Synthesis
Hinchman and Sheridan-Thomas
According to the authors, "communication is central to successful engagement in mathematical processes" (p.192). Thus, students and teachers must learn how to more effectively communicate during and outside of math classes. Math language is different from other types of literacy because it includes many symbols and visual representations in addition to what we often consider "normal" reading and writing. The authors suggest several ways to help students understand the language that is specific to math. These include using background knowledge to expand on new concepts; modeling the use of math language to explain a concept; encouraging students to connect new ideas back to their original knowledge through discussions and writing; providing effective, meaningful feedback; and inviting students to generate texts for an audience outside the classroom. Learning a new foreign language requires exploration and practice, and learning the language of math is no different. Of course, students must feel respected if they are to engage and ask questions while learning the language of mathematics.
Jetton and Shanahan
A recurring theme in this chapter seems to be that math teachers and literacy instructors need to work together in order to make math instruction effective in the classroom. Unfortunately, literacy instructors often do not take the uniqueness of "math language" into account. Recommendations from literacy coaches and others have suggested using general texts ("The Lottery" was mentioned), children's books, or picture books to incorporate literacy into the math classroom. While these texts do support literacy as a whole, the concepts that they teach tend to be so vaguely related to math that they are not useful. Teachers must learn to expand their ideas about literacy when it comes to the mathematics classroom. In math, it is just as important to be able to read charts, graphs, symbols, and other visual representations as it is to read a story about a mathematical concept. Students do need to demonstrate conceptual understanding (which can, at times, be acquired through reading a general text), but they also must demonstrate computational fluency and knowledge of mathematical processes. The authors of this chapter also mentioned that it is very important for students to create their own texts in math. In short, teachers need to redefine their views of literacy in the math classroom, and students need to be invited to engage in multiple literacies there.
Moji
The YouTube video reinforced much of what the authors stated in the chapters that we read. Moji states that adolescents have many avenues in life to navigate, and it is our job as teachers to help them navigate the many different disciplinary literacies. Explicit attention must be given to this, and students must be provided with opportunities for repeated practice and exposure. Students must be active, not passive, in literacy engagement and production. Navigating disciplinary literacy is taught through "five Es": Expose, Engage, Elicit/Engineer, Examine, and Evaluate. All of these steps are important in helping students learn to read and comprehend the multiple literacies that face them in secondary school.
Responses
Text-to-Text
I found that the readings this week were actually fairly unlike any that I have read before. It seems that I have often heard and read that it is good to use children's books and general texts in a secondary mathematics classroom, but this week's readings seemingly contradicted that. But, like our previous readings, the authors from this week again mentioned the importance of keeping students engaged so that they will feel comfortable asking questions and will want to participate in class activities.
Text-to-self
As I was reading the Hinchman and Sheridan-Thomas chapter, I thought back to my days in math class. Math has never been my strong subject, but I wonder how much more I would have enjoyed it and felt more confident in my abilities, had more of my teachers employed some of the strategies mentioned in these chapters. All I remember from math is doing computations, proofs, etc. We did not often engage in meaningful discussions about the concepts, and I certainly never considered that I might be learning literacy skills in math. The two subjects always were completely separate in my mind.
Text-to-world
I think that, as teachers, we all need to do a better job of helping our students realize that math actually is important to them in our future lives. So often, I hear kids say, "But I'm never going to use this in my job!" We need to point out the ways in which math is useful every day, even when the particular concept being taught might not seem to be. Literacy extends far beyond the pages of a book; just think how often students are required to use math when counting money, telling the time, or reading a chart/graph!
Questions
1. Norman uses Everyday Math, and some of the ways that the curriculum teaches math concepts are completely bizarre to me. How to I make these teaching methods (such as partial sums or lattice multiplication) seem useful to my students when I personally don't believe that they are?
2. How do I encourage students to participate in a class discussion or help group members work a problem on the board when they are very fearful about getting an answer wrong? I know that, obviously, I need to build relationships with each student so that they feel more confident in their abilities, but are there more practical ways to do this? (I was always the student who was shy and unwilling to participate in math!)
