What evidence suggests that teaching practices have changed?
In my classroom I have incorporated many ideas we discussed in our study group. Some of these ideas were making text to world connections by using information we discussed in Social Studies about China's history and connecting it to the book How Many Days to America. I really felt that by working throughout the year on connections that when we did the text to world connection they really had a grasp on what was going on in the story. In chapter 7: Questioning, I have tried to do more with thinking out loud and all the questions I have as a reader. I have also used many of the books suggested in the index to go along with a specific reading strategy.
I am consiously using text/text, text/self, & text/world connections in our literature discussions, decoding practice, and my questioning. Have also tried to bring in more inferring into our group discussions (Wednesday Surprise). Also just the last couple of weeks I used some cartoons to help teach concepts of homophones & multiple meaning words as well as the necessity of background knowledge and careful attention to details. Have tried to bring in refernce books/tools whenever possible to further understanding of text and vocabulary. Unfortunately, I was planning on doing a small unit on information books but have not been able to get to them. I continue to try to balance the use of the Houghton Mifflin small readers with other children's literature for richer discussions.
The resources in Part 3 will be especially helpful as we move into more guided reading with trade books next year.
What evidence suggests that student achievement is improving?
My students seem to have deeper thinking when they are reading their independent books. This is apparent when they use what they learned in my questioning lessons and shared them when we discuss. I think that they are making more text to world connections and not always sticking with text to self connections. They also have become little teachers and are always trying to find books to use for a specific reading strategy. It's been pretty funny when they say, "Mrs. Conaty you could use this book to make a connection or this could show questions."
My assessment has been mainly from journal writing, etc. but no concrete assessments at this time
What evidence suggests that the goals of the study group have been met?
Teachers learn so much from each other and throughout this study group I have learned so many ideas and suggestions that other teachers use. I have tried to visit their rooms to see how things work. I think sharing with each other gives people a sense of accomplish and pride. It also gives many people adult time and time to reflect on what they are doing.
What I have taken away from working with a study group is hearing the many great ideas that other teachers have and being able to discuss and bounce ideas off from each other - the professional development that occurs.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
March 12, 2009 Meeting
This being our last meeting we reviewed chapters 11 and 12 and shared what are our goals on implementing the strategies into our classrooms. Here are our notes:
Chapter 11:
The best part was it focused on "what's next?" Many teachers come to that point to try to determine how do I know students were successful and where do I go now. It emphasized:
-gradual release of responsibility (modeling --> guided practice--> moving toward independence--> applying in their everyday reading)
- monitor and conference with students to have them ezxplain how their thinking helped them be better readers
- strategy instruction over time can deepen understanding (we saw it as making that invisibile thinking become real and students noticing what their brains do)
-This chapter was very helpful because it gave real clear examples on how to integrate science and social studies into ELA.
- It was also reaffirming to us to use the same book more than once to use as different focus lessons of various strategies.
Chapter 12: How do we assess comprehension:
This was a quick and easy chapter to review on how to assess students are thinking about thinking as they read. The list below are some of the suggestions listed in the book and others we talked about.
listening to kids as they read (look for thinking)
listening in on conversations
observing expressions and body language
charting responses and conversations in group discussions
conferring with students
anecdotal records
scripting what kids say
examine work samples (shared stratgy response sheets)
used rubric from Voyager training (MPIR)
We really enjoyed the book and have been implementing the strategies throughout the year. We each like how it helps our students think more clearly and with a purpose everytime they read. We also liked many of the resources mentioned on the blog and plan to continue playing with this over time. Feel free to come and talk to us if you would like!
A recent article came out about the pendulum swing of education and how strategy use if done correctly should not be on the wring side of the swing.
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/853.cfm
Another article about Reading Comprehension posters:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/205.cfm
Chapter 11:
The best part was it focused on "what's next?" Many teachers come to that point to try to determine how do I know students were successful and where do I go now. It emphasized:
-gradual release of responsibility (modeling --> guided practice--> moving toward independence--> applying in their everyday reading)
- monitor and conference with students to have them ezxplain how their thinking helped them be better readers
- strategy instruction over time can deepen understanding (we saw it as making that invisibile thinking become real and students noticing what their brains do)
-This chapter was very helpful because it gave real clear examples on how to integrate science and social studies into ELA.
- It was also reaffirming to us to use the same book more than once to use as different focus lessons of various strategies.
Chapter 12: How do we assess comprehension:
This was a quick and easy chapter to review on how to assess students are thinking about thinking as they read. The list below are some of the suggestions listed in the book and others we talked about.
listening to kids as they read (look for thinking)
listening in on conversations
observing expressions and body language
charting responses and conversations in group discussions
conferring with students
anecdotal records
scripting what kids say
examine work samples (shared stratgy response sheets)
used rubric from Voyager training (MPIR)
We really enjoyed the book and have been implementing the strategies throughout the year. We each like how it helps our students think more clearly and with a purpose everytime they read. We also liked many of the resources mentioned on the blog and plan to continue playing with this over time. Feel free to come and talk to us if you would like!
