All across America adults are gathering in book clubs to read Oprah's book list, but why is this devotion to reading not found in the classrooms? Book clubs or literature circles encompass two educational ideas; collaborative learning and independent reading. The basic element of book clubs are that students select the reading, they are then put in groups based upon their text choices, students keep notes on their reading, groups meet regularly to discuss the reading, discussion topics are formed by students not textbooks, during discussion students bring up questions and personal connections to the novel, the teacher does not lead any group but acts as a fellow reader, and at the end of the book a presentation is compiled by each group and presented to the class as a whole. There are six key steps in establishing successful book clubs in the classroom; 1. Training, 2. Group Formation, 3. Scheduling, 4. Five kinds of notes, 5. The Teacher's Role, 6. Projects.
Training
Students can't be expected to perform well in a book club when they don't understand how book clubs operate. Teachers provide examples of successful book clubs to their students whether they show them a movie about book clubs, have them read an article about book clubs, or have the previous years students come in and share their experience with book clubs. After the students get a basic understanding of book clubs they should create a list as a class of proper book club behavior. Another concept to explore with students is collaborative learning, have them practice peer led discussions about an article so that students can get a better sense of how sharing in groups can be an asset.
Group Formation
Teachers should offer their students a choice of five to ten different books, but these novels should cover a large variety of reading levels. The teachers should provide a quick, thirty second overview of each novel, the students then write down their top three choices on a paper. The teacher then goes home and sorts the groups, keeping in mind that not everybody is going to get their first choices. Groups of four are the ideal size for book clubs because they provide just enough diverse perspective, without allowing people to shy away from the reading.
Scheduling
Book clubs should not take up a lot of class time because the reading is done outside of class. Book clubs should meet based on the length of the books, if a book is average taking the book and dividing it into thirds creates the opportunity for three club meetings. It is important not to drag a book on for too long because students begin to lose interest.
Five Kinds of Notes
In order for book clubs to work students need to be taking notes at home as they read otherwise when it comes to discussion time in class the students won't have anything to talk about because they wont be able to remember. There are five different kids of notes students can take; book marks, post-its, double entry journals, text coding and role sheets. "A role sheet not only stores ideas to bring to your group, it also helps set a purpose for reading when you sit down with the book. There are different types of role plays; the connector- finds connections between the novel and the outside world, questioner- questions that pop up while reading, passage master- locating key paragraphs or sentences that the group should look back on, vocabulary enricher- highlight new, important words, illustrator-draws some kind of picture related to the reading, and researcher- connects background information to the reading.
Teachers Role
While book clubs are meeting teachers need to assist and observe. It is important for students to know that if you sit with a group they need to continue talking instead of looking to you for feedback or instructions. Teachers can share an idea but not as the leader, just a regular group member.
Projects
Book clubs allow for creative and useful projects. Once students have finished the novel and discussed the conclusion they should have the freedom to create individual or group projects that display what they have learned through the process.
I am glad an entire chapter of this novel was focused to book clubs because I mentioned them in my previous posts and I think they are an incredible tool for teachers to use in the classroom.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Subjects Matter-Help for Struggling Readings
This blog is entirely focused on how we as educators can know if a student is able to read or if the student is struggling as a reader. If a teacher was to ask their class how many of them enjoy reading the majority of the class would say they are non readers, this blog will focus on strategies for helping struggling readers. Daniels and Zemelman suggest six key strategies for teachers to help struggling readers; "1. Build supportive relationships, 2. Model thoughtful reading, 3. Use activities that build engagement with the text, 4. Promote self monitoring, 5. Use materials students can successfully read, and 6. Provide books and articles on tape."
Build Supportive Relationships
Students that have failed in the past usually avoid future failure so if they are going to be motivated to try something new or try again whether it be math, reading, or science a key factor in their decision is going to be that they have support. Teachers need to provide an environment that teaches kids that even if they don't succeed this time, the fact that they tried is more than enough. A key factor in building supportive relationships is making the message powerful. Every teacher will have a different message to help students, one that is quite successful is availability. Constantly emphasizing to students that you are always available even if it means sacrificing some lunch time can really get them to trust you. Not all teachers can make themselves available twenty four seven but they can turn to other reading specialists and special education teachers in the school and ask for ideas to help their students become more successful in their discipline.
Modeling Thoughtful Reading
"Effective teachers help struggling kids by modeling their own mental processes as they read, rather than just exhort students to do something they don't know how to do." A lot of time struggling readers do not see the point in breaking down a text, by demonstrating this skill we effectively show students how to think about our particular subject. Teachers can use "think-alouds" to model the reading process and give students instruction rather than just instructions.
Activities that Build Engagement
Drama and drawing are key strategies that can help students become engaged in a text. "Once students experience some physical, visual, and auditory involvement, they more readily continue it as they move into their reading." One way to incorporate drawing is to have the students fold a paper into fourths and have them draw a picture of the various stages in each fourth as they read, this is called "sketching my way through a text."
Promoting Students' Self-Monitoring
In many classrooms students expect the teachers to do their thinking for them. We must teach students that we will not give them all the answers, but rather challenge them to seek the answer themselves. One suggestion is to have students place sticky notes where they get confused in a novel, then ask them to discuss this confusion with a partner, and if they are still confused then they can ask the teacher for help.
Using Material Students can Successfully Read
If a teacher only provides material that a struggling reader can not read, they are reinforcing the defeated attitude that usually lives within that person, the small voice inside saying just give up you will never understand. Teachers should provide a wide range of readings for each unit so that there is something available for every reading level and so that the students can fulfill the need to make choices in the classroom.
Providing Books and Articles on Tape
I am not sure how I feel about this suggestion, but I did like the idea of students getting to not only listen to a voice as they read, but becoming more familiar with their own voice. Also one teacher mentioned had her students record a primary source article on tape and share it with the class, which helped the students understand both current events and more difficult pronunciation of vocabulary.
I think it is important that we still challenge struggling readers, but we do so in a way that doesn't further discourage them rather awakens their energy about reading. Until next time....