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Teaching Disciplinary Texts
Synthesis:
Jetton and Shanahan
In this chapter, the authors discussed effective ways of teaching text in English/Language Arts. The chapter began by showing how one teacher led her class through a study of Of Mice and Men. To an outsider, Mrs. Smith's approach to teaching the text seems like a good one. When we look closer, though, we discover that teaching English/Language Arts is far more complicated than it seems. In response to such a complex subject area, teachers must learn to use various types of lessons and allow different types of responses so that all adolescent learners can appropriately respond to texts. English teachers must also work to keep their students motivated and engaged while providing a purpose for reading and writing. The importance of connecting texts to students' lives and other curriculum areas cannot be understated.
Because teaching English language arts can be so complicated, Jetton and Shanahan gave some practical suggestions for teachers to follow, both for reading and for writing/composing in the classroom. Before reading, teachers should present themes for students to consider. This allows students to establish a purpose for reading and to connect with the text in a more thought-provoking way as they are reading it. After reading, students must be asked to respond to the text in a meaningful way. Usually, "meaningful" does not include a test, and it often does not include an essay in the sense that Mrs. Smith requested essays for her class. Students are now surrounded by different types of text and media; thus, these elements should be included in a summative assessment upon conclusion of the reading. The authors also suggested including more young adult literature into the classroom. In some cases, a set curriculum or canon of literature is required. In these classrooms, teachers must work especially hard to make the readings meaningful and connect them to other literature or life experiences. As in many of the other chapters we have read, the authors suggest moving forward by using technology and by modeling and explicitly teaching reading and writing strategies.
Hinchman and Sheridan-Thomas
Chapter 10 of this book focused on reading and writing across multiple texts. It began by giving reasons for writing and reading across multiple texts. In sum, "discipline experts all read and write multiple texts" (p.171), so we should teach adolescents to do the same. Unfortunately, adolescents often do not know how to navigate the wide variety of information that is available to them. They cannot determine which sources are credible and which are not. They also have trouble doing formal writing activities, despite the many informal writing activities that they engage in every day. The authors discussed three processes that can help readers across multiple texts: sourcing, contextualization, and corroboration. All three of these processes help students evaluate the credibility of the texts they are reading. In this chapter, the authors also suggested presenting multiple texts on the same topic to students. No more than three texts should be used, and the first text should primarily be used as an introduction to build background knowledge. Though mathematicians do not value sourcing and contextualization very highly, they do read critically. Historians engage in all three of the processes mentioned, while scientists focus on learning unknown information first and then engaging in one or all of the processes.
Chapter 12 talked about reading challenging texts. Similar to other texts we have read, this text highlights the value of choice in reading and writing. Motivation does matter. Texts must be embedded in social networks, since these are very important to adolescents. The chapter then moved from discussing motivation through close reading to talking about the types of knowledge and skill needed for meaningful reading. These included: semantic knowledge, mathematical knowledge, historical knowledge, geographic knowledge, discursive knowledge, and pragmatic knowledge. The authors concluded the chapter by giving teachers practical ways to make close reading meaningful to students. Some of the suggestions that stood out to me were modeling (again!), asking students questions and allowing them to process their answers out loud, and building knowledge as a group. Students also need to be reminded of why disciplinary texts are important to them in their everyday lives.
Responses:
Text-to-text
Every week, I am amazed by how much the authors all talk about motivation. It seems like motivation and engagement are mentioned in every chapter we read. Apparently, these really are issues at the heart of teaching adolescent literacy. We must make an effort to connect to our students on a personal level and through literature. Most of the authors discuss modeling, as well. We cannot expect our students to become expert readers if we are not actually showing and directly teaching them how to do it.
Text-to-self
When I first started reading about Mrs. Smith's approach to teaching Of Mice and Men, I thought she was doing a great job. After all, this is the way I grew up reading and responding to literature when I was in school. I do consider myself to be a strong reader and writer, but, looking back now, I don't think that all of that can be attributed to my teachers' instruction. I think that sometimes I just "got it," and this is not the case for many students. Because so many different types of technology, texts, and resources are now available to everyone, I need to make an effort to incorporate those into my classroom instead of assuming that all students learn the way I do.
