Strategy Notebook

Module 7

I read chapter 16 and the transcript of the webinar: Differentiated Reading Instruction

IMPORTANT CONCEPTS 

One common thread I kept coming back to was the call for differentiated instruction for teachers! We cannot be expected to. One size fits all once a year staff development does not an effective teacher make. I for one seek out new and interesting modes of learning. I enjoy attending workshops if "I" get to choose where I go. I know what my needs are. I need my administrators to back me and help me better my teaching. Dr. Pressley made my argument for me when he said, "What develops a person [teacher] who knows many, many curriculum options is long-term immersion in developing the skills and taking advantage of every skills opportunity." I detest when we attend staff development at the beginning of the year for an hour over a new program we are to implement and it ends there! Teachers need support to become successful, just like students do.

2. If we know that emphasizing performance and high scores has a contradictory consequence, why do we keep doing it? It's because we don't know any better. Educators, as a whole, are not kept up on current research. Until I began my graduate degree, I did not know how much research was online. Had I known, I would not have had free access to it like I do as a graduate student. This is a shame. I may be going out on a limb here, but I think the State Department of Education could best serve its teachers by making current research available. Teacher's should not have to spend hours and hours to find current research and then have to pay for it. I believe that better informed educators would do less performance emphasis and realize that high scores don't come from spending days upon end "teaching to the test." The fact that is has the opposite effect is almost comical if it weren't so heartbreaking.

3. Knowledge of students is so important. That's how we know their strengths, their weaknesses, there interests, and their test-wiseness. All 4 of these things lead to better test scores by their very nature. If we know their strengths and interests we can use them to stimulate their motivation and focus on their needs. If we know their interests we can engage them in reading which increases test scores. If they are motivated to learn, they build their background knowledge which increases test scores. We can't wait until 2 weeks before the test to start drilling and hope they do well. We have to teach reading strategies all year long. We know what is suppose to be on the test so why don't we teach strategies geared toward what we know to be important. Then we are teaching with the test in mind, but not teaching to the test.

10 IMPORTANT FACTS

1. Retention should depend on testing, grades, and the teacher's judgment.

2. Multiple choice leads to loss of imagination and creativity.

3. Assessment is essential differentiated instruction

4. Narrowing the curriculum is a result of spending too much time test prepping.

5. Reading competence is the most important single factor in high-stakes testing.

6. Test format practice is beneficial but at 10% should not be over emphasized.

7. Practice tests should not exceed 1 to 2 total hours. Any more is not any more beneficial.

8. Teaching inference skills can have a positive effect on students' test taking abilities.

9. High achievers differ from low achievers by the amount of reading they do.

10. Emphasis on performance and high scores has a paradoxical effect.

IMPLEMENTATION

With such a focus on interest to increase reading motivation I am going to attempt to choose a book from the library each week that I know they are interested in. I think I will send it home for their parents to read to them and then each child come back to school to share what the book was about. I was inspired by Dr. Spear-Swerling sharing that it is important for students and there is an added bonus of oral language practice and listening comprehension. I think I might try to video them and make some sort of movie clips that could be shown to the kindergarten students.

STRATEGY

I made the Visual Boxing Example the size of a half sheet of paper. I then chose a word from our daily story and call my students to my table individually and had them work with me. I modified it a bit. I wrote the word above the top of the box. The word was mischief from Where the Wild Things Are. Top-left they drew a picture of mischief. Bottom-left they dictated to me what mischief was. Top-right they dictated to me something personal associated with mischief, Bottom-right they could choose to draw or dictate what mischief was not. We then displayed our work in the elementary hallway. I was extremely proud of the thought processes my students demonstrated. They never cease to amaze me. Briley told me "Mischief is not when you're doing things properly and using your brain." Oh! The quotes I will have gathered next year because I will begin this in September.

