Caleb Crum

ELED 508

Dr. Hunter

Chapter 3 “Comprehension Connections”

September 16th, 2018

Caleb Crum

ELED 508

Dr. Hunter

Ch. 3 Comp. Connec.

September 16th, 2018

What Is Schema to Me?

When reading through “Comprehension Connections”, the major topic of chapter three is

that of schema. Schema, defined by author Tanny McGregor is, “It’s your feelings, experiences,

thoughts, and opinions all wrapped up into one” (McGregor, 2007). Without any prior

knowledge of what schema is, this really sets the groundwork for what schema can be expected

to become. Prior to reading this chapter my thoughts and assumptions of schema were defined as

more of a system that I use to portray information. After reading more in to chapter three,

especially about the spider web story, the definition of schema started to change in my mind.

After reading through the spider web story my definition changed to that of schema constituting

multiple things.

Schema sounds like an intimidating word especially when used repetitively with students,

but when that barrier is broken down it can help stimulate students learning. Schema can be

described as our own personal experiences, and potential background knowledge of topics and

content that is taught in the classroom. McGregor brings up an important point, “We might say

your background or prior knowledge is different from anyone else’s. Or we could call this your

schema. Your schema is yours and yours alone” (McGregor, 2007). Our schema helps us as

thinkers make corrections and bridge gaps to learning and our own lives. Continuing to build

upon what McGregor wrote, “Schema makes all the difference. It’s your feelings, experiences,
thoughts, and opinions all wrapped up into one” (McGregor, 2007). Schema continues to let us

remember old information and apply it to new information and create a meaningful interaction

between texts or other forms of content/media.

Schema helps build upon the metacognition process, because much like metacognition, or

thinking about our thinking, schema allows us to think about our own experiences from life and

how they connect to our learning. Schema is similar to thinking of our own thinking. As

McGregor states, “The presence of schema increases a reader’s feeling of self-confidence and his

willingness to take risks. It enables the reader to remember new information, connecting to what

is known, and to access that” (McGregor, 2007). This definition is similar to that of

metacognition as stated above. The topic of concentric circles of connection is introduced in this

chapter, and it involves three different connections that include text-to-self connections, text-to-

text connections, and text-to-world connections that further bridge the gap between schema and

metacognition. These three different connections help tie in thought and experience and

encourage the intertwining of schema and metacognition. If students are able to tie in their own

personal experiences into their learning, then they begin to be in charge of their own learning.

Helping build schema seems to be a tricky task. Three strategies that can be used to help

students build their schema is use media such as songs for students to listen to, and think about

how the lyrics connect to them on a personal level, and discuss that with their peers or even

journal their thoughts. Another strategy that can be useful for students is to connect art with

thinking and talking which is instinctive for kids (McGregor, 2007). With artwork, students

describe what it reminds them of, what they remember, how they have a connection to it, what

their schema is, and how they can relate, McGregor supplies us with a nice graphic in Figure 3-4

on page 42 (McGregor, 2007). One final strategy that can be used to help build children’s
schema is to use wordless books. Much like pictures, wordless books allow students to create

their own thoughts and stories and build on their schema, and even use their own schema

towards metacognition.

Bringing the focus back to the concentric circles of connection and the three strategies

mentioned earlier, the first strategy is text-to-self connections which includes text that makes

thinking relevant to personal lives. The next component is text-to-text connections which makes

an individual think of another text or media of any kind. The final component to concentric

circles is the text-to-world connection. This encompasses thinking that pertains to the world

around an individual, and it could be a theme or big idea.

Throughout this assignment, common formative assessments have been at the forefront of

my thought, and how the strategies and components mentioned in chapter three can tie in to a

CFA. In the realm of PE, I use a variety of informal assessments such as behavior,

sportsmanship, and participation. As we are entering in to the second week of our soccer unit, I

thought of a CFA that I would like to implement. In the beginning of the unit I gathered

information on what students knew of soccer, the rules, and how the game is played. After taking

in that information I was able to construct my first lesson plan for the unit. What I would like to

implement within the middle of the unit is a mid-unit test. The test will have key vocabulary

about the unit, and will only have about 10 questions, this way it remains relevant and pertinent

to the unit. At the end of the unit, students will take another end of unit test which will test their

knowledge and vocabulary, coupled with a skills assessment to make sure that each age group is

mastering the skills they need to. I will introduce the concepts of schema and concentric circles

of connection to help my students bridge the gap of real-life events and information in to the PE

setting. More importantly I would like to start introducing the students to other media such as
newspaper articles about soccer, and other things from multimedia outlets that will help support

the CFA, and build on the student’s schema.

 References

McGregor, T. 2007. Comprehension connections. Heinemann. 29-45.