Download - The Literacy-Rich Classroom
THE LITERACY-RICH
CLASSROOMJessica Crooker
Literacy Coach
North View Junior High
GUIDING QUESTIONS: Why should literacy be central to our
curriculum? How can teachers provide literacy-rich
experiences for their students and teach the standards?
What is the role of Language Arts and Social Studies teachers in teaching reading?To accelerate reading growth? To provide opportunities for students to read
informational texts and literature within the appropriate grade-level complexity band?
WHY SHOULD LITERACY BE CENTRAL TO OUR CURRICULUM? Adora Svitak http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-bjO
JzB7LY
Her articulate dialogue? Her confidence in public speaking? Her vast vocabulary? Children grow up to be adults? The need to teach children to be better
adults than us? Her ability to ask, “why not?”
INSTRUCTIONAL INVENTORY Brainstorm typical activities in your
classroom & assigned as homework Add, if appropriate:
Reading with a purposeRe-reading for deeper learningWriting to learnWriting: expository, creative, persuasiveThinking analytically, criticallyEvaluating based on reading or writingParticipating in academic discourse
INSTRUCTIONAL INVENTORY Two most frequent * (star) Two least frequent – (minus)
Which column is more literacy-rich?Classroom activitiesHomework
Reading with a purposeRe-reading for deeper learningWriting to learnWriting: expository, creative, persuasive
Thinking analytically, criticallyEvaluating based on reading or writing
Participating in academic discourse
“Wise teachers (and coaches and orchestra conductors) do not spend time rehearsing what students, athletes, and musicians can already do well – they invest precious practice time on activities that are challenging and difficult.”
(Reeves, 2010)
“Reading, writing, and discussion—these three—are the foundation for a well-equipped mind.”
(Schmoker, 2006, p. 72)
“In a recent report, the National Commission on Writing also addresses this concern. They say, ‘If students are to make knowledge their own, they must struggle with the details, wrestle with the facts, and rework raw information and dimly understood concepts into language they can communicate to someone else. In short, if students are to learn, they must write.’”
Carnegie Corporation Writing to Read
(Graham & Hebert, 2010)
TRADITIONAL USES OF WRITING Evaluative
Evidence of understandingMeasurement of what learning has been
gained High-stakes
SummativeEnd of unit
Individualistic Not shared
Limited in genre essay, academic in nature
WRITING TO READ Learning driven
Exploratory Lower stakes
Throughout the learning process Collaborative
InteractiveShared, discussed
Flexible genres“If you want students to dig into the
content, take away the constraints of the form. Use a genre they know.” –Dr. Chris Anson, North Carolina State University(C. Anson, personal communication, April 30, 2011)
WRITING TO READ
ThinkingLearning
write
read
write
read
NOTE TAKING & SUMMARY
TAKE NOTES
SUMMARY!!5 SENTENCES ABOUT THE LESSON!
ENCOURAGE TO INCLUDE VOCABULARY WORDS!! CHECK FOR COMPLETION—CHOOSEN
RANDOMLY TO READ!
MAKE NOTES
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE NOTES!!!
CHARACTER JOURNAL As you read the first few pages of
Lord of the Flies, write from the perspective of one of the boys. Include what you see, think, and feel.
Discuss the details that seem especially important considering you are stranded on this strange island?
OPINIONS – TAKING A STANCEBoundary Waters: Cell Phone Tower
Debate Take on the identity of one the parties
involved in the cell phone tower debate. TWEET a message to your “followers”
informing them of your stance on this issue.
IDENTITIES & POINTS OF VIEW facebook info page facebook status update IM chats Text messages Blog entries Emails Thank You card
“If you want students to dig into the content, take away the constraints of the form. Use a genre they know.”
–Dr. Chris Anson North Carolina State
University
(C. Anson, personal communication, April 30, 2011)
What is the role of Language Arts and Social Studies teachers?To accelerate reading growth? To provide opportunities for students to read
informational texts and literature within the appropriate grade-level complexity band?
Benchmark 6.13.10.10By the end of grade 8, read and comprehend science/technical texts in the grades 6-8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
Benchmark 8.5.10.10By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at the high end of the grades 6-8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
Grade
Text Demand Study 2009
25th percentile to 75th percentile
"Stretch" Text Measures
25th percentile to 75th percentile
6 860L to 920L 950L to 1040L
7 880L to 960L 1000L to 1090L
8 900L to 1010L 1040L to 1160L
9 960L to 1110L 1080L to 1230L
10 920L to 1120L 1110L to 1310L
11-12
1070L to 1220L 1210L to 1360L
NEW COMPLEXITY DEMANDS
Levels of meaning, structure, language conventionality and clarity, and knowledge demands
Readability measures and other scores of text complexity
Reader variables (such as motivation, knowledge, and experiences) and task variables (such as purpose and the complexity generated by the task assigned and the questions posed)
MEASURING TEXT COMPLEXITY
Reading Growth Independent
level Choice Differentiate Supplement Mirror
Standards Grade-level
complexity One shared
text Ease will vary Likely core
text Window
WHAT IS OUR GOAL? WHAT IS OUR ROLE?
1. Observe/clarify/question—What do you see students doing when they read this type of text? What is essential for students to know? What do you want students thinking about?
2. Anticipate needs—What two places may cause students difficulty?
3. Focus/strategies—What could you model that will help students negotiate the difficult parts? Strategic think-aloud, marking-up texts, model use of graphic organizer…?
4. Focus/strategies—What could you model that will help students negotiate the difficult parts? Strategic think-aloud, marking-up texts, model use of graphic organizer…?
SUPPORTING STRIVING READERS IN ACCESSING GRADE-LEVEL TEXTS
REGARDLESS OF MATERIALS…Focus on these five practices of a literacy-
rich classroom:1. Focus on higher level thinking2. Teach word recognition and
comprehension as strategies, not simply as skills
3. Use a student support stance (modeling, coaching) towards instruction in addition to a teacher directed stance
4. Have students engaged in active vs. passive responses to literacy activities
5. Reflect on the purposes of a lesson: How will my lesson help individual students grow in literacy abilities?
(Peterson, 2011)
Teacher A MCA/GRAD Reading
Test Day 10th grade English Dead Poet’s Society
No engagement No movie. Game
day.
“Regular” English
Teacher B MCA/GRAD Reading
Test Day 10th grade English Dead Poet’s Society
Metacognition notes
Total engagement Still talking about
the movie!
“Striving Reader” English
“The value of doing in-class reading, writing, and discussion can’t be overstated…, even an additional 30 minutes of close, purposeful reading followed by regular discussion and writing adds months of growth for each school year.”
(Schmoker, p. 98)
ResourcesGraham, S., and Hebert, M. A. (2010). Writing to read:
Evidence for how writing can improve reading. A Carnegie Corporation Time to Act Report. Washington, DC: Alliance for Excellent Education.
Peterson, D. (2011) Developing Effective Teachers of Reading through School-wide Change [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://www.cehd.umn.edu/reading/
Reeves, D. (2010, Oct. 20). Leading the Change in the Face of Criticism. Retrieved from http://www.leadandlearn.com/blog/2010/10/leading-change-face-criticism
Schmoker, M. (2006). Results Now: How we can achieve unprecedented improvements in teaching and learning. Alexandra, Virginia: ASCD.