Marie Duncan Another Blog Post for December #7

This blog addresses the article by Cambourne about Conditions for Literary Learning and also Inquiry Based Learning as it applies in my classroom. Cambourne asks why some students do not learn.  The third reason Brian Cambourne discusses hits home with me the most.  Even with an assortment of teaching strategies and methods, a small handful of students seem to just repel reading progress Trying to keep these students engaged is a struggle.  Cambourne discusses the connection with self-esteem as being usually tied in with this resistance.  Trying to get my two students to keep their heads in a book while the rest of the class is loving to read remains frustrating.  These students go from book to book, make excuses to avoid reading by going to the bathroom, and/or saying they need another book. I have several books lined up for them,but they "say" they have already read them in ten minutes. I spend more time reading in groups or one-on-one with them and have been bringing in extra books from the public library that they have requested.  These students just will not stay focused.  Their progress on Star and reading inventories are minimal.  When I taught first grade many years ago, I had a wonderful grandmother who came and read individually with each student in my class.  This was one of the most positive strategies I have been able to utilize.  However, I have been unable to find someone with the personality, time, and willingness to take a personal interest in the class.  One set of parents agreed to engage a tutor, even if it was a high school student, but have not followed through.  The other parents do not respond to request for conferences.  

My reflection is to work on these students' self-esteem.  Two other students have excelled after doing well on our multiplication master project.  These two boys' reading scores improved as their multiplication "self-esteem" rose.  This has not happened with my two others students mentioned above which are both black African American girls.  Because these other students struggle in all subject areas,  it is difficult to find something positive to brag on them about; they have become impulsive shouters behavior in the classroom with the wrong answers.  Their behavior is increasingly becoming disruptive reinforcing the fact that each child seeks attention; even if it is negative attention.  Using these students as helpers is also disruptive and not working.

I will keep on reading and trying to work with them one-on-one as much as possible.  Maybe these are students who would benefit from the reading coach observing and assessing their behavior.  This blogging is good; I am able to talk my way through better teaching.

Now, to address inquiry based learning.  I have a neat set of letters from Mr. Gobbles which I have put on the Promethean Board each day during November.  We edit these letters together since Mr. Gobbles makes several mistakes in his letters to our class.  As an extension of this activity, I let the students access five websites about turkeys.  We wrote what we learned about turkeys on a padlet each day during the week.  The students discovered interesting facts about turkeys without me being the usual lead instructor.  It was great to see the students working independently.  Students were able to discuss with their small groups and the class about interesting turkey facts.  Yeah, for inquiry based learning.  I can see using this activity each year since it took a while to set up.  

   

Dawn Mitchell's December Blog Post 5: Teach Comprehension Regie Routman's Chapter 8

Dawn Mitchell's Teach Comprehension Regie Routman's Chapter 8

During the month of December our application we are working on learning about theories that have shaped literacy and reflecting on how they have changed our practices as well as applying inquiry based learning in our planning for a unit of study we will teach in the coming spring semester.
In December’s blendspace you will find a variety of resources including the four theories that we are sharing with you such as Cambourne’s Conditons of Learning, Halliday’s Functions of Language, L1 to L2 Transfer, and Marie Clay’s Reading/Writing Reciprocity  to read and reflect upon.  We have worked to embed two new tech tools, QR codes and Google Forms into your reading/writing workshop that can also be used in your classroom.  Lastly, you will find the new 2015-2016 SC ELA Inquiry standards that can help you enhance your existing units of study through the use of student-driven, inquiry-based learning.

This month for my blog post, I have chosen to read chapter 8 from Routman’s Reading Essentials for many reasons.  First of all, I believe that reading is meaning and without understanding what they are gleaning from texts, students aren’t really reading even if they are the best word callers/decoders on the planet. Without meaning, they are just words.  Second, with current reform initiatives in place in our state and across the country that focus on third grade comprehension it is vital that we realize that comprehension and comprehension instruction starts way before that.  We can’t wait until third grade to determine if our students are ready as readers. We have to keep comprehension in mind from the very start.

Routman says, “In my continuing work in schools, its’ rarely a lack of word work that prevents students from understanding.  It’s almost always not having the background, prior experiences, or knowledge of the way texts and authors work that stumps them – not knowing that good readers are aware of their understanding or lack of it and always do whatever is necessary to make sense of what they are reading.  You can’t start teaching comprehension in grade 3.  You start teaching it the day kids enter preschool or kindergarten.” (Routman, pg. 118)

One of the major points Routman made in this chapter that really convicted me and helped to improve my practice is her point that reading strategies are not synonymous with comprehension and are not meant to be taught in isolation.  I have been a reading/writing workshop girl since back in the day and consider myself to promote and implement the teaching of reading and writing in the authentic context of their own reading and writing.  When I read Routman’s explanation of a typical classroom’s reading instruction I realized that I have too often taught a proficient reading strategy that way.  I have introduced a reading strategy in a minilesson, employed metacognition and modeling, and then had students work to apply that strategy using sticky notes or reading responses to help strengthen their reading.  I realized that many times that took out the authenticity of their independent reading and either simplified a complex, cognitive process into one strategy and weakened their overall comprehension of the text by focusing all of their efforts on one strategy.  Routman says that actually makes reading harder.

