Ch 4 Motivating Students to Take Control of Their Reading
Creators of the academic literacy course sought to develop classrooms what fostered both the sense of community necessary to support students’ engagement with reading and the development of students’ individual identities and motivations as readers. Therefore instruction was developed in both social and personal dimensions.
Social dimension
In order for the course to be successful the authors knew that the students must be on board with them. Teachers needed to create a sense that it was cool to be in that community. The authors used the following methods to achieve this goal.
1) The explained that reading was not something that was taught once and for all in the primary grades.
2) They assured students that they could learn strategies that would help them to become stronger readers.
3) Instructors gave students simplified definitions of terms that would be used throughout the course.
4) Encouraged kids that it was cool to be confused about certain types of texts. To this means they invited students to bring in written material that they could make sense of and challenge the instructor to try to read it. Students challenged their teachers with lyrics to rap music and computer manuals. This proved to the students that they had skills in areas that the teacher did not and that they were not the only ones who struggled with certain texts.
5) Teachers helped students to craft a more specific definition for reading.
“When a person is reading a text with their mouth and lips, and their mind is not focusing on the certain text, they’re not reading. Reading is reading the text in your head. For example when I was reading my SSR book, I read with my lips, but my head was thinking about what I should eat later, and the book was about murder.”
This understanding shows that reading involves mental processes of which a reader can be explicitly aware and therefore can control.
6) Instructors used a teen’s self-absorption as an ally, encouraging students to think about
how they though as they read and to compare that with a friends thoughts.
7) Teachers used the following analogy to help students understand metacognition.
“ I put two chairs …positioned like seats…on a bus. I sat in the first chair and pretended I was trying to read but kept getting distracted… I told the students, ‘ok. That’s me reading.’ Then I left the book in the first chair and moved to the second chair. ‘Here’s me watching myself get distracted.’… Then I started talking as thought I was reporting what the ‘me with the book’ was doing…. ‘Oh, there you go again, you’re e checking out all the cute ones. Oh, yeah, aren’t you supposed to be finishing reading that for class? Well, so you say it’s boring?’ I told them that is me being metacognitive.” Pg 58
8) Once students were able to talk about their reading problems they were given 4 ideas of what to do to clarify confusion when reading.
· Ignore the unclear part and read on to see if it gets clearer
· Reread the unclear part
· Reread the sentence before the unclear part
· Try to connect the part to something you already know.
The second part of chapter 4 explains how the personal dimension of the apprenticeship program was developed. But we are out of time for that today.
Y’all come back now. Ya hear?
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Developing Academic Literacy
Ch 3 Developing Academic Literacy
Is it possible for students who are past elementary grades to develop academic literacies, or is it too late? It is not too late. Says who? Say the authors of Reading for Understanding. And as they say, “The proof is in the pudding.”
These women conducted a study from Oct of 96 through May of 97 in which they gave specific instruction in academic literacies to the entire freshman class at the high school where two of the authors worked. Their results showed an improvement in reading comprehension by an average of two years, as measured by standardized reading tests. Sound like something you want for your class? Then read on.
The authors believed strongly that all freshmen could benefit from becoming more conscious of the mental strategies involved in reading different types of texts. They also believed that diverse readers would learn from each other, and did not want to establish a school culture in which only the so-called slow readers improved their reading abilities. And so, a plan was crafted.
The course was designed as an inquiry into reading, with teachers as master readers and students as their apprentices. Students were invited into a yearlong inquiry that would explore what reading is and what proficient readers do when they read. They were encouraged to get to know themselves as readers and to build their motivation for reading.
Key instructional strategies employed in all four units were silent sustained reading (SSR), reciprocal teaching (RT) and explicit instruction in self-monitoring and cognitive strategies that facilitate reading a variety of texts.
As I read this chapter I became very excited, wanting to discover what these strategies were and to determine whether or not they would be applicable and effective in my classroom. And so I read on…
Is it possible for students who are past elementary grades to develop academic literacies, or is it too late? It is not too late. Says who? Say the authors of Reading for Understanding. And as they say, “The proof is in the pudding.”
These women conducted a study from Oct of 96 through May of 97 in which they gave specific instruction in academic literacies to the entire freshman class at the high school where two of the authors worked. Their results showed an improvement in reading comprehension by an average of two years, as measured by standardized reading tests. Sound like something you want for your class? Then read on.
The authors believed strongly that all freshmen could benefit from becoming more conscious of the mental strategies involved in reading different types of texts. They also believed that diverse readers would learn from each other, and did not want to establish a school culture in which only the so-called slow readers improved their reading abilities. And so, a plan was crafted.
