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.

Emphasize Shared Reading Blog Post 4 April Hollis

Reggie Routman does a terrific job explaining what a shared reading experience should look like in the chapter Emphasize Shared Reading. Shared reading can be done using a variety of text: nonfiction, picture books, short stories, newspapers, plays, poetry, chants, novels, textbooks, and periodicals.  There are many benefits to shared reading. For example, students who are exposed to shared reading will have more confidence, fluency, and word familiarity as well as practice in phonemic awareness and phonics. In addition, shared reading is also cost effective and works across the curriculum. Instead of multiple copies only one copy is needed that can be projected onto the board for the entire class to see.  According to Routman, shared reading is a great way for struggling readers to follow along and listen as the teacher reads and thinks aloud and invites participation.

At first I was confused between a read aloud and shared reading. After further research it became evident that there were some differences. Shared reading is exactly that a shared experience between teachers and students. I found that this is a perfect opportunity to model fluency. Also, I use my shared reading time to model a variety of strategies. Afterwards, students would take what we learned and try it independently while I worked with a guided reading group. I would encourage all teachers to incorporate shared reading into their ELA blocks on a daily basis.

Mark Lowe

Mark Lowe

I really liked the idea of sharing with students why to read and helping them find reasons to read away from purely academic reasons. Too often we focus too much on reading just for academic reasons and not enough on finding reasons to read for enjoyment. I think that too often we try to create too much of a divide between what we do at school and what can be done recreationally. When I looked at some of her reasons that she listed in the chapter (looking at reviews, wanting to know what’s next, and browsing through book stores) I see a lot of similarities between them and what we do with film and pop culture. We go to reviews for choosing a movie to watch, movie sequels are often the most popular and browsing through bookstores is no different from flipping through channels or Netflix. In recent years I have become more and more convinced that the best way to improve reading with students is not with focusing on their reading levels, but more about focusing on what they are interested in, whether its sports, science, teen dramas or what I have had lots of success with in (super-hero)comics. We have made reading too much of a chore for students and need to look for more ways that we can get through to their interest and find a way to get them to WANT to read.  

Olivia McNorrill - Post #4, Miller, Section 2

Olivia McNorrill – Miller, Section 2: Why Not? What Works?

Section 2 of “No More Independent Reading without Support” by Miller and Moss provides further insight and supporting research as to why scaffolded independent reading at school is important. Scaffolded Silent Reading (ScSR) is far more than Silent Sustained Reading (SSR), Independent Reading (IR), Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) or any other similar program. A commonality shared by all of these is time. Meaning, that time is allotted during the school day for reading. However, key differences that stand out are explicit instructions on how, what, why readers read; teacher support, monitoring, and assessment; and students sharing what they have read.

There are a great many aspects to being a reader than just reading words. Readers make a variety of choices, read based on current interests or moods, and sometimes even choose what they will read by a cover design. Modeling book selection strategies is key to developing productive readers. Readers need to understand how to make informed decisions about themselves as a reader. As the various research mentioned by Miller supported, readers need to know how to select books that are interesting and challenging yet not too difficult to read in a variety of genres. Not only that, students need to also be taught how to read books from those different genres, understand the text, “think more deeply about a text” (Miller, 23), and how to discuss these with others.

While reading this section, I was reminded of an experience I had that transformed how I approached reading. As a college student taking an American Literature course, I was required to read across genres about life in Colonial America. Doing so made my understanding of that time period transform from a “2-dimensional” knowledge to a “3-dimensional” understanding. How was that transforming? My instructor taught me how to make choices on various genres through sound advice and guidance. After I read the text, the professor modeled and guided us through how to understand what we had read. But what really furthered my ability as a reader was discussing texts with fellow classmates and learning from their perspectives. What may have been difficult for me to grasp in one genre, was enlightening in another or through another reader. My understanding as a reader began to grow further and connections across texts deepened. The more genres I read and discussed, the more my mental imaging developed and my understanding grew. Hence, my transforming as a reader!