She writes, “Students become so focused on identifying words they don’t know, questions to ask, or connections to make that they forget to read for overall meaning.  While its fine to introduce and practice strategies one at a time, remember that when we read we use all these strategies at the same time and that our comprehension process is largely unconscious.”

I love her question at the end of page 119, “Continue to ask yourself, “How is this procedure helping my students become more proficient and independent as readers?” This is a question that I will use to guide my instruction and I want to be more conscious of my reading application time to ensure that it is not either oversimplified or made harder because of inauthentic instruction.
 
Other take aways for me from this chapter include:
*the 20 percent to 80 percent rule where the majority of the time in reading instruction is spent on student application
*the questions given on page 120 to help us focus on strategic reading rather than individual strategies
*megacognitive strategies on page 121 such as rereading, highlighting, writing down, survey, connect, and monitor
*teaching self-monitoring (I love the checklist of strategies on page 125)

On page 129 Routman says, “There is a huge difference between strategy instruction and strategic instruction.  Just teaching strategies is not enough.  Strategies must be “invoked” by the learner if they are to be used to increase understanding.”  I agree and appreciate the clear call to create opportunities for our students to apply what they are learning about reading in authentic ways in their own independent reading with support, with modeling, and with an undeniable purpose to understand what they are reading.

Sincerely,
Dawn

Tacheria Brooks "Inquiry Based Learning"

Inquiry implies a need or want to know.  The great thing about inquiry is that there is not a wrong answer.  Students are able to obtain a heap of knowledge about a particular subject matter and are able to apply it into other subject areas. During the inquiry process, students are constantly searching and formulating questions, it is the application of knowledge that is the most benefiting for student success.  I have used inquiry in many subject areas.  For example, my students will work with magnets.  The essential question for the lesson will be: What type of objects will a magnet attract or repel?  I will start be reading aloud a book to the students about magnets (What Makes A Magnet).  During the investigation process, the students will be provided with various types and styles of magnets.  They will identify materials that the magnet will attract or repel.  Students will be able to record their findings inside their science notebook.  Students will have a chance to share their findings to the class and will conclude the lesson with a quick write.     

Lyuda Bentsiy's October Blog Post

When I read Section 1 of No More Independent Reading Without Support, this part from page 8 stood out: "For students to do more than race through lots of books, they need a teacher to show them what behaviors they need to practice as they read." This is so true; modeling important concepts is so important! Teachers must model expectations instead of just assuming that students know what to do. Another sentence that stood out was "independent reading in silence without the kind of support described in this book means these children suffer in silence." This is a very valid argument.

Paula Ross Blog Post 5: Routman Chapter 8 "Teach Comprehension"

     Teachers of kindergarten have many literacy goals for students such as letter/word recognition, fluency, recall, etc.  In the push to master these skills, the deeper levels of understanding such as analysis, summary, and knowledge of what reading is really about, can get lost.  Although these early rudimentary skills are essential, just as important is teaching our students how to make sense of what is read.  I was anxious to explore this chapter because I want to make sure I have established the best possible foundation for my early readers.

     First off, I was reminded to be careful that I don’t get misled into thinking I am teaching effective comprehension strategies if all I am actually doing is presenting a comprehension tool.  Knowing the tool will not necessarily transfer into understanding the “big” picture of reading.  My goal is not that they can read words, but that they can independently monitor and regulate their own thinking while reading those words.  Therefore, the focus must be on strategic reading more so than individual strategies. Reading is always about making meaning from texts.  This is what I do as a reader all the time.  It is a process I don’t even think about at this point, but one that my students need to know in order for them to become proficient.  I can teach them how to make meaning by allowing them to “hear” what is going on in my mind as I decipher a text, particularly one that challenges me.  I want this process to become as much a part of reading for my students as how to hold the book.  I realize my deep thinking about what I do as a reader is actually the most authentic source I have to use when showing my children how to read for meaning.