The course was designed as an inquiry into reading, with teachers as master readers and students as their apprentices. Students were invited into a yearlong inquiry that would explore what reading is and what proficient readers do when they read. They were encouraged to get to know themselves as readers and to build their motivation for reading.
Key instructional strategies employed in all four units were silent sustained reading (SSR), reciprocal teaching (RT) and explicit instruction in self-monitoring and cognitive strategies that facilitate reading a variety of texts.
As I read this chapter I became very excited, wanting to discover what these strategies were and to determine whether or not they would be applicable and effective in my classroom. And so I read on…
Thursday, June 24, 2010
What conditions promote literacy development?
Hello again to all my classmates in cyberspace. Today we will have a look at the idea of what conditions promote literacy development? These thoughts come from my class book Reading for Understanding. The authors of Reading for Understanding have developed four dimensions of classroom life that they believe are necessary to support adolescent reading development.
First of all, the social dimension must be addresses. Getting teens to attempt any activity in which they may fail in front of their peers is risky. In my experience, teens are not willing to participate in activities that lead to embarrassment. Therefore, authors here recommend that a safe environment be created in the classroom. This would be an environment of nurture, a social environment in which students can begin to reveal their understandings and their struggles without fear of public embarrassment. On a personal note, I see this as extremely difficult to make a reality. Students may pay lip service to your wishes, but when the cat is away… I once had a student that I felt was very respectful in all ways. However, I heard through the grapevine that outside of my door he was unkind to his classmates, calling names etc. So while this is your goal…. Another aspect of the social dimension ties in students’ need to recognize that they each bring something of value to the collective plate. In addition, the social dimension is where students are motivated to read and see its value.
Secondly, there must also be a personal dimension in place. The personal dimension of a reading apprenticeship classroom focuses on developing individual students’ relationships to reading in a variety of ways. Examples of developing reader identity include writing and talking with others regarding: previous reading experiences, reading habits, likes and dislikes, reasons for reading, and setting and checking goals for personal reading development. The personal dimension involves the development of students’ identities and self-awareness as readers, as well as their purpose s for reading and goals for reading improvement.
The third dimension is cognitive. This dimension’s focus is on developing readers’ mental processes, including their problem – solving strategies, and increasing students’ repertoire of cognitive strategies for making sense of texts. Multiple problem solving strategies to assist and restore comprehension occur in this dimension. Examples include, questioning texts, talking to the text, visualizing the text, making connections between the text and prior knowledge, rereading selections, summarizing, retelling or paraphrasing, and representing the text in a graphic form. (Many of these strategies will be detailed in future chapters.)
Lastly, the knowledge-building dimension works to identify and expand the kinds of knowledge readers bring to a text and further develop through interaction with that text. In order to become strong readers, students must have some prior knowledge to attach the new information to. They need to know something about the topic that they are reading in order to make connections. This is because readers do not absorb information from the text but rather actively mobilize their own knowledge structures to make meaning in interaction with the text . Therefore, in order for students to be successful in reading a text teachers must first provide preliminary activities that will build a knowledge base. These activities can include: brainstorming knowledge about the topic, identifying conflicting knowledge about the topic, imagining yourself in situations similar to those that will be encouraged in the text, and exploring conceptual vocabulary to be encountered, etc.
One additional thought to keep in mind when defining factors that promote reading in the Reading Apprenticeship approach is the importance of talking things through. Central to the application of each of these dimensions in this methodology is the metacognitive (thinking about thinking) conversation that must occur both internally and externally. The conversation is one in which the teacher and students consider their own mental processes. They talk about their reading strategies. Therefore, these four dimensions of classroom life that support reading apprenticeship are linked by the key enterprise of talking together about making sense of texts.
The coming chapters of this work give us a glimpse of the Reading Apprenticeship in action in the classroom. I hope that my next blog will be written better. I apologize for this one. I am used to doing things over until they are my personal best. This summer one of the many things I am learning is that when given time restraints I cannot always do that. It is making me crazy to turn in work that I do not feel meets my standards, but I have to learn to deal with that.
See you soon.