Build Supportive Relationships
Students that have failed in the past usually avoid future failure so if they are going to be motivated to try something new or try again whether it be math, reading, or science a key factor in their decision is going to be that they have support. Teachers need to provide an environment that teaches kids that even if they don't succeed this time, the fact that they tried is more than enough. A key factor in building supportive relationships is making the message powerful. Every teacher will have a different message to help students, one that is quite successful is availability. Constantly emphasizing to students that you are always available even if it means sacrificing some lunch time can really get them to trust you. Not all teachers can make themselves available twenty four seven but they can turn to other reading specialists and special education teachers in the school and ask for ideas to help their students become more successful in their discipline.
Modeling Thoughtful Reading
"Effective teachers help struggling kids by modeling their own mental processes as they read, rather than just exhort students to do something they don't know how to do." A lot of time struggling readers do not see the point in breaking down a text, by demonstrating this skill we effectively show students how to think about our particular subject. Teachers can use "think-alouds" to model the reading process and give students instruction rather than just instructions.
Activities that Build Engagement
Drama and drawing are key strategies that can help students become engaged in a text. "Once students experience some physical, visual, and auditory involvement, they more readily continue it as they move into their reading." One way to incorporate drawing is to have the students fold a paper into fourths and have them draw a picture of the various stages in each fourth as they read, this is called "sketching my way through a text."
Promoting Students' Self-Monitoring
In many classrooms students expect the teachers to do their thinking for them. We must teach students that we will not give them all the answers, but rather challenge them to seek the answer themselves. One suggestion is to have students place sticky notes where they get confused in a novel, then ask them to discuss this confusion with a partner, and if they are still confused then they can ask the teacher for help.
Using Material Students can Successfully Read
If a teacher only provides material that a struggling reader can not read, they are reinforcing the defeated attitude that usually lives within that person, the small voice inside saying just give up you will never understand. Teachers should provide a wide range of readings for each unit so that there is something available for every reading level and so that the students can fulfill the need to make choices in the classroom.
Providing Books and Articles on Tape
I am not sure how I feel about this suggestion, but I did like the idea of students getting to not only listen to a voice as they read, but becoming more familiar with their own voice. Also one teacher mentioned had her students record a primary source article on tape and share it with the class, which helped the students understand both current events and more difficult pronunciation of vocabulary.
I think it is important that we still challenge struggling readers, but we do so in a way that doesn't further discourage them rather awakens their energy about reading. Until next time....
Monday, July 9, 2012
Subjects Matter- Independent Reading Workshop in Content Areas
This blog will focus on the importance of implementing independent reading in the classroom and some structures that will help facilitate this reading. Teachers often wonder if their teaching has made a difference as their students grow into adults, one of the best indicators of success is that the student reads not just what is required, but also for recreation. Daniels and Zemelman write, "So if we want this future to become reality, to grow the community of lifelong learners around our schools, part of every school day must be dedicated to independent reading. It's too risky to wait until they graduate and hope they'll develop good habits, some day maybe." This chapter explored the difference in reading to communicate and reading to learn.
Reading Workshop:
Classroom workshop is a tool that helps students to work on individually chosen topics and receive individual attention from the teacher. A typical reading workshop begins with five minutes of minilessons, five minutes summarizing article topics, twenty five minutes of reading and journal-writing time, and fifteen minutes of reports and discussions. There are eight benefits of independent workshop: "1. Offers students a wide variety of real-world reading in your subject, 2. It signals that reading and studying your subject is important enough that you're willing to give students some class time for it, 3. It can be run in short chunks of time, and does not have to involve extensive assessment, 4. Workshop allows the teacher to directly teach learning strategies of course content that through short minilessons, followed by immediate application of what is taught while it's fresh in student's minds, 5. It enables the teacher to easily observe students' understanding or difficulty with a concept, through the one-on-one conferences that take place during reading time, 6. Through a workshop structure, the teacher can provide students with individual support, 7. Workshop promotes student buy-in because it enables the teacher to introduce individual choice into the instructional mix, 8. Workshop enables the teacher to employ interactive student involvement as a significant element of instruction."
Conducting Minilessons:
Minilessons serve to briefly refresh an important concept that will be relevant to the reading they will do. Effective minilessons begin with the teacher connecting students with material that they have recently worked with, the teacher then reexplains the concept and models it, the students then give the concept a try as a group, and finally the lesson is linked to the reading for the day. A minilesson that is very helpful is on how to choose reading material wisely. The teacher models the correct way to skim an article for importance and then the students get help skimming over their own readings. Another minilesson that is quite helpful is on what to do if the student needs help, but the teacher is busy. Teachers can't always help everyone at once, so brainstorming with students about ways to seek help if you are unavailable is useful. Ask students to ask other students for help, or write their questions in a journal, look up words that are confusing in the dictionary, all of these tips can help guide students when they feel loss. The final minilesson that the book suggests is on how to ask for help in a conference with a teacher. Many students have difficulty expressing a sense of being lost, but by modeling the questions that will be asked of them during conferences as well as helpful responses then students can learn what to expect.
Keeping Students on Track During Reading Time
Creative classroom management is the key to successful independent reading time. Teachers can begin by asking each student to share what book they are reading, the teacher then writes the student's name and chosen book on the board which makes the student feel contracted into the reading. Starting workshops out like this also helps teachers identify students that are confused so that they can conference and help them first.
Conducting One-on-One Conferences During Reading Time
Teachers should begin the student conferences by asking the student to summarize the main idea from the material they have read or ask questions to assess their needs. The teacher should then ask the student what help they want of them and then respond briefly and teach one concept. It is important to keep conferences short so that the student feels confident not burdened with information. It is also important for the teacher to go to the students desks rather than have the students go to the teachers desk because if keeps the teachers presence in the room known. Conferences are also a great way for teachers to identify that an entire group of students does not understand something, if this is the case the teacher can take a break from individual conferences and cover the confusing topic with the class as a whole.