     It is helpful to know that rereading is supported as the most useful strategy.  I plan on modeling this more often with my class.  I will read a “challenging” piece of text, share what I think it means, then I will reread and share again, revealing how much more understanding I have gained the second time.  As I constantly go through this process, my hope is that my students will make it a normal part of their reading routine.  This goes right along with self-monitoring which also does not come automatically.  It must be taught.  Here again, is another time I can share my self-monitoring techniques to help my students establish their own.

     Finally, the Daily 5 literacy framework provides the perfect time for my students to interact with their peers to increase comprehension and enjoyment.  Our “read to someone” station is a place where partners not only read to each other but engage in collaborative talk about what they have read.  As I have listened to some of their conversations, I have found it interesting to hear many of the words that I have previously used.  This obviously reinforces over and over the significance of using the right language.  If they begin now to not only “talk the talk” but also find true meaning from a text, it should stay with them forever.

Mollie Kuhn - Blog Post 5 "Utilizing Inquiry Based Learning"

Just this week we have been reading Bear Snores On  by Karma Wilson in my classroom as part of the the Guiding Readers curriculum by Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills. This story prompted many "wonderings" that my students were interested in which went right along with the Inquiry Based Literacy Standards for Kindergarten, especially standard 1. My students knew a lot about bears already, but we learned many new facts which added to their schema. We made a tree map of the facts about bears. Students used this tree map to create an informational book about bears in which they had to write complete sentences using the tree map we created as a class. 

In addition to this story, we read other books about bears throughout the week including Corduroy by Don Freeman. This started a discussion about the difference between real bears and teddy bears. We made a Venn Diagram of how they were the same and different, which led to a discussion about living and non-living things. The children brainstormed characteristics of living and non-living things, which led them to wonder about other things that might be living or non-living. They were very interested in the fact that plants were living things! We sorted things in our classroom, other animals, and objects that were living or non-living based on the characteristics we came up with. In order to help us find our information, we read other books from the library and used the internet to find out what these characteristics were, which goes right along with standard 2.1 to explore texts and make connections. 

As part of our discussion on living things, the topic of hibernation was brought up since the bear in the story is hibernating. Some of the children already knew what it was, but we took it a step further in our research to find out what their body actually does when they are hibernating. We read many other nonfiction books, as well as Time for Sleep by Denise Fleming which talks about other animals that hibernate. I assessed their learning through a sorting activity where students had to show which animals hibernated and which ones did not.  As we discussed which animals hibernate and those that do not, the children began to wonder and ask questions about the animals that did not hibernate. By doing more reading and research, we found out that some animals migrate to warmer climates and some store food for the winter. Still others do not prepare at all and have to look for food in the cold weather. As a culminating activity, the children created dens or burrows for animals to hibernate in during the winter. We used marshmallows and toothpicks for the children to build the homes for the small plastic animals we had. They had to be sure the animal would fit and have room to sleep and stay warm. They took pictures of their dens to display on a bulletin board to showcase their learning in the school. 

Throughout this study, the children were able to wonder and find out about a topic of interest to them. They were able to talk about their thoughts and communicate what they were learning through thinking maps and writings, as mentioned in standard 3.  We use thinking maps all of the time in the classroom so they could see the connection of how to communicate their findings and write them down. They are then able to share their learning with others and reflect on what they had learned throughout the process, as mentioned in standard 4. I really enjoyed guiding my students through this inquiry based learning project. Projects like these prompt more discussions and questions about topics. I look forward to January when the students are interested to learn about more animals, particularly the ones that live in the Arctic. 

Melanie Holland - November Blog Post: Routman's Chapter 8 "Teach Comprehension"

     As I read this article, I kept hearing in my mind something that I have said for years.  "Good teachers hit many standards and strategies everyday, no matter what the focus is supposed to be."  As I am going through a guided reading text with my students, I always hit skills and strategies that are not necessarily the focus of the lesson.  That to me is just good teaching.
     In the beginning of the chapter, Routman discusses how so much emphasis is being placed on reading fluency and not on understanding.  When I am working in small groups, I often have my students read the passage we are reading more than once to make sure that they can truly understand what they have read.  I tell them that we are reading once to get the words, and we read again to get the meaning.  They often get frustrated with me when I tell that books, articles, and stories should be read more than once because they want to rush and move on to the next thing.  I remind them that rereading will bring more meaning.  This usually satisfies most of them.
     I had a "that's me" moment as I was reading the top of page 123 when Routman writes about writing in the margins and underlining key passages.  I even wrote, "Me too!" in the margin beside the paragraph.  My personal nonfiction texts are often littered with marks and notes as I write while I read.  This section gave me an idea for how I could apply this strategy in my own classroom.  In our next small group sessions, I plan to bring in one of my personal books that I have read to show where I have written as I read.  While I don't want my students to start marking up their textbooks and library books, I will encourage them to make notes on the passages of which I give them copies.
     Another strategy that I want to share with my students is how I ask questions, make connections, and stop and think as I read.  When we went to D6 University earlier this month, Nicole Brown shared a giant thought bubble that could be used to show your thoughts as you read.  It looks a little silly, but it would emphasize to the students how important it is to think as you read and not just rush through the text.  I do believe I have a giant thought bubble to make.
     This chapter really gave me a lot to think about, and my plans for my small groups are now done for the next few weeks.  We've got to start thinking about our thinking!