First of all, the social dimension must be addresses. Getting teens to attempt any activity in which they may fail in front of their peers is risky. In my experience, teens are not willing to participate in activities that lead to embarrassment. Therefore, authors here recommend that a safe environment be created in the classroom. This would be an environment of nurture, a social environment in which students can begin to reveal their understandings and their struggles without fear of public embarrassment. On a personal note, I see this as extremely difficult to make a reality. Students may pay lip service to your wishes, but when the cat is away… I once had a student that I felt was very respectful in all ways. However, I heard through the grapevine that outside of my door he was unkind to his classmates, calling names etc. So while this is your goal…. Another aspect of the social dimension ties in students’ need to recognize that they each bring something of value to the collective plate. In addition, the social dimension is where students are motivated to read and see its value.
Secondly, there must also be a personal dimension in place. The personal dimension of a reading apprenticeship classroom focuses on developing individual students’ relationships to reading in a variety of ways. Examples of developing reader identity include writing and talking with others regarding: previous reading experiences, reading habits, likes and dislikes, reasons for reading, and setting and checking goals for personal reading development. The personal dimension involves the development of students’ identities and self-awareness as readers, as well as their purpose s for reading and goals for reading improvement.
The third dimension is cognitive. This dimension’s focus is on developing readers’ mental processes, including their problem – solving strategies, and increasing students’ repertoire of cognitive strategies for making sense of texts. Multiple problem solving strategies to assist and restore comprehension occur in this dimension. Examples include, questioning texts, talking to the text, visualizing the text, making connections between the text and prior knowledge, rereading selections, summarizing, retelling or paraphrasing, and representing the text in a graphic form. (Many of these strategies will be detailed in future chapters.)
Lastly, the knowledge-building dimension works to identify and expand the kinds of knowledge readers bring to a text and further develop through interaction with that text. In order to become strong readers, students must have some prior knowledge to attach the new information to. They need to know something about the topic that they are reading in order to make connections. This is because readers do not absorb information from the text but rather actively mobilize their own knowledge structures to make meaning in interaction with the text . Therefore, in order for students to be successful in reading a text teachers must first provide preliminary activities that will build a knowledge base. These activities can include: brainstorming knowledge about the topic, identifying conflicting knowledge about the topic, imagining yourself in situations similar to those that will be encouraged in the text, and exploring conceptual vocabulary to be encountered, etc.
One additional thought to keep in mind when defining factors that promote reading in the Reading Apprenticeship approach is the importance of talking things through. Central to the application of each of these dimensions in this methodology is the metacognitive (thinking about thinking) conversation that must occur both internally and externally. The conversation is one in which the teacher and students consider their own mental processes. They talk about their reading strategies. Therefore, these four dimensions of classroom life that support reading apprenticeship are linked by the key enterprise of talking together about making sense of texts.
The coming chapters of this work give us a glimpse of the Reading Apprenticeship in action in the classroom. I hope that my next blog will be written better. I apologize for this one. I am used to doing things over until they are my personal best. This summer one of the many things I am learning is that when given time restraints I cannot always do that. It is making me crazy to turn in work that I do not feel meets my standards, but I have to learn to deal with that.
See you soon.
Monday, June 21, 2010
My First Book Blog
The title of the book that I have chosen to read this summer is Reading for Understanding: A Guide to Improving Reading in Middle and High School Classrooms by R. Schoenbach, C. Greenleaf, C. Cziko and L. Hurwitz. These women are two classroom teachers and two senior staff members of a research and professional development project called the Strategic Literacy Initiative. http://www.wested.org/cs/ra/print/docs/ra/home.htm
The goal of the authors in writing this work is to “give readers a new way to think about teaching reading in all subject area classes. (p. xviii)
The intended audience for the work is middle and high school classroom teachers who are interested in improving their students’ ability to read materials ranging from textbooks to Web pages to novels, and increasing students’ interest in reading on their own. So, if you fit into that category, “Come on down!” This book’s for you.
This work is a case study of research done in a classroom in an inner-city location along the west coast. The result of this research is documented in these pages. The work:
Provides a framework for thinking about teaching reading that is clear and powerful, and adaptable across the middle and high school curriculum.
Provides teachers with a concrete description of the key ideas and practices of a reading apprenticeship approach in a variety of classrooms.
Provides practical ideas regarding curriculum, staffing, professional development, materials, assessment, and school politics for educators interested in adapting the approaches described.
Encourages others to adapt and extend the ideas presented and join in an ongoing dialogue about successful practices for developing stronger readers in middle and high school. (p. xvi) (Just what we are trying to do!)
On a personal note, I teach history, science, and literature. I have noticed a pattern over the last six years or so, in all three classes, that students seem to be arriving at my doorstep less and less prepared/able/willing to read the assigned materials. I am excited about what I have read in this book and look forward to implementing the strategies in my classroom. I hope that I will be able to pass on the ideas that are presented in this work so that other middle and high school instructors will be able to implement them with their students. I do believe that what I have learned will be applicable in my classroom and yours. We all have materials that our students need to read and students who will not or cannot read them. I am very hopeful that it will make a difference for our students.