Recording Your Observations of Students Reading and Understanding:
Although meeting with all the students can be helpful it is important create a method that allows you to keep track of the myriad of information each of your students has about an issue. One way to keep both teachers and students organized is to have students create folders that contain their work and forms that summarize their progress. After each conference with a student teachers can write down what was discussed and the learning progress that was made on a sticky note and at the end of the day transfer each note to a log of each student that way continuous developments can be documented. Organization is key to understanding.
Making Student Sharing and Presentations Really Work
Many times with classroom group work one person will speak for an entire group which teaches some of the other students that their opinions will be expressed for them, in order to create a better learning community it is important for teachers to express to students that class members will need to respond and ask questions in regards to the presentation and that each group member must answer.
If we want students to read outside of the classroom and improve their communication skills we need to provide the time in the classroom to allow them to develop the necessary skills, independent reading workshops are great ways to engage student learning. Until next time...
Reading Workshop:
Classroom workshop is a tool that helps students to work on individually chosen topics and receive individual attention from the teacher. A typical reading workshop begins with five minutes of minilessons, five minutes summarizing article topics, twenty five minutes of reading and journal-writing time, and fifteen minutes of reports and discussions. There are eight benefits of independent workshop: "1. Offers students a wide variety of real-world reading in your subject, 2. It signals that reading and studying your subject is important enough that you're willing to give students some class time for it, 3. It can be run in short chunks of time, and does not have to involve extensive assessment, 4. Workshop allows the teacher to directly teach learning strategies of course content that through short minilessons, followed by immediate application of what is taught while it's fresh in student's minds, 5. It enables the teacher to easily observe students' understanding or difficulty with a concept, through the one-on-one conferences that take place during reading time, 6. Through a workshop structure, the teacher can provide students with individual support, 7. Workshop promotes student buy-in because it enables the teacher to introduce individual choice into the instructional mix, 8. Workshop enables the teacher to employ interactive student involvement as a significant element of instruction."
Conducting Minilessons:
Minilessons serve to briefly refresh an important concept that will be relevant to the reading they will do. Effective minilessons begin with the teacher connecting students with material that they have recently worked with, the teacher then reexplains the concept and models it, the students then give the concept a try as a group, and finally the lesson is linked to the reading for the day. A minilesson that is very helpful is on how to choose reading material wisely. The teacher models the correct way to skim an article for importance and then the students get help skimming over their own readings. Another minilesson that is quite helpful is on what to do if the student needs help, but the teacher is busy. Teachers can't always help everyone at once, so brainstorming with students about ways to seek help if you are unavailable is useful. Ask students to ask other students for help, or write their questions in a journal, look up words that are confusing in the dictionary, all of these tips can help guide students when they feel loss. The final minilesson that the book suggests is on how to ask for help in a conference with a teacher. Many students have difficulty expressing a sense of being lost, but by modeling the questions that will be asked of them during conferences as well as helpful responses then students can learn what to expect.
Keeping Students on Track During Reading Time
Creative classroom management is the key to successful independent reading time. Teachers can begin by asking each student to share what book they are reading, the teacher then writes the student's name and chosen book on the board which makes the student feel contracted into the reading. Starting workshops out like this also helps teachers identify students that are confused so that they can conference and help them first.
Conducting One-on-One Conferences During Reading Time
Teachers should begin the student conferences by asking the student to summarize the main idea from the material they have read or ask questions to assess their needs. The teacher should then ask the student what help they want of them and then respond briefly and teach one concept. It is important to keep conferences short so that the student feels confident not burdened with information. It is also important for the teacher to go to the students desks rather than have the students go to the teachers desk because if keeps the teachers presence in the room known. Conferences are also a great way for teachers to identify that an entire group of students does not understand something, if this is the case the teacher can take a break from individual conferences and cover the confusing topic with the class as a whole.
Recording Your Observations of Students Reading and Understanding:
Although meeting with all the students can be helpful it is important create a method that allows you to keep track of the myriad of information each of your students has about an issue. One way to keep both teachers and students organized is to have students create folders that contain their work and forms that summarize their progress. After each conference with a student teachers can write down what was discussed and the learning progress that was made on a sticky note and at the end of the day transfer each note to a log of each student that way continuous developments can be documented. Organization is key to understanding.
Making Student Sharing and Presentations Really Work
Many times with classroom group work one person will speak for an entire group which teaches some of the other students that their opinions will be expressed for them, in order to create a better learning community it is important for teachers to express to students that class members will need to respond and ask questions in regards to the presentation and that each group member must answer.
If we want students to read outside of the classroom and improve their communication skills we need to provide the time in the classroom to allow them to develop the necessary skills, independent reading workshops are great ways to engage student learning. Until next time...
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Subjects Matter-Building A Community of Learners
The previous blogs have all addressed the importance of expanding what kids read and showing kids how to read it, but this blog takes a different turn this blog focuses on the need to make a classroom a community. Daniels and Zemelman stress, "A classroom should be a place where students feel safe to take the risks involved in learning, where they see it connected with their lives, and where they help and learn from one another instead of working only as isolated individuals. And we do this not just to make students feel good, but to give reading in our subjects the full meaning it deserves." This blog is focused on what conditions promote literacy development. As teachers we can plan a variety of activities, but they won't work if students are turned off to school or are just expecting the teacher to give them all the answers. By providing students with choices they feel respected and trusted which gives them a sense of ownership and control. Many readers, especially boys feel that reading and learning are more engaging when the benefits are within the experience itself, not with serving a future goal like getting into college or joining the workforce. Students need a classroom environment where they see learning as meaningful to them-it has to connect to their interests, or be shared with their friends. This chapter suggested five ways that teachers can build community while using reading, to teach their subjects: "Make the classroom a place where students trust the teacher and believe its safe to take risks, provide students with choices and opportunities to take responsibility in the classroom, connect learning with students lives and the larger issues around them, organize learning so that students work together and help one another, read aloud from engaging and powerful writing in their fields."