Brittany Daly - Blog Post 4: Routman (2003), Ch. 6: Plan for and Monitor Independent Reading

In this chapter, Routman argues that independent reading time is necessary if one wants to become a more successful reader. She points out that it is often the lowest readers who need to spend a significant amount of time reading; however, these students are often pulled out during independent reading time or made to participate in a scripted reading program. Here, she references Appendix A, in which she provides strategies teachers can implement to help struggling readers. While I already use many of her suggestions (like shared reading, shared writing, journal writing, and silent sustained reading), she does make a few suggestions that I would like to try. She suggests creating original texts by using wordless picture books and allowing students to write the stories. This requires students to make observations and inferences about what they see in order to write the text.  I think this would make reading and writing more fun for students, especially if the picture book pertain to the student’s interests.

Routman also uses the topic of this chapter to establish the difference between sustained silent reading and independent reading. One of the major differences I noted is that independent reading requires a bit more work from the teacher and the students. The teacher should monitor student comprehension and teach reading skills through conferencing. Students should keep records of their reading, and together, teachers and students should set reading goals. Independent reading is the more active of the two; it requires students and teachers to be present and actively engaged. One component of independent reading that I need to better implement is record keeping. In a previous blog post, I wrote about how Routman suggests that teachers should share their own reading records with students. I need to begin keeping records of my own reading to share with my students as an example. Then, I need to make record keeping a part of my daily classroom routine. 

Stephanie Wofford-November Blog-Conferencing with students

I've really been trying to get conferences in with my students.  At the beginning of the year, I kept a notebook and did a short running record, discussed the book with my students (taking notes about what they were able to retell, probing with more questions, talking about connections...things that went along with what I had taught).  This worked well to allow me to have conversations with my students and to learn a bit about what they were struggling with as well as their strengths.  It also gave me some information about fluency.  However, having just open ended lines did not help me track progress and skills as well as a form.  So, I switched to a conferencing form.  There were some things I liked about the form.  It allowed me to see what types of books my students were choosing and what interested them as readers.  It also showed me that many of them needed a refresher in choosing just right books, or choosing interesting books based on things beyond just the cover.  I also realized that most of my students were interested in chapter books, but for whatever reason, were shying away from them.  So...I am getting ready to incorporate literature circles where they will be reading and discussing chapter books together which they had a hand in selecting.  Hopefully by experiencing the books together, they will get more out of them and develop more as readers. 
The form I was using also allowed my students to self-assess, identifying their own strengths and weaknesses.  Interestingly enough, a few realized they were choosing books which were not challenging enough for them, even though at first, they said they were just right.  A few realized they needed help figuring out what unknown words were, which tells me there's a need for a mini-lesson in that area.  One wanted to work on reading with expression/voice when reading the quotes from different characters.  Without conferencing, I would not know my students were having any of these insights into their development as readers.
Despite the positives, the form I was using didn't really help me track skill development.  It did a great job of tracking overall comprehension, but I felt that I need something that goes more in line with the standards so that I can make sure I'm touching on all of the things that I need to cover over the course of several conferences.  For that reason, I'm going to modify the form I'm using to cover both of these areas.  Overall, no matter what I'm doing or what form I'm using, conferencing with my students gives me so much insight into how they're developing as readers, and better yet, holds us all accountable for that ever so important independent reading time.

Blog for December:   Routman:  Chapter 4:  Teach with a Sense of Urgency

Elda Hymas

      In order to help students become better readers:

o   demonstrate

o   provide a classroom library

o   give students time to choose and read

o   teach strategies

o   evaluate, give feedback and help set goals

The Optimal Learning Model (p.44) helps guide and support teachers and students.  (Dependent = how to do it; shared demonstration = children collaborate; guided practice = using and applying previous learning; and independent practice = do tasks with minimal assistance.)

            I have always told my students that it is their job to make me obsolete, give me a rest, etc.   That is why seeing the big picture is more important than the parts.  We can understand the whole picture by talking or sharing understanding.  Students can deepen their understanding through the 80 (reading) 20 (writing) approach. 

            I liked the laid out “Optimal Learning Model” and many checklist the author included.  In a ESOL my goal is to help students become the best learners they can be.