In my next blog I will begin to assess the work according to framing questions of our class.
Until then,
Penny
The goal of the authors in writing this work is to “give readers a new way to think about teaching reading in all subject area classes. (p. xviii)
The intended audience for the work is middle and high school classroom teachers who are interested in improving their students’ ability to read materials ranging from textbooks to Web pages to novels, and increasing students’ interest in reading on their own. So, if you fit into that category, “Come on down!” This book’s for you.
This work is a case study of research done in a classroom in an inner-city location along the west coast. The result of this research is documented in these pages. The work:
Provides a framework for thinking about teaching reading that is clear and powerful, and adaptable across the middle and high school curriculum.
Provides teachers with a concrete description of the key ideas and practices of a reading apprenticeship approach in a variety of classrooms.
Provides practical ideas regarding curriculum, staffing, professional development, materials, assessment, and school politics for educators interested in adapting the approaches described.
Encourages others to adapt and extend the ideas presented and join in an ongoing dialogue about successful practices for developing stronger readers in middle and high school. (p. xvi) (Just what we are trying to do!)
On a personal note, I teach history, science, and literature. I have noticed a pattern over the last six years or so, in all three classes, that students seem to be arriving at my doorstep less and less prepared/able/willing to read the assigned materials. I am excited about what I have read in this book and look forward to implementing the strategies in my classroom. I hope that I will be able to pass on the ideas that are presented in this work so that other middle and high school instructors will be able to implement them with their students. I do believe that what I have learned will be applicable in my classroom and yours. We all have materials that our students need to read and students who will not or cannot read them. I am very hopeful that it will make a difference for our students.
In my next blog I will begin to assess the work according to framing questions of our class.
Until then,
Penny
Saturday, June 12, 2010
My Blog Literacy in the Upper Grades
This week I started university classes to work on a master’s degree. WOW! have things changed since I was a student. I have had to learn so many new things this week. I knew that I would be introduced to new content material in my classes, but learning that material is only one of the new challenges I face.
For one, I am commuting to the university via mass transit. I had to learn how to take the shuttle to the train station, the train to the bus, and the bus to the campus. That was very stressful… worrying about being late for class or getting stranded after the last train had gone.
In addition, my classes are taught using very modern methods. My teacher refers to materials that I can find on ereserve and I scratch my head. Luckily, I am sitting next to a young and hip student who helped me out with that.
One of my classes is online and that teacher is requiring me to start a blog. A blog of all things… I didn’t even know what it was, so I asked my teen. “It’s like keeping a journal online, but everyone can read it,” she tells me. Well, I don’t know how comfortable I am with that idea!
I love to talk with people or write through email, but blogging is different in one very significant way. I cannot address the audience one by one. When I interact with people I wear different hats so to speak. I use different tones and discuss different topics. I would not have the same conversation with my grandmother as I would with a peer or a colleague. I would not discuss the same topics with my boss that I would with my neighbor. So how would I write a blog that each of these people might read? I would probably feel the need to remain very superficial. My writing would lack the personal feel that my dear ol’ granny would miss. I definitely wouldn’t tell all.
I love to talk with people or write through email, but blogging is different in one very significant way. I cannot address the audience one by one. When I interact with people I wear different hats so to speak. I use different tones and discuss different topics. I would not have the same conversation with my grandmother as I would with a peer or a colleague. I would not discuss the same topics with my boss that I would with my neighbor. So how would I write a blog that each of these people might read? I would probably feel the need to remain very superficial. My writing would lack the personal feel that my dear ol’ granny would miss. I definitely wouldn’t tell all.
What makes a quality blog? I really find people’s vivid descriptions of what they ate for breakfast, where they went, how hot was etc. a bore. That is not a quality blog to me. Unless, of course, the writer is on a vacation or trip. A good blog for me would be one in which the author tells about an experience or gives information which I would like to have but have not been able to do or attain at this point in time.
So, I guess a blog must be written with a specific audience in mind. My blog will be written for my classmates and all educators who are interested in learning ways to improve student literacy in their middle school or high school content area classes. Not that I am an expert myself. I am studying this right along side them, but I will be summarizing a great book written for just that purpose.
Until next time,
Penny
p.s. One blog I found that might become a favorite to literacy students is:
blog.readingapprenticeship.org
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