Module 6: Reading Disabilities and RTI

In addition to the required reading I read:

Hudson, R. F., High, L., & Al Otaiba, S. (2007, March). Dyslexia and brain:  What does current research tell us? Reading Teacher 60(6), 506-515. doi:10.1598/RT.60.6.1

Fuchs, D., & Fuchs, L. S. (2006, January/February/March).  Introduction to Response to Intervention: What, why, and how valid is it?  Reading Research Quarterly, 41(1), 93-100.  doi: 10.1598/RRQ.41.1.4

IMPORTANT CONCEPTS

1. Are the terms reading disabled and learning disabled interchangeable? Are learning disabilities basically reading disabilities? When I read about the interventions for Dyslexia I was hit with the thought that “this is exactly what we do for ALL children when we are teaching them to read.” When children learn to read, they must first become aware that spoken words are made of these pieces of sound. After they gain this knowledge (known as phonological awareness) then they must be taught that letters or combinations of letters are the way in which we represent these sounds on paper. Most children grasp this concept easily, no matter what method is used to teach them but at least 20 % of children must be taught this letter-sound system directly in order to learn to read successfully. So what teachers need to do is to identify students with severe reading difficulties and stick to basic reading instruction as long as it is needed.

2.  Students had the strongest possible reading instruction available to them for as much time as they needed. If students had this type of instruction very few would be diagnosed as learning disabled. I have too many times heard teachers say things like “I’ve gone over and over it but he just doesn’t get it” or “He’ll just have to figure it out as we go, I don’t have time to waste on him.” These students are doomed for reading failure unless they encounter a teacher that puts the student’s needs first and plans and intervention with the child’s needs at the forefront. Teachers need more education on brain research and how the brain works. Too many times teachers think a child just doesn’t care or isn’t trying. In a sense, the teacher and the student are talking different languages so no connections are being made. Most of the time, it is not the student’s “fault.” His brain just doesn’t work like the majority of our brains work, but who is to say that his way is wrong? It is just different.

3.There has been no decline in reading achievement in 30 years? Fourth grade reading achievement is at an all time high? U.S. fourth graders rank among the best readers in the world? This is not what is being reported! I am thinking about posting the statistics from Chapter 12 onto my Facebook page! Everyone hears how poorly students are doing and how bad teachers are. I did a little independent research on percentages and the bell curve. The mid-range/average consists of 68% of the participants. This would work out to 34% average/above average and 34% average/below average. The opposing down slopes bring in the other 32% with 16% on each end of the spectrum. So that 40% that is “below” basic skills (if we considered at level to be middle of the bell) is just about right! 40% minus 34% leaves 6% out of the “norm.” From my analysis it doesn’t look like teachers are doing such a terrible job! Granted, I am not saying that no students need remediation or extra help. What I am saying is that 40% below average is NORMAL!

IMPLEMENTION

The change I plan to make in my teacher due to research is still on the backburner. I want to read the actual research that is cited in regards to the onset-rime strategy. Word families/Onset and Rimes are not at the top of my list for preschool. Literacy First does not even say anything about onsets and rimes until first grade. So my intention is to do some research on onset and rimes as they apply to preschool students. If I find the evidence myself and can back it up, I will add onset and rime activities to my preschool curriculum. I will also produce a review of literature to give to my fellow early child teachers.

STRATEGY

I want to try a concept map with my preschool students. This will have to be a whole group of small group activity. Because they are not going to be in a position immediately to construct a concept map on their own I will model the process of concept map creation and emphasis the linking of words to help my students understand that “they are what makes the whole thing have meaning” (Sparks Linfield & Warwick, 2003, p. 126).

I will not introduce the concept map strategy until after my students have had the opportunity to manipulate the real objects that we are going to map. I will facilitate observation what is going on around them help them to communicate their findings and impressions. It is crucial for the development of representational thinking that they are given concrete experiences.

Our first attempt will be done with a simple, familiar object and using just a few of concepts. Next week we are going to be learning about fruit so I plan to begin with an apple. We had an apple unit last fall so I know that all of my students have had experiences with apples. I think             that they will find it difficult to represent word relationships even with a concrete object and a graphic organizer. In the event WORDS do not work, I will have a set of pictures that we can also use. I thought about starting with pictures, but this class is bright and I want to see if they are up to the challenge.