Text-to-world
By teaching students to read disciplinary texts more effectively, we will have a much more knowledgeable and interested society. I'm trying to imagine a world in which no one read critically or asked questions of the text. (Isn't this often how our classrooms look?) This world makes me think of The Giver, in which no one had an opinion about anything or felt anything because the information was controlled, and no one ever asked any questions. If students can learn to evaluate texts and judge whether or not they are credible, we will be producing a more forward-thinking, informed society. I think that people have a tendency to just believe things because they have read them, which can obviously be dangerous.
Questions:
1. Do you use "choice boards" in your classroom to allow students to respond to texts in different ways? If so, how do these work, or could you give an example of one that you have used?
2. Are there ever instances in which math texts should be judged for their credibility, even when they present the correct answers to a problem? We read that mathematicians do not concern themselves much with sourcing, corroboration, and contextualization, but I can't help but think that sometimes these things would be necessary.
Jetton and Shanahan
In this chapter, the authors discussed effective ways of teaching text in English/Language Arts. The chapter began by showing how one teacher led her class through a study of Of Mice and Men. To an outsider, Mrs. Smith's approach to teaching the text seems like a good one. When we look closer, though, we discover that teaching English/Language Arts is far more complicated than it seems. In response to such a complex subject area, teachers must learn to use various types of lessons and allow different types of responses so that all adolescent learners can appropriately respond to texts. English teachers must also work to keep their students motivated and engaged while providing a purpose for reading and writing. The importance of connecting texts to students' lives and other curriculum areas cannot be understated.
Because teaching English language arts can be so complicated, Jetton and Shanahan gave some practical suggestions for teachers to follow, both for reading and for writing/composing in the classroom. Before reading, teachers should present themes for students to consider. This allows students to establish a purpose for reading and to connect with the text in a more thought-provoking way as they are reading it. After reading, students must be asked to respond to the text in a meaningful way. Usually, "meaningful" does not include a test, and it often does not include an essay in the sense that Mrs. Smith requested essays for her class. Students are now surrounded by different types of text and media; thus, these elements should be included in a summative assessment upon conclusion of the reading. The authors also suggested including more young adult literature into the classroom. In some cases, a set curriculum or canon of literature is required. In these classrooms, teachers must work especially hard to make the readings meaningful and connect them to other literature or life experiences. As in many of the other chapters we have read, the authors suggest moving forward by using technology and by modeling and explicitly teaching reading and writing strategies.
Hinchman and Sheridan-Thomas
Chapter 10 of this book focused on reading and writing across multiple texts. It began by giving reasons for writing and reading across multiple texts. In sum, "discipline experts all read and write multiple texts" (p.171), so we should teach adolescents to do the same. Unfortunately, adolescents often do not know how to navigate the wide variety of information that is available to them. They cannot determine which sources are credible and which are not. They also have trouble doing formal writing activities, despite the many informal writing activities that they engage in every day. The authors discussed three processes that can help readers across multiple texts: sourcing, contextualization, and corroboration. All three of these processes help students evaluate the credibility of the texts they are reading. In this chapter, the authors also suggested presenting multiple texts on the same topic to students. No more than three texts should be used, and the first text should primarily be used as an introduction to build background knowledge. Though mathematicians do not value sourcing and contextualization very highly, they do read critically. Historians engage in all three of the processes mentioned, while scientists focus on learning unknown information first and then engaging in one or all of the processes.
Chapter 12 talked about reading challenging texts. Similar to other texts we have read, this text highlights the value of choice in reading and writing. Motivation does matter. Texts must be embedded in social networks, since these are very important to adolescents. The chapter then moved from discussing motivation through close reading to talking about the types of knowledge and skill needed for meaningful reading. These included: semantic knowledge, mathematical knowledge, historical knowledge, geographic knowledge, discursive knowledge, and pragmatic knowledge. The authors concluded the chapter by giving teachers practical ways to make close reading meaningful to students. Some of the suggestions that stood out to me were modeling (again!), asking students questions and allowing them to process their answers out loud, and building knowledge as a group. Students also need to be reminded of why disciplinary texts are important to them in their everyday lives.