Making the classroom a place where students trust the teacher and believe its safe to take risks:
Teachers should share with their students both their likes and struggles as a reader. "It's important to help students understand that along with our passion, we adults also experience confusion and uncertainty, especially with new ideas or new skills." If you are teaching a foreign language share some stories about when you have misused words incorrectly and it has caused problems. If you are asking students to write a paper about a Shakespearean play bring in a copy of one of your old papers to show them that you have had to do the same thing as them and can easily relate. Some teachers like to make small mistakes in calculations as they work out a problem on the board showing that even teachers make mistakes. Teachers should also value students questions both those that seek to clarify confusion about the material being studied and those about larger implications or related topics. Teachers should do more then ask are there any questions at the end of a lecture, but rather initiate the process of questions. Teachers can have students join groups and each group must pose one or two questions about the topic. Teachers also need to be OK with not having all the answers, there is nothing wrong with looking up the information that night and sharing both the answers and where you found the answers the next day. Teachers also need to hold quick in-class conferences with individual students to discuss their questions and to set individual learning goals to help make their vulnerabilities less public, and to enable you to discover what support each student needs. One way for teachers to help this process is through the use of portfolios in which students select their best piece of work, their most challenging piece of work, and the piece of work that most interested them.
Provide Students with Choices and Opportunities to take Responsibility in the Classroom
Teachers should hold class meetings to set rules for the class and then address needs or issues as they arise. Allowing students to decide the rules sends the message that, "this is a community in which the students and teachers all need to listen to one and other." Teachers also should develop jobs and responsibilities for students and then rotate them periodically. Teachers should schedule in-class reading time with choices of articles and books about the subject. This allows students to listen to their peers persepectives on the subject and share their own insights.
Connect Learning with Students Lives and the Larger issues around Them
Teachers should conduct surveys of students' interests and past experiences, related to the course subject. Teachers can keep a journal about their students and what they have learned about their lives and interests, they can then bring reading material that connects to those interests. Teachers can conduct inquiry projects within the course subject area, or connecting several areas. Teachers begin these projects by asking a question of controversy, students then choose to focus on whatever aspect of the problem connects to their interests and skills and information related to the subject of the course are then introduced when students need them to connect to their inquiry.
Organize Activities for Students to Help One another and Learn from Each other:
The previous blog mentioned the basic structure of book clubs and these should be used to help students both share and learn from each other. Teachers should also make sure that all work is not individual, but that time is provided for group activities and that students get the chance to interact with each other about larger concepts.
Read Aloud from Engaging Material in your Field
Many teachers don't read aloud past elementary school, but hearing it as a group allows reflection as a group. When students share as a group they learn from one and another.
Overall creating a community in the classroom is essential for student learning and these are some great suggestions to help build that community. Until next time...
Making the classroom a place where students trust the teacher and believe its safe to take risks:
Teachers should share with their students both their likes and struggles as a reader. "It's important to help students understand that along with our passion, we adults also experience confusion and uncertainty, especially with new ideas or new skills." If you are teaching a foreign language share some stories about when you have misused words incorrectly and it has caused problems. If you are asking students to write a paper about a Shakespearean play bring in a copy of one of your old papers to show them that you have had to do the same thing as them and can easily relate. Some teachers like to make small mistakes in calculations as they work out a problem on the board showing that even teachers make mistakes. Teachers should also value students questions both those that seek to clarify confusion about the material being studied and those about larger implications or related topics. Teachers should do more then ask are there any questions at the end of a lecture, but rather initiate the process of questions. Teachers can have students join groups and each group must pose one or two questions about the topic. Teachers also need to be OK with not having all the answers, there is nothing wrong with looking up the information that night and sharing both the answers and where you found the answers the next day. Teachers also need to hold quick in-class conferences with individual students to discuss their questions and to set individual learning goals to help make their vulnerabilities less public, and to enable you to discover what support each student needs. One way for teachers to help this process is through the use of portfolios in which students select their best piece of work, their most challenging piece of work, and the piece of work that most interested them.
Provide Students with Choices and Opportunities to take Responsibility in the Classroom
Teachers should hold class meetings to set rules for the class and then address needs or issues as they arise. Allowing students to decide the rules sends the message that, "this is a community in which the students and teachers all need to listen to one and other." Teachers also should develop jobs and responsibilities for students and then rotate them periodically. Teachers should schedule in-class reading time with choices of articles and books about the subject. This allows students to listen to their peers persepectives on the subject and share their own insights.
Connect Learning with Students Lives and the Larger issues around Them
Teachers should conduct surveys of students' interests and past experiences, related to the course subject. Teachers can keep a journal about their students and what they have learned about their lives and interests, they can then bring reading material that connects to those interests. Teachers can conduct inquiry projects within the course subject area, or connecting several areas. Teachers begin these projects by asking a question of controversy, students then choose to focus on whatever aspect of the problem connects to their interests and skills and information related to the subject of the course are then introduced when students need them to connect to their inquiry.
Organize Activities for Students to Help One another and Learn from Each other:
The previous blog mentioned the basic structure of book clubs and these should be used to help students both share and learn from each other. Teachers should also make sure that all work is not individual, but that time is provided for group activities and that students get the chance to interact with each other about larger concepts.
Read Aloud from Engaging Material in your Field
Many teachers don't read aloud past elementary school, but hearing it as a group allows reflection as a group. When students share as a group they learn from one and another.
Overall creating a community in the classroom is essential for student learning and these are some great suggestions to help build that community. Until next time...
Subjects Matter-How to Use a Textbook
The last two blogs have covered both the challenges of using textbooks in the classroom and some strategies that help students better understand what they read in textbooks. This chapter added six structures and strategies that work well with textbooks. Before introducing the strategies Zemelman and Daniels covered the issue of how much to use the textbook in the classroom and addressed the most important things students need to learn to become more literate in our disciplines. Often times teachers will divide the number of pages in a textbook by the number of days in a school year, this may cover all the pages in the textbook but leaves the teacher to wonder how many of the big concepts will be remembered once school is over. "You can have students move their noses up above any number of pages, left to right, top to bottom, but that is neither teaching nor learning." Students only learn by acting upon the ideas presented to them. Although it takes time it is the responsibility of the teacher to break down difficult text into steps and stages through the use of activities. Teachers should identify about a dozen "fencepost" concepts in every course that they teach. Content in all subjects has different levels of importance, the book provides four ways to narrow down the important concepts and filter the textbook: "1. Does the idea, topic, or process represent a big idea having enduring value beyond the classroom? 2. Does the big idea, topic or process reside at the heart of the discipline? 3. To what extent does the idea, topic, or process require uncoverage? 4. To what extent does the idea, topic, or process have the potential for engaging students?"