I found a wonderful paper written about just such an experience:

 “THINGS WE KNOW ABOUT THE COW”: CONCEPT MAPPING IN A PRESCHOOL SETTING

Concept Maps: Theory, Methodology, Technology

Proc. of the First Int. Conference on Concept Mapping

A. J. Cañas, J. D. Novak, F. M. González, Eds.

Pamplona, Spain 2004

Module 5 Case Study: COMPREHENSION

In a sixth grade class of twenty-eight students, composed mostly of English speakers at various levels of ability and skills, the teacher needs to devise strategies which deal with comprehension. Most students do not have a lot of difficulty with word attack, but their reading comprehension scores on a standardize test range from the 22nd percentile to the 65th percentage. In the Oklahoma PASS objective tests, you note that they read the passages but they seemed to miss key points in comprehension. You also know that the students like to discuss the topic but don’t always understand the text and have a hard time supporting their answers from the text.

STRENGTHS

The students in this class have good word attack skills which mean that they are able to decode words proficiently. These skills are necessary to help beginning readers become fluent. As they continue to work on these skills and their fluency improves they will also increase their comprehension. They are interested in the topic which is a great start. Interest increases motivation and motivation plays a important role in learning and will allow these students to more readily internalize information. These students enjoy class discussions about what they have read. Being engaged in class discussions offers students opportunities to test their ideas and opinions against the ideas and opinions of their peers. The fact that the class is mostly composed of English speakers is a additional benefit to support their discussions.

NEEDS

Though these students can read the text they lack the ability to recognize the main idea and supporting details. Reading comprehension is what allows the reader to interact with the text in a meaningful way. These students are deficient in this area. They are passive readers, not active readers and are not reading for meaning. They need comprehension strategies in place that will help them check for understanding during and to help them learn how to use the text to support their answers. The students also need direct instruction to activate their background knowledge so that they have something to link the new information to. 

Once students have learned to decode, the number of words that they can read and understand begins to affect directly their ability to comprehend. At this point in their reading development, these 6^th grade students need vocabulary instruction related to 6^th grade content. Vocabulary development is among the best single predictors of comprehension so comprehension improves when students know what the words mean. Since overall, their comprehension is insufficient, vocabulary development needs to become a priority.

They also need instruction on how to read content area material. They would certainly benefit from direct instruction in finding the main idea and supporting details, retelling, and summarizing. The students also need instruction on informational text features to help them more easily navigate the text and provide additional information to help them comprehend the content. They need to know how to read charts, tables, graphs and diagrams that are presented in the text.

STRATGIES

The teacher should use techniques that are effective for comprehension strategy instruction. Using explicit instruction, she needs to tell her students why and when they should use strategies, what strategies to use, and how to apply them. Explicit instruction usually includes, direct explanation (the teacher explains to students why the strategy helps comprehension and when to apply the strategy), teacher modeling (the teacher models how to apply the strategy by "thinking aloud" while reading the text), guided practice (the teacher guides and assists students as they learn how and when to apply the strategy), and application (the teacher helps students practice the strategy until they can apply it independently). The strategies should include all of the following:

·         Activating background knowledge This instruction should be divided into three categories: text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world

·         Questioning the text This strategy helps students clarify and deepen understanding of the text.

·         Drawing inferences. Students need to use their prior knowledge to make predictions about what might happen next.

·         Determine Importance of Text Students must constantly sort and prioritize information to help them distinguish important from unimportant information

·         Visualization Students need to be creating pictures in their mind as they read.

·         Monitoring Comprehension Students should not just plow ahead through text when it doesn't make sense They need to stop and use "fix-up" strategies to restore their understanding

·         Vocabulary Building Students build word knowledge, adding vocabulary words and meanings, dissecting parts and origins of words, and finding multiple ways of defining and describing new and known concepts

·         Synthesizing information Finally students need to be able to combine elements of connecting, questioning, and inferring.

ACTIVITIES

For Comprehension (graphic organizers work with all)

·         Activating background knowledge

o   Text Walk

o   Word or Concept Sort

o   Anticipatory Set Activity

o   Venn Diagram

o   Schema Chart

o   Think Aloud

o   Cloze Activity

·         Questioning the text

o   Guided Comprehension

o   Using Sticky Notes/Post Its

o   I Wonder...

