Improving Comprehension

Edgar Dale, author of Audio-Visual Methods in Teaching,  included the following insights into what helps strengthen comprehension:

We remember...

10% of what we read

20 % of what we hear

30% of what we see

50% of what we both see and hear

70% of what we talk about with others

Offering our students guided, structured and purpose driven collaboration opportunites, will help them better understand our reading assignments.

Why Am I Reading This?

 In Cris Tovani’s book, Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? she makes some excellent points about what we can do to help our students better understand our classroom reading assignments.  Too often students will not reread an assignment they don’t understand.  We asked them to read pages 34 – 39 and from their perspective, that’s what they did.  They read every word of the assignment.  Did they understand the words that developed phrases into sentences to form concrete ideas?  That wasn’t the assignment.  “Mr. Teacher, you asked me to read, not to understand.”

Perhaps it’s not that blatant, although I think it happens more times than we’d like to admit.  There are plenty of approaches we can use to help our students better understand the reading assignments we give and that’s were Tovani’s insights are helpful. 

The following excerpts are from chapter five, “Why Am I Reading This?”

“It’s funny that we don’t ask of ourselves what we ask of our students.  When we are planning a unit, preparing to teach a new class, or picking up a textbook for the very first time, we don’t expect to master everything in a semester.  Yet we expect our student to master the information in less time than we the experts did.

“If we don’t help students pull out essential information by giving them a purpose for their reading, they will often get lost in the extraneous details.  When we share a clear instructional purpose, we give our students a lens through which to read the piece. For example, a U.S. history teacher may say to his students, ‘By the time you finish reading tonight, I want you to be able to discuss the causes of the Civil War.”  The teacher is not telling students the causes; he is merely giving them a sense of what will be important for tomorrow’s discussion.

Clear instructional purposes often give guidance for how the reader might hold her thinking… A clear instructional purpose can greatly improve a reader’s comprehension, because the reader has an indication of what to read for.

Some teachers think that setting a purpose limits the scope of the students’ reading – that it dumbs down the work and makes it too easy on the kids.  I agree that I am limiting the scope of student reading, but I don’t agree that I am constraining their learning.  When I read new text with unfamiliar content, I need my scope limited.  If it’s not limited, I try to remember everything in the text.  I quickly realize that I can’t do this and soon give up.  When someone gives me something to look for , reading feels less overwhelming.

There are a lot of things that we as teachers can’t control.  But we can control what we ask our kids to do with the information we assign.”

Inspired by this chapter, The Reading Club recommends giving your students a purpose for every reading assignment. Tell them what to look for.  Tell them what kind of information you want them to hold on to by the reading’s close. 

If we assume our students will grasp the important information on their own, what happens when they don’t?  Avoid that confusion by clearly stating what you want your students to do with the information they discover when reading the assignment.  It doesn’t have to be a long, detailed discussion.  Use bullet points, Intelligent Writing Surfaces ©, LCD projectors, Moodle, yellow chalk on green boards.  

How you convey the purpose for the reading assignment matters little.  That you clearly and consistently convey the purpose for the reading assignment matters most.  

Readingly yours,

The Reading Club

Welcome Back!

This year the Reading Club will take a different approach.  For the past two years we have used a variety of methods to improve our students' reading skills. Many teachers have adopted various reading strategies into their students' learning experiences to help them better understand course content.  Thank you for your willingness to try out strategies and explore ways we can help our students become better readers of our content, but more importantly better thinkers and learners.  Please continue using the strategies you think fit your content area.  If you are interested in more strategies, this year's focus will be perfect.

This year the Reading Club will offer ideas you can roll into your classroom.  We'll use this blog to explain the ideas and benefits they proffer.  The Reading Club blog will be like a Wal-Mart for teaching strategies.  We'll throw some strategies on the shelf and you can shop for those you think fit your various classroom needs.

Cris Tovani's text, Do I Really Have to Teach Reading says it all.  It acknowledges the uncertainty of how to teach reading and why it's important - and really not that difficult.  I wish every teacher could read this book.  That's why I applied for a MEEMIC grant that will hopefully put this text into your hands.  I'll let you know about this exciting possibility as soon as MEEMIC announces its grant recipients for 2011 - 2012.

"But teaching strategies for the sake of teaching strategies isn't the goal.  Being able to make connections or ask questions or visualize isn't what matters most.  The only reason to teach kids how to be strategic readers is to help them become more thoughtful about their reading.
Meaning doesn't arrive because we have highlighted text or used sticky notes or written the right words on a comprehension worksheet.  Meaning arrives because we are purposefully engaged in thinking while we read."    - Cris Tovani, Do I Really Have to Teach Reading

Teaching Content is Teaching Reading

I know it's a busy time of year, but when life settles down in a couple of weeks or right before life amps back up in a couple of months, check out this video. It presents interesting connections that readers need to make sense of what they read. 

Reading Club Trifecta

Uno:  Just a reminder to use a vocabulary graphic organizer in your classroom by April 15 to foster critical thinking skills and augment your students' comprehension skills.  The evaluation form is a quick assessment that will help you determine the activity's worth and it will help colleagues learn from your experiences.  You can find the graphic organizers and the evaluation in Faculty Shared: Reading Club: Vocabulary Graphic Organizers.

Zwie: My cousin Posterious has been browbeating me into using e-mail for Reading Club constituents.  Finally, I acquiesced.  Get your Reading Club updates via e-mail as soon as they are posted.  Sign up on the right side of the blog.  Get e-mail updates instantly!  It's just that easy.

Duos: "...if you really teach a kid how to read, which is to say to infer, the student can then take that critical reading lens he’s developed and apply it in important ways to other kinds of materials. He’ll be able to analyze a ballot proposition or a politician’s speech. So in teaching kids to read deeply, you’re really sharpening their ability to read the world." - Kelly Gallagher, author of Readicide and Deeper Reading.