There are some key elements to helping students comprehension while using textbooks more effectively: 1. Have empathy- as teacher you have read the book a number of times so it should seem straightforward to you, but students may find the material challenging. 2. Help kids get started- don't just assign reading, but rather use some of the pre-reading activities mentioned in my last blog. 3. Don't leave kids alone with their textbooks-have kids work in pairs and groups to discuss the material and make better sense out of it. 4. Choose wisely- assign fewer pages that cover the most important concepts. 5. Supplement richly- coordinate the textbook reading with other sources.
Activity 1: Checking out the Textbook:
Many times teachers skip the introduction material in textbooks and have students go straight to chapter one, but there is value in covering the introduction material. The front of the textbook covers information about the structure of the book and can help students understand features and organizing principles before they begin reading the content.
Activity 2: Jigsawing
Jigsawing involves dividing up the text amongst groups of students and receiving oral summaries of sections. So in a classroom setting the teacher can divide the text into five groups each group covers one chapter, the group members read the chapter individually and then come together to discuss the main concepts in that chapter, the students then share what they learned in their chapter with one group member from each of the other chapter groups. Many novels can't be studied this way because information in previous chapters is crucial for understanding later chapters. "But textbooks can be easily subdivided."
Activity 3: Guide-O-Rama Study Guides
Teachers often prepare guides to help students make their way through the text, but often times these guides are more like outline of the textbook chapter rather then helpful tips to make the reading more comprehensive. The "Guide-O-Rama" is like a reading roadmap, page numbers on one side of the page with tips about the teachers own understanding on the other side. "The Guide-O-Rama lets you informally coach, support, and chat with kids as you steer them along. It also invites you, as the most experienced reader in the room, to open up your head and show students how you 'thought your way through' the same text they are reading."
Activity 4: Vocabulary Word Sorts
A big struggle for understanding a reading is making sense of unfamiliar words, this activity was designed to combat that struggle. Teachers bring several sets of lists of key words from the chapter that are all written on note cards, the words include terms that the students already know, words that are familiar but are used in an unfamiliar way, and brand new words. The students are then put into groups and handed the list of words. The students then put the words into categories that the group agrees on, what goes with what. Each group then picks a spotter that explains to the class how the group picked their words, After they present their sorted lists and justifications, they read the chapter and either validate their choices or understand why their choices were wrong. "So word sorts, even when kids don't know the definitions, set a purpose for reading: they get students watching for key vocabulary and prime them to stop and think when those words appear in the text."
Activity 5: Textbook Circles
This activity works similarly to adult book clubs. Before reading the text, students fill out a KWL chart on what they know about a particular subject and what they want to know about the subject. The teacher then assigns textbook clubs by balancing students strengths and weaknesses in reading. The students in each club are assigned roles for working with the text like re enactor and illustrator and connector. The groups meet on a schedule, the first class period they meet read a selection from the textbook and make notes with their assigned role in mind. The next class period the students work on their roles within the group. During the group meetings the teacher facilitates and guides, after each textbook circle the students all gather together and discuss positives and negatives of their interactions and discussions. Assessment is based on kids rating themselves as group members, notes from the teachers individual visits to groups, and a unit test over the textbook.
Activity 6: SQ3R: Remembering Facts from Long Texts:
A model with stages: Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review. "If you really want to remember big textbook chapters you cannot simply read straight through them like a novel- you need to attack the text in a whole different way." This can be laborious for students, but combining it with other activities can keep them engaged.
I think it is important as educators to make sure we are doing everything we can to help students understand the text and I think these strategies are really informative and I plan on trying the textbook circle one in my classroom. Until next time...
There are some key elements to helping students comprehension while using textbooks more effectively: 1. Have empathy- as teacher you have read the book a number of times so it should seem straightforward to you, but students may find the material challenging. 2. Help kids get started- don't just assign reading, but rather use some of the pre-reading activities mentioned in my last blog. 3. Don't leave kids alone with their textbooks-have kids work in pairs and groups to discuss the material and make better sense out of it. 4. Choose wisely- assign fewer pages that cover the most important concepts. 5. Supplement richly- coordinate the textbook reading with other sources.
Activity 1: Checking out the Textbook:
Many times teachers skip the introduction material in textbooks and have students go straight to chapter one, but there is value in covering the introduction material. The front of the textbook covers information about the structure of the book and can help students understand features and organizing principles before they begin reading the content.
Activity 2: Jigsawing
Jigsawing involves dividing up the text amongst groups of students and receiving oral summaries of sections. So in a classroom setting the teacher can divide the text into five groups each group covers one chapter, the group members read the chapter individually and then come together to discuss the main concepts in that chapter, the students then share what they learned in their chapter with one group member from each of the other chapter groups. Many novels can't be studied this way because information in previous chapters is crucial for understanding later chapters. "But textbooks can be easily subdivided."
Activity 3: Guide-O-Rama Study Guides
Teachers often prepare guides to help students make their way through the text, but often times these guides are more like outline of the textbook chapter rather then helpful tips to make the reading more comprehensive. The "Guide-O-Rama" is like a reading roadmap, page numbers on one side of the page with tips about the teachers own understanding on the other side. "The Guide-O-Rama lets you informally coach, support, and chat with kids as you steer them along. It also invites you, as the most experienced reader in the room, to open up your head and show students how you 'thought your way through' the same text they are reading."