A recent article came out about the pendulum swing of education and how strategy use if done correctly should not be on the wring side of the swing.
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/853.cfm
Another article about Reading Comprehension posters:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/205.cfm
February 12, 2009 Meeting
Chapter 9: Determining Importance in Text
- discussed highlighting as we read vs taking notes in the columns
- teach students how to read through NF text strategically b/c it is set up a certain way (see bullets on page 120
-We need to be more proactive of using more NF text in guided reading groups b/c we tend to focus on fiction (referenced the leveled book room in the library)
-discussed how we could use Time for Kids as a ways to integrate this strategy into literacy work stations:
-Shared how some of us used the lessons on 122-127 to organize what we read with nonfiction posters- made link to how this would be a great way to tie in any NF research project and teaching the NF conventions of print
Chapter 10: Synthesizing
-All shared that the word synthesizing is scarier than it really needs to be and it is teachable in all grades
- led a discussion on how it is sharing our thinking in response to text (connection to writing about reading genre study in writing workshop) with reading response journals (F+P)
-if we combine any thinking from various sources that is synthesizing
-the example on page 153 made it more clear for us on how sudents could organize their thinking
-This strategy was the one that we felt was where students truly took their strategies to come to any new understanding. This would be the Thinking About and Beyond the Text according to Fountas and Pinnell.
- discussed highlighting as we read vs taking notes in the columns
- teach students how to read through NF text strategically b/c it is set up a certain way (see bullets on page 120
-We need to be more proactive of using more NF text in guided reading groups b/c we tend to focus on fiction (referenced the leveled book room in the library)
-discussed how we could use Time for Kids as a ways to integrate this strategy into literacy work stations:
-Shared how some of us used the lessons on 122-127 to organize what we read with nonfiction posters- made link to how this would be a great way to tie in any NF research project and teaching the NF conventions of print
Chapter 10: Synthesizing
-All shared that the word synthesizing is scarier than it really needs to be and it is teachable in all grades
- led a discussion on how it is sharing our thinking in response to text (connection to writing about reading genre study in writing workshop) with reading response journals (F+P)
-if we combine any thinking from various sources that is synthesizing
-the example on page 153 made it more clear for us on how sudents could organize their thinking
-This strategy was the one that we felt was where students truly took their strategies to come to any new understanding. This would be the Thinking About and Beyond the Text according to Fountas and Pinnell.
January 15, 2009 Meeting
Chapter 6: Making Connections
We all shared how we felt pretty good about teaching connections (t->s, t->t, and t->w). This is a great strategy to get students thinking about what they already know about a topic as they read.
We liked the lessons connected with the 'Pitfalls" section. We talked about explicilty teaching for these pitfalls:
(1) relevant connections
(2) not sure which type
(3) what really is a text to world connection
Discussed the use of a KWL before you read to get that thinking 'primed' up.
The MOST IMPORTANT FACT was related to a quote on page 80, "she would stop and ask herself how the connection helped her understand the story." This reminded us that this metacognition (thinking about thinking) should all lead us to a better understanding of what we read.
Chapter 7: Questioning
"We must strive to create classrooms that celebrate passionate curiosity.
We really liked all the lessons that were included with this section. Some of us tried one or two of the lessons and it launched great discussions with our students. We really liked the suggestions in the book.
The biggest learning for us was that this was not students creating surface level questions for partners to answer. These were true questions that we did not know what the answer of it was right away. However, it is our job as a reader to find a logical answer using resources (rereading, look for answers in other places, infer, etc.). This discussion revolved around the section sincere questions versus assessment questions.
All of our questions expanded our thinking of the text.
Chapter 8: Visualizing and Inferring
We spent a conference day on these chapters and these lessons. So we did not spend a lot of time on these topics. But these are some of the main points that were discussed:
-Visualizing depends on background knowledge- its okay if mental images are different as long as they use text clues
- visualizing can lead to inferring (we shared how we used a lot of picture books and cartoons to practice visualizing what happened between slides --> inferring
- scaffolded a set of lessons geared for third - visit room 200 @ NTH to check them out
-we revisited the importance of rereading to check for meaning
REVIEWED:
Some of us like post-its- others prefer Fountas and Pinnell's thinkmarks for coding text as we read with our thinking.
OTHER GREAT RESOURCES WE TALKED ABOUT:
Reading with Meaning by Debbie Miller
Starting with Comprehension by Andie Cunningham
Inside the Box by Linda Donohue
We all shared how we felt pretty good about teaching connections (t->s, t->t, and t->w). This is a great strategy to get students thinking about what they already know about a topic as they read.
We liked the lessons connected with the 'Pitfalls" section. We talked about explicilty teaching for these pitfalls:
(1) relevant connections
(2) not sure which type
(3) what really is a text to world connection
Discussed the use of a KWL before you read to get that thinking 'primed' up.
