go.

I generally cannot sit through a movie. I ask a lot of questions. They get tired of my questions. I get frustrated. They get frustrated. I wonder when the movie will finally be over. We don't have a good time.

Tonight was different.

I went with the idea that I would sit, do my best to sit through the whole movie and be happy to be together. (If I watch a movie it's more along the line of a chick-flick, so this movie was outside of my genre comfort zone.)

This is what happened.

The movie started. I started thinking and a question popped into my head. Instead of being frustrated that I didn't "get it" I posed the question (to myself) like I read about in Mosaic of Thought. Then I asked myself another question!

These questions weren't really meant to be answered and I knew that as I was asking them. I was asking them to help me understand the movie. Just like I read about!

I continued posing questions. Then I whipped out my tiny notebook from my purse and started writing notes and questions in it. That was a bit tricky in the dark theater, but I wanted to make sure that I remembered. And the next thing I new I was enjoying the movie! 

The authors of Mosaic of Thought wrote that to enjoy a book you have to understand (comprehend) it. I guess the same could be said for movies.

At some point I realized that I wasn't asking questions (or writing in my notebook), but truly into the story. 

I am learning skills and strategies! And applying them on my own!

Watch out first graders--we are going to rock the comprehension strategies next year.

I think there are a lot of movies I should watch, now that I have skills and strategies to understand them. Or maybe I should get a book of poetry.

I feel like I've just learned to read, I have some catching up to do.