o   Think-Alouds

o   QAR

·         Drawing inferences

o   Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DR-TA)

o   Think-Alouds

·         Determine Importance of Text

o   Text Features

o   Skimming/Scanning

o   Chapter Tour

·         Visualization

o   Journaling

o   Chapter Books-Read Alouds or Independent

o   Visual Maps

·         Monitoring

o   SCRIP: Summarize, Connect, Re-think, Interpret, and Predict

o   Repeated Readings

·         Vocabulary building

o   Paraphrase definitions

o   Word Sorting

o   Teach Synonyms and Antonyms

o   Word Analysis

·         Synthesizing information

o   Story Maps

o   SQ3R

o   Literature Circle

o   Reading Detective

In addition to the required reading I read:

Moss., B. (2005, September). Making a case and a place for effective content area literacy instruction in the elementary grades. Reading Teacher, 59(1), 46-55. doi: 10.1598/RT.59.1.5

Brozo, W. G., & Flynt, E. S. (2008, October). Motivating  students to read in content area classes:Six evidence-based principles. Reading Teacher, 62(2), 172-174. doi: 10.1598/RT.62.2.9

IMPORTANT CONCEPTS

Critical Literacy is the ability to sift through volumes of text, evaluate content, and synthesize information from a variety of sources. This capability is essential to school and workplace Students need to not only understand information they read, but they must also be able to evaluate what they have read. This skill is essential in today’s culture with an ever increasing amount of information at their fingertips. Students must read informational and expository texts critically and to be able to evaluating it’s “truth value” and weigh its relevance. It is also important that they determine a texts’ accuracy. Students do this by questioning the author and the author’s intentions and by analyzing the author’s message. This leads to a deeper understanding of the text which goes beyond routine comprehension. When a student compares and contrasts information across a variety of sources they are basically synthesizing which is like putting a puzzle together. You have to sort out your thinking and put it in the right place. To do this efficiently the student must activate background knowledge, filter new information, and draw conclusions. This is comprehension at its finest level; being an active reader. At this point there is full engagement and students will assume greater roles in text discussion. I do not remember ever being engaged in text discussions as a student. Any relationship with the text was for the sole purpose of answering questions-and there was always a right answer. I often wonder what my “literate” life would be like today had I encountered a teacher that understood the importance of critical literacy as it relates to genuine comprehension.

There is a lack of expository text in today's elementary classrooms, despite the fact that only 20% of the content of basal readers is informational.  Students’ experience to informational text comes from a slim range of materials as compared to narrative texts. Considering that by the 6^th grade students’ reading consists of up to 75% nonnarrative texts, one would assume that lower level teachers would want to capitalize on this knowledge and prepare their students appropriately. Even when non-fiction is used in the classroom is it authentic to the students or is it a reading assignment that meets the state standards?  During my Literacy First training I was taught that 40% of the books in the classroom should be expository. I did not fully understand why until I completed my reading for this module. When elementary teachers don’t expose their students to informational text through read alouds or independent reading, they rob them of much needed exposure to knowledge that they can gain no other way. This puts students at a disadvantage as they move on higher grades that include more and more expository texts. Not only are they lacking in background knowledge, but they do not develop the vocabulary need to increase comprehension of fiction texts. Students need to be given ample time to read independently and they need to be allowed to choose what they want to read. This self-selection must allow for informational type texts. Not only will this increase engagement because the text is authentic to the student, it will also increase motivation which is a key to creating true literate learners.

There are many benefits to exposing elementary students to nonnarrative and expository texts and there is not age too young. Kindergarteners are just as capable of retelling informational text as narrative text. Increasing background knowledge through expository builds schema so students make more sense of what is being read. This then increases interest, engagement, and motivation. With increased motivation students are more likely to implement strategies and work harder to build meaning and gain understanding. Because of this students become increasingly metacognitive during reading which can be stated as metacomprehension. This term refers to students’ ability to monitor the degree to which they understand information being communicated to them, to recognize failures to comprehend, and to employ repair strategies when failures are identified.  It is no wonder that students who read nonnarrative and expository text have better reading proficiency.

IMPLEMENTATION

How you plan to implement the research into your classroom?  What changes should you make to your classroom teaching knowing the information from this module?