Responses:
Text-to-text
Every week, I am amazed by how much the authors all talk about motivation. It seems like motivation and engagement are mentioned in every chapter we read. Apparently, these really are issues at the heart of teaching adolescent literacy. We must make an effort to connect to our students on a personal level and through literature. Most of the authors discuss modeling, as well. We cannot expect our students to become expert readers if we are not actually showing and directly teaching them how to do it.
Text-to-self
When I first started reading about Mrs. Smith's approach to teaching Of Mice and Men, I thought she was doing a great job. After all, this is the way I grew up reading and responding to literature when I was in school. I do consider myself to be a strong reader and writer, but, looking back now, I don't think that all of that can be attributed to my teachers' instruction. I think that sometimes I just "got it," and this is not the case for many students. Because so many different types of technology, texts, and resources are now available to everyone, I need to make an effort to incorporate those into my classroom instead of assuming that all students learn the way I do.
Text-to-world
By teaching students to read disciplinary texts more effectively, we will have a much more knowledgeable and interested society. I'm trying to imagine a world in which no one read critically or asked questions of the text. (Isn't this often how our classrooms look?) This world makes me think of The Giver, in which no one had an opinion about anything or felt anything because the information was controlled, and no one ever asked any questions. If students can learn to evaluate texts and judge whether or not they are credible, we will be producing a more forward-thinking, informed society. I think that people have a tendency to just believe things because they have read them, which can obviously be dangerous.
Questions:
1. Do you use "choice boards" in your classroom to allow students to respond to texts in different ways? If so, how do these work, or could you give an example of one that you have used?
2. Are there ever instances in which math texts should be judged for their credibility, even when they present the correct answers to a problem? We read that mathematicians do not concern themselves much with sourcing, corroboration, and contextualization, but I can't help but think that sometimes these things would be necessary.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Text Complexity and Reading Disciplinary Texts
This week's readings centered around text complexity and reading disciplinary texts.
Synthesis:
The first authors, Hinchman and Sheridan-Thomas, began their chapter by giving some background information on Common Core State Standards and cited the "increasing proportion of informational text" in the adolescent years. Students must be directly taught how to read and respond to these higher level texts. According to the CCSS, there are three components which can be used to measure text complexity: quantitative measures, qualitative measures, and reader and task considerations. Quantitative measures are straight-forward and provide a number, such as The Lexile Framework, which is derived from a formula that looks at vocabulary, syntax, word and sentence length, and word repetition. Qualitative measures include four domains: levels of meaning, text structure, language conventionality, and knowledge demands. Qualitative rubrics and quantitative formulas provide valuable information, but they do not take into account specific reader and task considerations, which is why the third measure must be used. For one to become a better reader, text complexity must gradually be increased through deliberate practice. Teachers must provide effective feedback to students and try to reach their "zone of proximal development." According to the chapter, "simply reading more at the same level is insufficient" to promote increased reading skills. Teachers also need to make sure that their students stay motivated because of the need to reread texts and build fluency. Computer-assisted instruction can be helpful for reading if a quality program is chosen. Finally, teachers must ensure that their "expert readers" continue to be challenged.
The second authors, Jetton and Shanahan, centered their chapters around the differences in text among specific academic disciplines. According to them, the past decade has yielded a lack of improvement in literacy scores, and teachers are ill-equipped to rectify the situation. In their research, the authors found that sadly, only 3% of instructional time was spent modeling and scaffolding, and of that 3%, mostly literal questions and written summaries were assigned. Highly specialized disciplinary texts make comprehension difficult because of their many abstractions and impersonal nature. Some suggestions for helping this situation include exposing children to all kinds of texts starting in elementary school, building prior knowledge, noting text features and surprising information, and summarizing. The authors made it clear that reading comprehension strategies and instructional strategies for reading are not the same (instructional strategies are ways to teach reading strategies). A major point was that automatic word recognition and fluency are requisite to comprehension, and these things must be taught explicitly to students. Building background knowledge will also assist comprehension. Some instructional strategies and frameworks included reciprocal teaching, direct explanation, and modeling. Students must be taught to use multiple strategies and self-regulate.