Activity 4: Vocabulary Word Sorts
A big struggle for understanding a reading is making sense of unfamiliar words, this activity was designed to combat that struggle. Teachers bring several sets of lists of key words from the chapter that are all written on note cards, the words include terms that the students already know, words that are familiar but are used in an unfamiliar way, and brand new words. The students are then put into groups and handed the list of words. The students then put the words into categories that the group agrees on, what goes with what. Each group then picks a spotter that explains to the class how the group picked their words, After they present their sorted lists and justifications, they read the chapter and either validate their choices or understand why their choices were wrong. "So word sorts, even when kids don't know the definitions, set a purpose for reading: they get students watching for key vocabulary and prime them to stop and think when those words appear in the text."
Activity 5: Textbook Circles
This activity works similarly to adult book clubs. Before reading the text, students fill out a KWL chart on what they know about a particular subject and what they want to know about the subject. The teacher then assigns textbook clubs by balancing students strengths and weaknesses in reading. The students in each club are assigned roles for working with the text like re enactor and illustrator and connector. The groups meet on a schedule, the first class period they meet read a selection from the textbook and make notes with their assigned role in mind. The next class period the students work on their roles within the group. During the group meetings the teacher facilitates and guides, after each textbook circle the students all gather together and discuss positives and negatives of their interactions and discussions. Assessment is based on kids rating themselves as group members, notes from the teachers individual visits to groups, and a unit test over the textbook.
Activity 6: SQ3R: Remembering Facts from Long Texts:
A model with stages: Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review. "If you really want to remember big textbook chapters you cannot simply read straight through them like a novel- you need to attack the text in a whole different way." This can be laborious for students, but combining it with other activities can keep them engaged.
I think it is important as educators to make sure we are doing everything we can to help students understand the text and I think these strategies are really informative and I plan on trying the textbook circle one in my classroom. Until next time...
Friday, July 6, 2012
Subjects Matter-Tools for Thinking: Reading Strategies Across the Curriculum
The previous posts have summarized the importance of incorporating real-world reading in the classroom, but this chapter focused entirely on how teachers can make sure students actually do the mental work in the classroom. This chapter suggests strategies that teachers can use to help students in a variety of different subjects, while helping teachers identify students that are struggling as readers. The chapter also suggests important topics that students need to learn to become more literate. Daniels and Zemelman write, "These strategies involve discussion, writing, drawing, and even having kids get up and move around the room-activities that help students engage with, understand, and apply the reading they do-and in the process learn to use their minds more effectively as they read."
The strategies are all broken down into four key components; 1. Before- "activities that prepare students to read- including getting students focused and excited about the reading, developing purposes for reading, activating students questions, beliefs, and predictions about issues in the reading, and making connections with students' prior knowledge to help make sense of the reading." 2. During- "helping students construct, question, and process ideas as they read"- this includes visualization, inferences, the distinguishing of important ideas, and the monitoring of comprehension. 3. After-" guiding students to reflect on, integrate, and share the ideas when they are finished"- this includes synthesizing ideas between the reading and prior knowledge, and the follow up on questions and purposes they developed as they took new perspectives on the reading. 4. Learning Vocabulary- overlaps with all three stages because studying vocabulary is more complicated then memorization of definitions.
Showing Kids How Smart Readers Think
-Think Alouds: Actively Exploring Meaning as You Read
*use this activity before reading
The teacher reads a passage aloud, but stops to explain her thinking process on key points as she goes. "Think alouds help students to really see how active their thinking needs to be for high comprehension. Repeated think alouds will demonstrate a wide variety of mental strategies, showing students very concretely how to bring the material to life."
*How it works: Begin by letting students know that you'll be stopping to think as you read, and indicate what they should notice in your thinking. Provide copies for students and stop after a couple of sentences to predict what you feel is coming next, express confusion about an idea, a personal experience or a question. Stop to think and shift tone of voice to indicate thinking process is separate from the reading. After modeling have students try it as a class or in pairs.
Before: Activities that Prepare Students to Read
-Brainstorming
This is a group activity in which students share what they know about a topic both personal and academic and all answers are compiled on a board. "This a quick and simple way to help students realize what they know about a topic, and to reveal to you, the teacher, their knowledge, conceptions, and misconceptions.
-Clustering
The teacher identifies a key word and writes it on the board. Students write the word and circle it on a piece of paper, they then independently connect words that relate to the key word and build a web. The students then share in groups and each group shares their list of words on the board. The lists are then compared and the list is later reffered to as the students progress in their reading to see what they have learned. "Clustering not only helps access ideas, but reduces the anxiety people feel as they rack their brains about a topic."
- Other activities include; KWL, Anticipation Guide, Dramatic Role Play, and Probable Passage
During: Helping Students Construct, Process, and Question Ideas as they Read
-Post-It Response Notes
Students use post-it notes in novels as they read to identify key concepts or important passages, demonstrating their thinking strategies as they read. The students then use those notes during discussions or assignments regarding the reading. "This strategy helps students become aware of information or elements in the text, and their responses to it, without lengthy note taking."
-Coding Text
Students create a system of symbols to represent their ideas as they read and they then write those symbols in the book and during discussion can easily identify passages or concepts that either intrigued or confused them. "Coding helps students remember a strategy, notice when their thinking has followed it, and then very briefly note the spot in the text where that thinking occurred."
-Other activities include; Bookmarks, Double-Entry Journals, Sketching My Way through The Text, It says/I Say and Say Something
After: Guiding Students to Reflect on, Integrate and Share Ideas
-Exit Slips and Admit Slips
At the end of class students write on note cards ideas they learned, questions they have, or other connections to the novel that they just read. At the start of the next class students are given three minutes to write a response either making predictions or addressing further questions that the novel has posed. "This activity helps connect one day's learning to the next, and last night's reading to this morning's discussion, across everything in between."
-Written Conversation
After reading students are put in pairs and write short notes back and forth to each other about the experience. "With written conversation, you can have a 'discussion' where everyone is actively talking at once-though silently, in writing."