As an Early Childhood educator, modeling how to be a productive reader is critical. These young learners need to build a strong reading foundation from the very beginning.  It is a real challenge to develop these skills due to a variety of previous reading experiences but it is one that can be achieved through modeling, persistence, variety, and support. Had I personally received those reading strategies sooner, I can only imagine how I would have developed and succeeded as a reader sooner regardless of the subject. My desire has always been to build and foster strong reading skills in my students. While I strive for this as an educator, I have a stronger urgency of instilling that in my students. Miller has encouraged, reinforced, and inspired me to push my students further.

Blog Post 4: November: Tiffany Thompson: Section 2: Why not? What Works? (Miller/Moss)

   While I very much understand the importance of independent reading, I am still struggling with the most beneficial way to set the stage for my kindergarteners to learn and grow into successful, independent readers. 

  My class is made of students at very diverse stages of reading.  I have some that still cannot identify letters, some that are working on letter sounds, a few that are working hard to learn sight words, and a couple of students that are reading.  To address this, I have my students in differentiate learning groups during ELA workshop time.  My question is:  “Am I pushing the ones that cannot read too hard?”  I think I have created a balanced literacy program but during the course of this class, have been questioning my teaching practices.

   I like the ideology of the ScSr as opposed to the traditional SSR.  I have reconfirmed the notion that my classroom library truly needs some help.  I need to reorganize the books I have in a way that is more productive, efficient, and effective.  I may even need to work on a few grants to provide books and magazines from the ten genres.

  For five and six year olds, what is the magic number of minutes I should devote to independent reading?  Currently, each student has a book basket containing ten to fifteen books.  The books are easy readers, concepts books, predictable books, and a few leveled books.  Students are given opportunities throughout the day to get his/her book basket.  I switch the book baskets regularly so students are introduced to new books.  There are also books in the classroom library and themed books in many of the centers of the classroom (such as the math, home living, and science center).

  I agree with the information provided in Figure 2-4.  I exhibit many of the practices mentioned but I know I need to do better with postreading responses.  This is the challenge I have placed upon myself.  I hope to do more running records and miscue analysis as students begin to read independently.

  I plan to continue this journey of discovering the best practices to help my students bloom into happy, well-rounded, thoughtful, and empowered readers!

Marie Duncan Blog #6 Conferencing with My Focus Group: Observations

I will forever be the student (and not just the teacher) in my classroom.  I have been taking random notes during reading conferences with my students for years, but our professional readings have encouraged me to dig a little deeper.  Whoever left your reading conference template at the copier, I thank you.  It may have been you, Dr. Turnage.  After experimenting with various forms, I liked the half-page template that focused on about eight questions.  These questions are simple.  "What are you reading?"  "Why did you pick this book?"  "What is it about?"  My favorite questions are the toughest for my students.  "What are your strengths as a reader?"  Also, "What are your goals?"  Few students are able to answer these last two questions but their peers don't have a problem coming up with answers about others!  I have been amazed to see how quickly fellow classmates, in small groups of three, can easily praise others after they read.  To see the look on a third grader's face after receiving positive comments from a peer....I can see the message being absorbed into their brain....oh, what joy!  With my focus group, encouragement and suggestions from their wonderful, caring teacher just seems to bounce off their precious heads.

So, I have once again become amazed at what I learn from my students.  What your young peers think of you seems to matter much more than an adult....mom, grandparents, or teacher.  Why not use this to our advantage as an instructor of children?  Here is a positive way to let peers influence peers....to become stronger, more confident readers who are growing and learning.  Friends teaching friends....relationships in my classroom are growing along with reading skills.  How cool!  

November Blog: Erin McAbee Chapter 8- Teach Comprehension (Routman)