The two following chapters from Jetton and Shanahan discussed the challenges of reading disciplinary texts and how expert readers read such texts. The authors emphasized the differences in reading mathematics, history, and science. Because each subject has its own set of vocabulary, sentence construction, and required background knowledge, the disciplinary texts must all be read differently, and comprehension may become a challenge. The chapters talked a lot about reading "outside the text," meaning that students and expert readers both bring their own ideas and judgments about the author(s) of a particular passage and when the article was written. These preconceived ideas dramatically affect the way one reads "inside the text." Teachers of math, history, and science all need to be taught how to teach their students to read within the discipline they teach.
Responses:
Text-to-text:
Many of our readings seem to discuss the importance of motivation, and this week's readings were no different. As the first chapter talked about text complexity, it mentioned repeated readings. Teachers will want to be sure that their adolescent readers are engaged in and motivated by the texts they are reading if they are to read them multiple times and improve fluency. Just as the readings last week, this week's chapters also talked about modeling good reading strategies for students to improve their comprehension. An addition that I enjoyed this week was when the authors mentioned that teachers need modeling, as well!
Text-to-self:
When I was reading the Academic Disciplines book this week, I realized that I read almost everything the exact same way. I have always believed myself to have good comprehension skills, but when it comes to disciplinary text, I am not sure that I do. I have never been very good at math or science, and now I understand that perhaps part of the reason is due to the fact that I never really knew how to read the assigned texts. I was not looking at them with the right perspective and didn't quite know how to find the information I needed. Realizing this about myself will allow me to better help my students, I believe. I am looking forward to teaching them how to consider different angles when reading various kinds of texts.
Text-to-world:
This week's readings relate to the world because every student needs to know how to read a variety of texts for a variety of purposes. It becomes easy to get "tunnel vision" and only read texts that are a specific genre or match a certain interest that a child has. If students are able to increase their comprehension across all kinds of texts including math, history, and science, what an enlightened world of young people we will have!
Questions:
1. I'm realizing that I have gone my whole life and not known how to read disciplinary texts. What are some ways that I can improve my comprehension skills, particularly in math and science, as an adult, given the many years of bad habits I've developed?
2. I teach special education, so I feel like I do pretty well with differentiating instruction for struggling students. As the texts continue to mention the importance of motivation and engagement, what are some ways that I can continue to challenge my advanced students?
3. Do your schools use any quality reading programs on the computer? If so, what are they and why do you like them?
Synthesis:
The first authors, Hinchman and Sheridan-Thomas, began their chapter by giving some background information on Common Core State Standards and cited the "increasing proportion of informational text" in the adolescent years. Students must be directly taught how to read and respond to these higher level texts. According to the CCSS, there are three components which can be used to measure text complexity: quantitative measures, qualitative measures, and reader and task considerations. Quantitative measures are straight-forward and provide a number, such as The Lexile Framework, which is derived from a formula that looks at vocabulary, syntax, word and sentence length, and word repetition. Qualitative measures include four domains: levels of meaning, text structure, language conventionality, and knowledge demands. Qualitative rubrics and quantitative formulas provide valuable information, but they do not take into account specific reader and task considerations, which is why the third measure must be used. For one to become a better reader, text complexity must gradually be increased through deliberate practice. Teachers must provide effective feedback to students and try to reach their "zone of proximal development." According to the chapter, "simply reading more at the same level is insufficient" to promote increased reading skills. Teachers also need to make sure that their students stay motivated because of the need to reread texts and build fluency. Computer-assisted instruction can be helpful for reading if a quality program is chosen. Finally, teachers must ensure that their "expert readers" continue to be challenged.