The MOST IMPORTANT FACT was related to a quote on page 80, "she would stop and ask herself how the connection helped her understand the story." This reminded us that this metacognition (thinking about thinking) should all lead us to a better understanding of what we read.
Chapter 7: Questioning
"We must strive to create classrooms that celebrate passionate curiosity.
We really liked all the lessons that were included with this section. Some of us tried one or two of the lessons and it launched great discussions with our students. We really liked the suggestions in the book.
The biggest learning for us was that this was not students creating surface level questions for partners to answer. These were true questions that we did not know what the answer of it was right away. However, it is our job as a reader to find a logical answer using resources (rereading, look for answers in other places, infer, etc.). This discussion revolved around the section sincere questions versus assessment questions.
All of our questions expanded our thinking of the text.
Chapter 8: Visualizing and Inferring
We spent a conference day on these chapters and these lessons. So we did not spend a lot of time on these topics. But these are some of the main points that were discussed:
-Visualizing depends on background knowledge- its okay if mental images are different as long as they use text clues
- visualizing can lead to inferring (we shared how we used a lot of picture books and cartoons to practice visualizing what happened between slides --> inferring
- scaffolded a set of lessons geared for third - visit room 200 @ NTH to check them out
-we revisited the importance of rereading to check for meaning
REVIEWED:
Some of us like post-its- others prefer Fountas and Pinnell's thinkmarks for coding text as we read with our thinking.
OTHER GREAT RESOURCES WE TALKED ABOUT:
Reading with Meaning by Debbie Miller
Starting with Comprehension by Andie Cunningham
Inside the Box by Linda Donohue
Sunday, December 28, 2008
December 18, 2008 Meeting
We read chapter 5: Choosing the right book for modeling/practicing comprehension instruction.
These were the major points we discussed:
-Consider purpose audience, genre and writing guality of the text
-The book should be engaging
-Be sure to use turn and talk strategy
-Choose books you love
-Its okay to model with challenging text
-We determined how to teach students to choose just right books. We referenced the 'first twenty days' of Fountas and Pinnell 3-6.
Ann shared how she is using Harvey and Goudvis' new kit for comprehension instruction. Check out the kit at the link below:
http://www.comprehensiontoolkit.com
We sorted through a collection of picture books determining which strategy each book would be useful for. Visit room 200 at NTH to check out or borrow from our Comprehension Mentor Text Library. A listing of books and which strategy(s) they could teach will be posted soon.
These were the major points we discussed:
-Consider purpose audience, genre and writing guality of the text
-The book should be engaging
-Be sure to use turn and talk strategy
-Choose books you love
-Its okay to model with challenging text
-We determined how to teach students to choose just right books. We referenced the 'first twenty days' of Fountas and Pinnell 3-6.
Ann shared how she is using Harvey and Goudvis' new kit for comprehension instruction. Check out the kit at the link below:
http://www.comprehensiontoolkit.com
We sorted through a collection of picture books determining which strategy each book would be useful for. Visit room 200 at NTH to check out or borrow from our Comprehension Mentor Text Library. A listing of books and which strategy(s) they could teach will be posted soon.
November 13, 2008 Meeting
During this meeting we read the first four chapters of the book. The following were our main findings about Reading Comprehension Instruction.
- Explicit modeling of thinking/strategy use is vital for student success.
- Reading is thinking!
- All major strategies should be taught in every grade level.
*gradual release of responsibility and build independence
*integrate throughout day in reading and content areas
* 6-8 week units of: asking questions, making connections, visualizing, drawing inferences, determining important information, synethisize/summarize, repair comprehension (see overview of each in chapter 2)
- Teach with short text: picture books, poems, magazine articles
* be thoughtful on the text you choose
- There is a need for lots of guided and indendent practice.
- Contradiction with speed of fluency because to build comprehension we need to slow our thinking down.
-Students can code thinking in a variety of ways: post-its, thinkmarks, various graphic organizers.
- Explicit modeling of thinking/strategy use is vital for student success.
- Reading is thinking!
- All major strategies should be taught in every grade level.
*gradual release of responsibility and build independence
*integrate throughout day in reading and content areas
* 6-8 week units of: asking questions, making connections, visualizing, drawing inferences, determining important information, synethisize/summarize, repair comprehension (see overview of each in chapter 2)
- Teach with short text: picture books, poems, magazine articles
* be thoughtful on the text you choose
- There is a need for lots of guided and indendent practice.
- Contradiction with speed of fluency because to build comprehension we need to slow our thinking down.
-Students can code thinking in a variety of ways: post-its, thinkmarks, various graphic organizers.
Group Participants
Natalia Conaty- 3rd Grade Teacher
Ann Frye- 3rd Grade Teacher
Phyllis Kaufman - AIS
Patrick Patterson - Literacy Leader/ AIS
Deb Richards - 2nd Grade Teacher
Ann Frye- 3rd Grade Teacher
Phyllis Kaufman - AIS
Patrick Patterson - Literacy Leader/ AIS
Deb Richards - 2nd Grade Teacher
Friday, October 31, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