Gallagher's insight about the importance of reading bleeds into all content areas.  The hope is that the vocabulary graphic organizers and reading strategies we are using in our classrooms are helping students think deeply, critically and independently in all content areas.

Gallagher discussed his thoughts about the benefit of reading across the content areas in a recent interview for Education Week Teacher Professional Development. Read the entire interview.

Vocabulary thinking skills for all content areas

Here's a great quote from Janet Allen that explains why vocabulary research and development make a difference for students in all content areas.

The Reading Club thinks vocabulary graphic organizers are excellent tools to help all students improve the thinking skills found at the critical/independent level of Benjamin Bloom's taxonomy. 

Please try and use a vocabulary graphic organizer by April 15 and then complete a brief evaluation of the activity.  The Reading Club will post teachers' experiences so we can all gain knowledge and insight in helping our students better comprehend content in all areas.

Let the Reading Club know if you have any questions: Haupt, Kleine, Schlump, Harris, Carson, Brandt

Professional Development: Vocabulary

"Students need strategies they can use, not words they can memorize." - Jim Burke from his book, Reading Reminders: Tools Tips and Techniques

Please bring 5 vocabulary words, your students will discover before June, to Friday's professional development opportunity.  We will experience and apply various vocabulary strategies to these words.  The goal will be to discuss strategies that lend themselves to the learning goal for the unit or daily lesson using those words.


"Students cannot read what they don't understand."  Jim Burke, Reading Reminders: Tools Tips and Techniques

"'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less.'"  Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass

"Knowing what didn't work was easy.  Finding and reading the research related to word knowledge was also not very difficult.   Knowing how to implement that research in effective interesting ways turned out to be the hard part." Baumann and Kameenui. "Research on Vocabulary Instruction: Ode to Voltaire."

"According to some researchers (Baumann and Kameenui 1991) students in grades three totwelve acquire an average of threee thousand new words each year through osmosis or the context that their studies provides." Jim Burke, The English Teacher's Companion

Janet Allen's book, Words, Words, Words can be used in all content areas.  It's a great resource and best of all it's free.  In fact, my cousin Posterous, would chuckle if he knew I was including the link to the book.  Check it out and give it a read if you are looking for strategies to strengthen vocabulary learning.

Reading Strategy Overload?

Sorry about the dearth of Reading Club posts.   My cousin, Posterious has been putting me to shame lately.  However, shame can be a great motivator.  At any rate, there is a great article in the March 2011 issue of Educational Leadership, entitled, "Let Strategies Serve Literature."  Our library subscribes to the magazine and I've placed a copy on the faculty bulletin board for your perusal.

March 2011 | Volume 68 | Number 6
What Students Need to Learn    Pages 52-56

Let Strategies Serve Literature

Diana Senechal

Reading strategies are helpful guides—but we should keep students' attention on the literature.

Suppose someone tells you that the way to peel a fruit is to break the stem and pull away the skin. You find that this works well with bananas and you adjust it for oranges. Then you discover that it doesn't work with apples; you need a paring instrument, or perhaps you need not peel it at all. The skin is scrumptious, as it turns out. With melons, you hit a new obstacle. You can't peel them or bite into them; they must be cut open. But it's worth it— especially for cantaloupes! When you come to pomegranates, the original method slips your mind in your eagerness to try the fruit—look at those dark gems, those rivulets of red.

Eventually, you develop methods of getting into any fruit that depend on what you know and what you can intuit. The original strategy applied to a few fruits only—which is fine because it wasn't a grand theory, just a means to the fruit itself.

...Over the past few decades, a scenario like the latter has become a common way for many students to partake of literature...Reading strategies, taugth carefully, can help readers make sense of literature. But when the literature is subordinated to strategies...

Truly, it's a compelling read about the need for using reading strategies effectively.  Look it over when you get a chance and post a reaction or two here. 

Txtng imprves spllng?

"And while sure, it's not the same as having students exposed to 'great works of literature' on the weekends, it looks like texting is a good influence nonetheless."

                   -Audrey Waters, Read Write, Web

It's been awhile since I've posted something on the Reading Club blog but here's an interesting article that discusses how texting may have a positive impact on spelling sklz, skilz, skillz ......skills

Agree?  Disagree?  Add a comment to share your opinion.

Be sure to take the poll on the right side of this page.

Reading Humor from the Reading Club

Fear not, this boy simply needs the right reading strategy.

KWL: Horvath Style

Brian Horvath recently used a KWL reading strategy in Applied Christianity. 

"I made two blank columns on the white board. One column was named, ‘don’t know,’ and the other, ‘I know.’  Students were processing information from chapter 1 in The Case for Christ. The students were asked to, at any time during the class period write down a word they did not know on the board. The rest of the class, while noticing one of their classmates wrote down a word, if they  knew the word, would walk up to the front and write a quick definition of that word.

Students were to do this without talking and distracting the class. They had 100% freedom as to go up to the front or not."

 On a scale of 1-10 Brian rated this experience an 8, explaining, "It has potential." 

What would he change or tweak if he repeated this strategy?   I’m not opposed to using it again. I think it’s valuable because students find the courage to come up and write down a word they don’t know. The other students who know the word are able to assist another student based on their prior knowledge. And the student who didn’t know the word, now has a better idea.

Brian found a unique way to blend this reading strategy with technology:

 I would tweak it this way (and did in one class): Students were hesitant to go in front initially and I knew they knew what a word meant. In one class, I used Polleverywhere and the question was, ‘what does exemplary mean?’  I went from having no definition to have 10 definitions. