A highly trouted story

Alicia Robinson

If you were served a dinner of a whole fish -- head, scales and all

-- would you clean your plate?

Third-graders in Karen Kirsch’s class at Whittier Elementary

School in Costa Mesa had to ask themselves that question Monday as

part of some language-arts activities.

It was their fifth day back at school after summer vacation, and

the students have already learned a handful of ways to understand

what they read.

While some students worked individually in spelling and reading

workbooks, Kirsch took others aside in small groups to discuss a

story they were reading.

She asked them about the various reading techniques they used to

understand the story. They used phonics to sound out words. They also

used prediction and inference. She asked what they can tell about the

story that isn’t specifically stated.

Students made predictions about what might happen in the story

they read, called “The Rule,” about a boy whose parents say he has to

eat everything on his plate. At a restaurant, he faces a dilemma when

served a whole fish.

“I don’t think he’s really going to like the trout,” 8-year-old

Alexsandria Guerrero said.

When Kirsch asked if students thought the boy would eat the fish,

Jimmy Vivar, 9, said, “Maybe just a little.”

Ashley Batres, 8, wanted to know if people eating a whole fish

also eat the eyes.

The group came up with ways the boy could get around eating all of

the trout. Most of them seemed to empathize with him.

“At my house, I don’t like soup, but when my mom makes it, I have

to eat it all,” Jimmy said.

Learning reading techniques will prepare students for the

introduction later this month of Off to Adventure, the first of six

reading themes for the school year, which is part of a district-wide

curriculum, Kirsch said.

“If they can understand what they’re reading, it’s definitely

going to help them with their comprehension,” she said. “It’s just

trying to get the students to develop good reading habits and

[understand] what a good reader is.”

Kirsch also worked with students one-on-one to assess their

language skills and see if they needed help with any of their

exercises.

She asked them to read words from a list to evaluate their

pronunciation.