           When I was going through elementary school, I remember being taught to read for comprehension. Which I feel fortunate to have had that type of learning environment, because from reading this chapter that hasn't always been the case in schools. Recently, I had a conversation with a family member and we were discussing reading and school. This family member is a few years older than myself and stated than when she was going through elementary school, comprehension was not emphasized and it was more about reading the words quickly. I found that interesting that the emphasis of reading hasn't always been comprehension like it seems now. Isn't that what we want to do as teachers; make sure our students understand what they're reading? I know this particular family member does not enjoy reading and said she felt like she was never taught that reading could be fun.
            As I'm thinking back to that conversation and having read the chapter of teaching comprehension, I couldn't help but think maybe if her teachers would of taught more useful strategies and taught better how to make connections maybe that love of reading wouldn't have been in lost.  I know there are strategies that help with comprehension and from reading this text it is very important not to go overboard with focusing on the strategies, but use them as a tool for extending and facilitating comprehension.
           As a first grade teacher, we are still teaching the fundamentals of reading and learning how to read letters and form them into words and then sentences. But as we teach the basics of reading, we are also teaching how to make sense of what they're reading. I liked the three questions that Routman said we need to teach our students to ask themselves as they read: Does this make sense?, Does this sound like language?, Do I know what is happening in the text? In my classroom, we talked about the goal of reading is to make sure we know what we're reading and these questions are something I want my students to become familiar with.
        I like how Routman suggested making our own reading/thinking process visible. Sometimes I assume students know how to go back and re-read something they don't understand, but I should never assume students know how to do something. Modeling the process of re-reading and what I do as a reader will be very beneficial and helpful for my students. I'm challenged to go into my classroom and use the useful strategies explained more in depth in this chapter.

Leslie Turnage Routman Chapter 3

This chapter is about sharing the love of reading with your students.  I have to admit, I do not really do this personally.  I have talked to them about books I read as a child.  I have talked to them about the love of several authors and how it is important to find something you are interested in and enjoy when you are reading for pleasure.   I do not remember teachers ever sharing with me about books they like to read.  I am not as much of a reader as I should be, especially during the school year.  I do not read for enjoyment unless it is the newspaper.  But as I read this book by Routman, I can even talk about the reading I do with emails and the newspaper.

I need to do a better job with just reading several different books and share those with the students. This year I tried to do something different than having them keep a reading log and having them write a summary or get parents to sign.  We did book talks.  I think it went really well, except I did not probably give them long enough to share.  However, the students enjoyed it and we were doing well.  But I did stop it because I was wanting them to do Accelerated Reader tests and they were not getting that done.   Now that most of them are able to get some tests done, I need to think about going back to them doing the book talks.  I would really like for them to do something like literature circles instead of the guided reading during reading centers.  This way, a group of students would be reading them same book and really discuss and go into depth with it.

After reading the article, I think I am going to start having them make a list of their favorite books and share with each other.  I do let them share the books they are reading during independent reading time and have found that a group will read the same book.

I want my students to enjoy reading and now that it is something that many people do not just to learn, but because they enjoy it.  This is my goal for my students.

November Blog; Kyra Woodyard: Routman Chapter 5

Chapter 5 from Routman's "Reading Essentials" is about organizing your classroom library as well as the school library. I found this chapter helpful for my classroom. I have struggled with my classroom library, how should it look? What kind of books should I have? How do I know my kids enjoy having the access to the library?
In this chapter, Routman discusses giving the students the chance to pick what they want to see in their classroom library. Within the first few days of school, ask questions and chart what they want to see in the classroom library. I think this idea could be used in any part of the school year, it allows the students to make choices and have the freedom to read what they would like. I also loved that Routman mentions we should take a day to allow our students to organize our classroom libraries. We can give them a set of guidelines and then allow them to organize the books. At the end of the day, we teachers are not the one rummaging around our classroom libraries, our students are the ones searching for a good book to read. Giving them the opportunity to organize the library in a way that makes sense to them would make it easier for the students to find something they would enjoy reading.
Routman mentions in one school she visited, the classroom focused only on non-fiction books to teach with and this allowed those students science and social studies testing scores to sky rocket. I found this very interesting because Routman mentions once you survey kids about the types of books they want to see, they are gravitate towards non-fiction books. As far as I can remember when I was in elementary school, I was the weird child who always checked out non-fiction books on dog breeds every time I had the chance. To this day I can point out majority dog breeds and tell you a few facts I learned reading those books. Serious nerd alert!!!
Routman points out in any bookstore you walk into.. the best seller books are not sitting on a shelf with just the book's spine facing us. Instead, the entire book, corner to corner is accessible for our eyes. It grabs our attention, so why not do that with some of our classroom library books? We should take the time to make a display in our classroom and continuously rotate the books in display. I think rotating the books based on what our curriculum is at the time is a great idea, it would gives my students more resources to what we are learning at the moment and may even benefit some struggling learners.