The second authors, Jetton and Shanahan, centered their chapters around the differences in text among specific academic disciplines. According to them, the past decade has yielded a lack of improvement in literacy scores, and teachers are ill-equipped to rectify the situation. In their research, the authors found that sadly, only 3% of instructional time was spent modeling and scaffolding, and of that 3%, mostly literal questions and written summaries were assigned. Highly specialized disciplinary texts make comprehension difficult because of their many abstractions and impersonal nature. Some suggestions for helping this situation include exposing children to all kinds of texts starting in elementary school, building prior knowledge, noting text features and surprising information, and summarizing. The authors made it clear that reading comprehension strategies and instructional strategies for reading are not the same (instructional strategies are ways to teach reading strategies). A major point was that automatic word recognition and fluency are requisite to comprehension, and these things must be taught explicitly to students. Building background knowledge will also assist comprehension. Some instructional strategies and frameworks included reciprocal teaching, direct explanation, and modeling. Students must be taught to use multiple strategies and self-regulate.
The two following chapters from Jetton and Shanahan discussed the challenges of reading disciplinary texts and how expert readers read such texts. The authors emphasized the differences in reading mathematics, history, and science. Because each subject has its own set of vocabulary, sentence construction, and required background knowledge, the disciplinary texts must all be read differently, and comprehension may become a challenge. The chapters talked a lot about reading "outside the text," meaning that students and expert readers both bring their own ideas and judgments about the author(s) of a particular passage and when the article was written. These preconceived ideas dramatically affect the way one reads "inside the text." Teachers of math, history, and science all need to be taught how to teach their students to read within the discipline they teach.
Responses:
Text-to-text:
Many of our readings seem to discuss the importance of motivation, and this week's readings were no different. As the first chapter talked about text complexity, it mentioned repeated readings. Teachers will want to be sure that their adolescent readers are engaged in and motivated by the texts they are reading if they are to read them multiple times and improve fluency. Just as the readings last week, this week's chapters also talked about modeling good reading strategies for students to improve their comprehension. An addition that I enjoyed this week was when the authors mentioned that teachers need modeling, as well!
Text-to-self:
When I was reading the Academic Disciplines book this week, I realized that I read almost everything the exact same way. I have always believed myself to have good comprehension skills, but when it comes to disciplinary text, I am not sure that I do. I have never been very good at math or science, and now I understand that perhaps part of the reason is due to the fact that I never really knew how to read the assigned texts. I was not looking at them with the right perspective and didn't quite know how to find the information I needed. Realizing this about myself will allow me to better help my students, I believe. I am looking forward to teaching them how to consider different angles when reading various kinds of texts.
Text-to-world:
This week's readings relate to the world because every student needs to know how to read a variety of texts for a variety of purposes. It becomes easy to get "tunnel vision" and only read texts that are a specific genre or match a certain interest that a child has. If students are able to increase their comprehension across all kinds of texts including math, history, and science, what an enlightened world of young people we will have!
Questions:
1. I'm realizing that I have gone my whole life and not known how to read disciplinary texts. What are some ways that I can improve my comprehension skills, particularly in math and science, as an adult, given the many years of bad habits I've developed?
2. I teach special education, so I feel like I do pretty well with differentiating instruction for struggling students. As the texts continue to mention the importance of motivation and engagement, what are some ways that I can continue to challenge my advanced students?
3. Do your schools use any quality reading programs on the computer? If so, what are they and why do you like them?
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Comprehension
Synthesis
Jetton and Shanahan
This chapter was particularly interesting to me because it did not seem, at first, to talk much at all about reading comprehension for adolescents. Instead, the chapter began with a focus on teacher planning. According to the authors, many components go into planning a lesson using disciplinary texts. Some specific considerations mentioned were student identities, sociocultural factors, and purposes for reading. This reading discussed that planning a lesson before it occurs is important, but using wisdom to make decisions on-the-spot is equally valuable. Just as the students must be able to read and understand disciplinary texts, teachers must be able to "read" and understand their students. As we have read in many other texts, motivation and engagement are key; hence, it is vital to offer choices to students. In the academic disciplines, teachers must also teach strategies to help their students comprehend text. The text mentioned that students should be able to activate prior knowledge, determine the importance in a text, use mental imagery, analyze the text structure, generate questions, make inferences, and monitor their comprehension. These things do not necessarily occur implicitly; a teacher must model the skills and then provide opportunities for guided practice. These strategies also look differently, depending on the academic context in which they are used (math, social studies, etc.).