I plan to read aloud more nonfiction to my students. I have an enormous amount of nonfiction in my classroom but I seldom read nonfiction aloud. Places in the room include the Science, Block, Dramatic Play, and Library Centers. I now know that this is not good enough. I think reason that I don’t read expository text aloud is because I don’t run across much of it that I could consider   “attention grabbing.” My biggest problem will be acquiring nonfiction that is age appropriate but I intend to make a concerted effort to do so. Since reading for this module I found s study titled The Impact of Instruction in Text Structure on Listening Comprehension in Preschool Age Students by Cynthia R. Bochna that indicates that children as young as three can be taught to identify the topic in a novel expository text. I am going to further investigate the review of literature and references to help me identify quality early childhood expository books.

STRATEGY

I created an Anticipation Guide for my preschool class for our upcoming EGG theme. I chose to focus on the book Chickens Aren’t the Only Ones by Ruth Heller.

I wrote several statements that focus on the topic of eggs. Next to each statement, I provided a place for students to indicate whether they agree or disagree with the statements. I will have them use a red marker for no and a green marker for yes.

My students will complete the anticipation guide before reading as a group. We will then discuss their choices after which I will read the book. After reading I will read the statements again and ask who would like to “change their mind.” Any student wishing to change his/her mind will have to explain why they want to change it. I will find the page in the book that supports the student’s new position.

I am really looking forward to trying this strategy. KWL charts are great, but they take up a lot of time and some preschool classes just don’t have the attention span for them. This strategy engages every student at virtually the same time. This will cut down on disruptions which will cut down of the amount of time needed to complete the strategy. Time is important in a preschool classroom!!!

                                                                                     

Module 4 Fluency

Concepts

1.      I was fascinated by all the different definitions that were expressed in the readings. I learned in my Literacy First training that fluency was determined by a student’s ability to read orally with speed, accuracy, and expression. This definition was reiterated in the text but there was additional information as well. I liked the addition of the word “unconscious.” This makes total sense to me; to decode without even thinking about it. It was also expressed as “readers cannot prevent themselves from reading.” I tried it. I cannot look at a page of text and not see words that my brain is reading. Today most fluency definitions have been updated to include “comprehension” in one form or another. This reminds when I used to see Hooked On Phonics commercials. I would yell at the television, “But do they know what they just read?” Probably not! So it isn’t READING!”

2.      Fluency is not a stage. It is not something to be attained and then you have it. Fluency is always changing depending on the text. In my Early Childhood Special Education class we had to watch a video where a man was making teachers and parents experience what it was like to be learning disabled. He had them read something that didn’t make sense to them. I suspect that this exercise was ultimately an exercise in fluency/comprehension. They could read the words but the words were put together in a way that made them hard to read. There were no phrases or clauses. This could happen to even the best reader if the text were not familiar in some way. Maybe this is why fluency has been neglected for so long. You never really become totally fluent. A student may be fluent in elementary but get to middle school and not be fluent because of the jump in reading level. Teachers may feel frustrated because fluency is ever changing with each student.

3.      I kept saying to myself “the chicken or the egg” every time I read something about the fact that fluency and comprehension obviously go hand in hand but which comes first? Comprehension or Fluency? Does fluency increase comprehension? Does comprehension increase fluency? Are they equal partners? If a student has a satisfactory listening comprehension will they ultimately become fluent readers? Do all students who learn to decode automatically comprehend at a high level? I can see a handful of research papers in those questions? We know that fluency is a bridge between decoding and comprehension. All of this appears to make fluency exceedingly abstract. I was delighted to learn about a way to check for fluency comprehension that I had not known before. The teacher uses two similar passages at the student’s reading level and reads one aloud and then asks questions. This is creating a baseline for the student’s ability to comprehend the written word and rules out possible intellectual problems. The student then reads the second passage orally and recalls everything he can. A large gap would show that “decoding” the text may be getting in the student’s way.

Implementation

Due to the information I have attained from my readings, I plan to do more fluency assessments on my tutee that I tutor after school. My Literacy First training did not prepare me for the comprehension aspect of fluency assessment. I have a folder of rubrics for comprehension and one for fluency. My biggest concern for fluency has been speed and prosody. Comprehension assessment has taken place mostly during Informal Reading Inventories. My goal is to take what I have learned in this module and try to synthesize my comprehension rubrics and my fluency rubrics. I also want to create fluency assessments that parallel the method stated in #3 above that I found in the textbook. For each reading level I can place two passages that can be read aloud and silently. I’m thinking I can use different IRI passages. I am excited about being able to use this process to assess fluency of my future tutees and thus be able to focus in more clearly on the deficiencies that they may have. This seems to be a real time saver because you will ultimately spend less time on strategies that are not necessary.