-Other activities include; Mapping, Save the Last Word for Me, RAFT- Retelling in Various Perspectives and Genres, and Extended Projects
Learning Vocabulary
-Word Meaning Graphic Organizer
Students are placed in groups and given three to six challenging words, the students then fill out a graphic organizer sheet for each word and as they find more information that expands their understanding of the word they add more information to their sheets, the students then discuss in a group which aspects of the words they think they've learned about. "An effective vocabulary graphic organizer allows students to gather their contextualized experiences of a word in one place, where they can put the pieces of their knowledge together and solidify it."
-Vocabulary Tree
Students choose five words from a list of a reading, for each word they draw a tree trunk on a sheet of paper and write the word on the bottom of the trunk, as students read they add related words to the branches of the tree. "This activity allows students to expand on a single idea or topic to link a word to others related to it."
-Other activities include; List Group Label
The book goes into detail about each activity and I feel it is incredibly valuable for teachers to implement some of these reading strategies in the classroom. Until next time...
The strategies are all broken down into four key components; 1. Before- "activities that prepare students to read- including getting students focused and excited about the reading, developing purposes for reading, activating students questions, beliefs, and predictions about issues in the reading, and making connections with students' prior knowledge to help make sense of the reading." 2. During- "helping students construct, question, and process ideas as they read"- this includes visualization, inferences, the distinguishing of important ideas, and the monitoring of comprehension. 3. After-" guiding students to reflect on, integrate, and share the ideas when they are finished"- this includes synthesizing ideas between the reading and prior knowledge, and the follow up on questions and purposes they developed as they took new perspectives on the reading. 4. Learning Vocabulary- overlaps with all three stages because studying vocabulary is more complicated then memorization of definitions.
Showing Kids How Smart Readers Think
-Think Alouds: Actively Exploring Meaning as You Read
*use this activity before reading
The teacher reads a passage aloud, but stops to explain her thinking process on key points as she goes. "Think alouds help students to really see how active their thinking needs to be for high comprehension. Repeated think alouds will demonstrate a wide variety of mental strategies, showing students very concretely how to bring the material to life."
*How it works: Begin by letting students know that you'll be stopping to think as you read, and indicate what they should notice in your thinking. Provide copies for students and stop after a couple of sentences to predict what you feel is coming next, express confusion about an idea, a personal experience or a question. Stop to think and shift tone of voice to indicate thinking process is separate from the reading. After modeling have students try it as a class or in pairs.
Before: Activities that Prepare Students to Read
-Brainstorming
This is a group activity in which students share what they know about a topic both personal and academic and all answers are compiled on a board. "This a quick and simple way to help students realize what they know about a topic, and to reveal to you, the teacher, their knowledge, conceptions, and misconceptions.
-Clustering
The teacher identifies a key word and writes it on the board. Students write the word and circle it on a piece of paper, they then independently connect words that relate to the key word and build a web. The students then share in groups and each group shares their list of words on the board. The lists are then compared and the list is later reffered to as the students progress in their reading to see what they have learned. "Clustering not only helps access ideas, but reduces the anxiety people feel as they rack their brains about a topic."
- Other activities include; KWL, Anticipation Guide, Dramatic Role Play, and Probable Passage
During: Helping Students Construct, Process, and Question Ideas as they Read
-Post-It Response Notes
Students use post-it notes in novels as they read to identify key concepts or important passages, demonstrating their thinking strategies as they read. The students then use those notes during discussions or assignments regarding the reading. "This strategy helps students become aware of information or elements in the text, and their responses to it, without lengthy note taking."
-Coding Text
Students create a system of symbols to represent their ideas as they read and they then write those symbols in the book and during discussion can easily identify passages or concepts that either intrigued or confused them. "Coding helps students remember a strategy, notice when their thinking has followed it, and then very briefly note the spot in the text where that thinking occurred."
-Other activities include; Bookmarks, Double-Entry Journals, Sketching My Way through The Text, It says/I Say and Say Something
After: Guiding Students to Reflect on, Integrate and Share Ideas
-Exit Slips and Admit Slips
At the end of class students write on note cards ideas they learned, questions they have, or other connections to the novel that they just read. At the start of the next class students are given three minutes to write a response either making predictions or addressing further questions that the novel has posed. "This activity helps connect one day's learning to the next, and last night's reading to this morning's discussion, across everything in between."
-Written Conversation
After reading students are put in pairs and write short notes back and forth to each other about the experience. "With written conversation, you can have a 'discussion' where everyone is actively talking at once-though silently, in writing."
-Other activities include; Mapping, Save the Last Word for Me, RAFT- Retelling in Various Perspectives and Genres, and Extended Projects
Learning Vocabulary
-Word Meaning Graphic Organizer
Students are placed in groups and given three to six challenging words, the students then fill out a graphic organizer sheet for each word and as they find more information that expands their understanding of the word they add more information to their sheets, the students then discuss in a group which aspects of the words they think they've learned about. "An effective vocabulary graphic organizer allows students to gather their contextualized experiences of a word in one place, where they can put the pieces of their knowledge together and solidify it."
-Vocabulary Tree
Students choose five words from a list of a reading, for each word they draw a tree trunk on a sheet of paper and write the word on the bottom of the trunk, as students read they add related words to the branches of the tree. "This activity allows students to expand on a single idea or topic to link a word to others related to it."
-Other activities include; List Group Label
The book goes into detail about each activity and I feel it is incredibly valuable for teachers to implement some of these reading strategies in the classroom. Until next time...