Hinchman and Sheridan-Thomas
Similar to the previous reading, this chapter also discussed the value of modeling specific comprehension strategies and then providing opportunities for guided practice, as well as establishing a purpose for reading. Some comprehension strategies mentioned are self-questioning, summarizing, inferencing, self-monitoring, connection, and analysis. An important note at the close of the chapter says that reading comprehension "requires that students interact with one another, with the teacher, and with the text itself." This is noteworthy because using one or two strategies correctly does not guarantee reading comprehension. Students must activity engage in text-based discussions. When considering comprehension, one must also consider the nature of the text which is being read. Text must remain at an appropriate level of complexity. Text complexity can be judged by evaluating the levels of meaning, density, text structure, and background knowledge. Furthermore, quality questions must be asked to ensure comprehension. And, as we saw in last week's readings, vocabulary must be taught before text can be comprehended fully.
Fisher, Frey, and Ross
This text, like the others, mentioned that there are many factors which can influence reading comprehension. These include background knowledge, a purpose for reading, and word knowledge (vocabulary). Teachers can practice several "instructional routines" to help their students better comprehend the texts they read. This reading, like the others, states that teachers should model the strategies that they use while reading for their students. Specifically, teachers should model their thought processes when encountering comprehension, vocabulary, text structures, and text features. After modeling, students should be provided with opportunities to practice what the teacher has demonstrated. In addition to modeling, teachers should allow students to engage in "reciprocal teaching," which allows students to become leaders in four particular areas: summarizing, questioning, clarifying, and predicting.
Responses
Text to self
As an elementary school teacher, I teach all subjects (math, reading, social studies, and science), so these readings were very helpful for me in knowing how to monitor comprehension in all areas of my instruction, not just reading. I also appreciate how all of the articles noted the importance of active engagement with texts, not simply passive reading or listening. In my classroom, I like for everyone to get involved because involvement fosters greater understanding, and the texts gave me some ideas for how I can facilitate class discussions and participation. The sections of the readings that talked about modeling were also interesting and useful to me. I realized that I often expect my students to "just know" what I'm thinking or how to use a specific strategy, when they actually need me to show them how to do it first before providing opportunities for practice.
Text to text
This week's readings reminded me a lot of last week's readings because vocabulary and comprehension interact so directly with each other. Without an adequate vocabulary, students cannot comprehend. Furthermore, neither vocabulary nor comprehension is just learned; both must be directly taught. Both last week's readings and this week's readings discussed the importance of finding interesting texts for students to read so that they stay engaged, as well. In one of my professional development trainings with Norman Public Schools, we read an article about the need for choosing appropriate questions that promote higher-level thinking to encourage comprehension, and this week's readings also seemed to advocate for that.
Text to world
All of these chapters relate to literacy in general because, without comprehension, there is really no point in reading at all. Words are simply words without a thorough understanding of what they mean. I believe that one of the reasons why many students do not enjoy reading is because they do not understand what they are being asked to read. Personally, I would be bored by reading if it were solely about decoding words. Once a valid purpose is established for reading and comprehending, students can begin to read for knowledge and pleasure, instead of reading to answer questions at the end of a chapter, as they are often asked to do in middle school and high school.
Questions
1. Over and over, these readings seem to mention the importance of establishing a valid purpose for reading, keeping students interested and engaged, etc. What are some practical ways to do that, given that the provided curriculum is often boring?
2. How can I help a student to increase his or her background knowledge if she comes to me with limited prior experiences and no desire to read?
3. How should I pair students for reciprocal teaching? I have heard various thoughts about this. Should I pair students with equal ability levels, or do a high-low pairing? Please explain your reasoning.
Jetton and Shanahan
This chapter was particularly interesting to me because it did not seem, at first, to talk much at all about reading comprehension for adolescents. Instead, the chapter began with a focus on teacher planning. According to the authors, many components go into planning a lesson using disciplinary texts. Some specific considerations mentioned were student identities, sociocultural factors, and purposes for reading. This reading discussed that planning a lesson before it occurs is important, but using wisdom to make decisions on-the-spot is equally valuable. Just as the students must be able to read and understand disciplinary texts, teachers must be able to "read" and understand their students. As we have read in many other texts, motivation and engagement are key; hence, it is vital to offer choices to students. In the academic disciplines, teachers must also teach strategies to help their students comprehend text. The text mentioned that students should be able to activate prior knowledge, determine the importance in a text, use mental imagery, analyze the text structure, generate questions, make inferences, and monitor their comprehension. These things do not necessarily occur implicitly; a teacher must model the skills and then provide opportunities for guided practice. These strategies also look differently, depending on the academic context in which they are used (math, social studies, etc.).