Strategy

I believe I can modify the Vocabulary Word Map strategy to use in my classroom. I will only use pictures. My plan is to focus on an unknown word from a read aloud that I use as a whole group story. I will then give each student a piece of paper to draw their own representation of the word. I will be able to use this method for adjectives, verbs, and nouns. We have a big blank wall in the elementary so I will take their pictures and make a web/map on the wall for everyone to see. I will almost certainly have to use “teacher writing” on each picture so the older elementary students will understand what the pictures are representing. Since each student will have a picture included, it will motivate them to be engaged in the creation and subsequent discussion of the map. I bet I can even take a picture of the wall and use it on my Promethean Board. I am sure that this idea will inspire even more activities. I will post a picture as soon as we get a Vocabulary Word/Picture Map on the wall.

Module 3 Vocabulary

Important Concepts

1.      Vocabulary is acquired incidentally through indirect exposure to words and intentionally through explicit instruction. These are words put to something I knew but hadn’t expressed explicitly. Building vocabulary involves more than knowing a definition of a word. It also includes understanding how a word should be used in language. In my classroom use incidental occurrences of new and interesting words (vocabulary from read alouds) to then intentionally teach the meanings and usage of those words. Through the readings for this class, I now can more fully explain how I teach vocabulary to my preschool students. What I need to be sure to emphasize is that the vocabulary my students are “happening upon” in stories seems incidental to them but I very deliberately choose text that brings new words to my classroom. Vocabulary knowledge is not something that my students ever be fully master, but I cans set then on the right path to expanding and deepening their vocabulary throughout their lives.

2.      Word Consciousness. When children do not understand the meanings of important words in a text, they are unlikely to understand the text. Preschoolers primarily attain vocabulary by hearing new words used in their environment. Developing word consciousness demands that I draw their attention to the words around them and stimulate a thirst for learning about new words they hear. I have to motivate them to “notice” words. The better I am able to do my job the more likely my students are to become successful readers. Word consciousness is the first step to vocabulary acumen. It is vocabulary development. I have already started researching word conscious activities to put in place in my classroom immediately.

3.      Using unfamiliar words to describe concepts my students are familiar with is something that I do not do enough of. It makes sense that this would exponentially increase my students vocabulary because this agrees with Piaget’s Assimilation/Accommodation theory.  It is important that I have a sound knowledge of my students so I can introduce new words that they can easily “categorize.”  I want them to be able expand their schema by being able to “fit” new words into their little brains. After reading this chapter I plan to go through my read-alouds to make a list of words that are new and to make a list of words that are known that I can expand on. In the past I have only focused on new words. I will now balance that out by starting with known words and develop vocabulary “from the bottom up.”

Implementation

I plan to be more mindful of the direct and indirect exposure I provide for my students in the classroom. I believe as I become more attentive, my ability to more precisely connect direct and indirect word awareness will improve. Just like learning anything new, I will need to be explicitly mindful of this connection at first. Eventually it will become second nature to me as many concepts have become over the years. Making word lists of familiar and unfamiliar words in my read-alouds seems like a daunting task. Initially I will do one book at a time as I read them to my students. Over the summer I will spend a few days going through all of my books this way. If I am lucky I will be able to find an iPhone app that will transcribe my lists as I dictate them. I will begin actively searching for such an app today!

Strategy

I intend to use the information presenting in the RETELLING strategy. I really like the rubric presented. If I have a rubric, I am more aware of what to look for. I am determined to make myself a “cheat sheet” of the prompts to use when my students are involved in retelling activities. I catch myself using the same prompts over and over again. I anticipate that by expanding my use of prompts I will also expand the quality of my students’ retelling vocabulary.  I will also model my thinking more actively when I retell stories. It seems ironic that I model and use think aloud strategies in many areas but I have never clearly used for retelling.

I also have an idea that came to my while deciding which strategy to use. When my students write stories I will revisit those stories and ask them “what is another word you can use instead of ________?” This will zero in on the familiar words of each student and become a vehicle for differentiated instruction. I can’t wait to try it!