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Subjects Matter- Toward a Balanced Diet of Reading
In my last blog I addressed the concerns Daniels and Zemelman pose in regards to using textbooks in the classroom, but this chapter focuses on the importance of using reading content in other genres like magazines, websites, biographies, and nonfiction novels. This chapter focuses on what conditions promote literacy development. The authors begin by providing an example of Einstein's equation, E=MC^2, in a typical science textbook this concept is covered in three pages but when one hundred high school graduates were asked what each symbol in the equation meant, only one student was able to answer correctly. David Bodanis is the author of a non-fiction biography entitled, E=MC^2, A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation, in his novel each symbol of the equation is broken down individually and the story of the people that actually developed each part are discussed. "It takes 113 pages to complete the main biography, but by the time you've heard all the stories, you feel that the equation, and indeed the theory of relativity itself has entered your bones forever." The difference in Bodanis's writing style and typical textbook writing styles can be broken down into seven parts: Bodanis provides "1. Content that is important or engaging, 2. People we can care about, 3. A narrative structure or chronological line, 4. Places we can visualize, 5. Danger, conflicts, risks, or choices, 6. Value, moral, ethical or political dimensions, 7. Some ideas that reasonable people can debate, dispute or disagree about." Although Bodanis's novel helps break down the complex theory many teachers express concern over focusing one hundred and thirteen pages as opposed to three pages, all on one topic. "Unlike most state legislatures and education departments, the national curriculum standards consistently say that we should go deeper into a smaller number of topics." Using different reading genres is a perfect way to divulge into those smaller number of topics in a classroom, but at the same time implementing more depth.
"If textbooks aren't enough, then exactly what must be added to achieve a balance?" One way to determine what students should be reading is to examine what adults are reading. Adults read a variety of different materials whether it is work related, community related, or just for pleasure and this balance in genre should be applied to students in the classroom. Students should be reading a variety of texts from a myriad of different genres as their education progresses. Most teachers assign reading, but dedicated readers outside of school assign themselves reading. Fifty Shades of Grey or Hunger Games? New York Times or Albuquerque Journal? Students should also have the opportunity to choose some reading for themselves that demonstrates their own connections and interests to a particular topic. More choice doesn't mean less control, but rather more responsibility. Another big issue in the classroom is whether fiction has a place. Most of the content areas are focused on the teaching of non-fiction, but fiction can entice curiosity in a particular subject in a way that non-fiction writing can not. The other big question in the classroom is whether contemporary novels have a place in the classroom or if the focus should be entirely on the classics. Daniels and Zemelman believe in a theory called "windows and mirrors" in this theory some of what kids read in school should be like holding a mirror up to their own lifestyle by reflecting their story and culture, but other books should act as a reflection allowing students to see other peoples stories and values from different time periods. We need to balance student reading between personal connection and broader world view. Another question often addressed in schools is what level of difficulty of text should be used. Reading should challenge students, but it does a student no good to spend an entire day focusing on a text they can not read. "Young readers often grow by reading lots and lots of really easy, sometimes formulaic material." The balance between hard and easy takes place yet again. Most of the text provided in classrooms is lengthy, but it is important for teachers to have short articles relating to the overall topic being covered whether the articles or short video clips or magazine articles, they play crucial role in the classroom. Short articles can be a good way to introduce a new topic or involve kids that haven't done the big reading for the class. The use of primary vs. secondary sources is also a huge issue in classrooms because most teachers rely on secondary sources for their lessons, but a balance between primary and secondary sources exposes students to a vast variety of perspectives. "Working with primary sources puts kids more in the role of a real scholar, 'doing' the subject, not just hearing the summaries and conclusions of others. Overall, students need to have a balance of traditional thought and new thought offered to them.
The final section of the chapter address the benefits of creating a classroom library. The book suggests saving magazines / newspapers from home and bringing them into the classroom, going to family and friends and asking for old books that they do not need anymore, raiding your personal collection of novels, and attending garage sales where books can be purchased for twenty five cents. The chapter focuses on providing a wide selection of novels so that there is something for everyone and reminds the teacher that when keeping their library up to date a student "stealing" a novel from them "might be the highest possible compliment." Until next time...
"If textbooks aren't enough, then exactly what must be added to achieve a balance?" One way to determine what students should be reading is to examine what adults are reading. Adults read a variety of different materials whether it is work related, community related, or just for pleasure and this balance in genre should be applied to students in the classroom. Students should be reading a variety of texts from a myriad of different genres as their education progresses. Most teachers assign reading, but dedicated readers outside of school assign themselves reading. Fifty Shades of Grey or Hunger Games? New York Times or Albuquerque Journal? Students should also have the opportunity to choose some reading for themselves that demonstrates their own connections and interests to a particular topic. More choice doesn't mean less control, but rather more responsibility. Another big issue in the classroom is whether fiction has a place. Most of the content areas are focused on the teaching of non-fiction, but fiction can entice curiosity in a particular subject in a way that non-fiction writing can not. The other big question in the classroom is whether contemporary novels have a place in the classroom or if the focus should be entirely on the classics. Daniels and Zemelman believe in a theory called "windows and mirrors" in this theory some of what kids read in school should be like holding a mirror up to their own lifestyle by reflecting their story and culture, but other books should act as a reflection allowing students to see other peoples stories and values from different time periods. We need to balance student reading between personal connection and broader world view. Another question often addressed in schools is what level of difficulty of text should be used. Reading should challenge students, but it does a student no good to spend an entire day focusing on a text they can not read. "Young readers often grow by reading lots and lots of really easy, sometimes formulaic material." The balance between hard and easy takes place yet again. Most of the text provided in classrooms is lengthy, but it is important for teachers to have short articles relating to the overall topic being covered whether the articles or short video clips or magazine articles, they play crucial role in the classroom. Short articles can be a good way to introduce a new topic or involve kids that haven't done the big reading for the class. The use of primary vs. secondary sources is also a huge issue in classrooms because most teachers rely on secondary sources for their lessons, but a balance between primary and secondary sources exposes students to a vast variety of perspectives. "Working with primary sources puts kids more in the role of a real scholar, 'doing' the subject, not just hearing the summaries and conclusions of others. Overall, students need to have a balance of traditional thought and new thought offered to them.
The final section of the chapter address the benefits of creating a classroom library. The book suggests saving magazines / newspapers from home and bringing them into the classroom, going to family and friends and asking for old books that they do not need anymore, raiding your personal collection of novels, and attending garage sales where books can be purchased for twenty five cents. The chapter focuses on providing a wide selection of novels so that there is something for everyone and reminds the teacher that when keeping their library up to date a student "stealing" a novel from them "might be the highest possible compliment." Until next time...
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