Hinchman and Sheridan-Thomas
Similar to the previous reading, this chapter also discussed the value of modeling specific comprehension strategies and then providing opportunities for guided practice, as well as establishing a purpose for reading. Some comprehension strategies mentioned are self-questioning, summarizing, inferencing, self-monitoring, connection, and analysis. An important note at the close of the chapter says that reading comprehension "requires that students interact with one another, with the teacher, and with the text itself." This is noteworthy because using one or two strategies correctly does not guarantee reading comprehension. Students must activity engage in text-based discussions. When considering comprehension, one must also consider the nature of the text which is being read. Text must remain at an appropriate level of complexity. Text complexity can be judged by evaluating the levels of meaning, density, text structure, and background knowledge. Furthermore, quality questions must be asked to ensure comprehension. And, as we saw in last week's readings, vocabulary must be taught before text can be comprehended fully.
Fisher, Frey, and Ross
This text, like the others, mentioned that there are many factors which can influence reading comprehension. These include background knowledge, a purpose for reading, and word knowledge (vocabulary). Teachers can practice several "instructional routines" to help their students better comprehend the texts they read. This reading, like the others, states that teachers should model the strategies that they use while reading for their students. Specifically, teachers should model their thought processes when encountering comprehension, vocabulary, text structures, and text features. After modeling, students should be provided with opportunities to practice what the teacher has demonstrated. In addition to modeling, teachers should allow students to engage in "reciprocal teaching," which allows students to become leaders in four particular areas: summarizing, questioning, clarifying, and predicting.
Responses
Text to self
As an elementary school teacher, I teach all subjects (math, reading, social studies, and science), so these readings were very helpful for me in knowing how to monitor comprehension in all areas of my instruction, not just reading. I also appreciate how all of the articles noted the importance of active engagement with texts, not simply passive reading or listening. In my classroom, I like for everyone to get involved because involvement fosters greater understanding, and the texts gave me some ideas for how I can facilitate class discussions and participation. The sections of the readings that talked about modeling were also interesting and useful to me. I realized that I often expect my students to "just know" what I'm thinking or how to use a specific strategy, when they actually need me to show them how to do it first before providing opportunities for practice.
Text to text
This week's readings reminded me a lot of last week's readings because vocabulary and comprehension interact so directly with each other. Without an adequate vocabulary, students cannot comprehend. Furthermore, neither vocabulary nor comprehension is just learned; both must be directly taught. Both last week's readings and this week's readings discussed the importance of finding interesting texts for students to read so that they stay engaged, as well. In one of my professional development trainings with Norman Public Schools, we read an article about the need for choosing appropriate questions that promote higher-level thinking to encourage comprehension, and this week's readings also seemed to advocate for that.
Text to world
All of these chapters relate to literacy in general because, without comprehension, there is really no point in reading at all. Words are simply words without a thorough understanding of what they mean. I believe that one of the reasons why many students do not enjoy reading is because they do not understand what they are being asked to read. Personally, I would be bored by reading if it were solely about decoding words. Once a valid purpose is established for reading and comprehending, students can begin to read for knowledge and pleasure, instead of reading to answer questions at the end of a chapter, as they are often asked to do in middle school and high school.
Questions
1. Over and over, these readings seem to mention the importance of establishing a valid purpose for reading, keeping students interested and engaged, etc. What are some practical ways to do that, given that the provided curriculum is often boring?
2. How can I help a student to increase his or her background knowledge if she comes to me with limited prior experiences and no desire to read?
3. How should I pair students for reciprocal teaching? I have heard various thoughts about this. Should I pair students with equal ability levels, or do a high-low pairing? Please explain your reasoning.
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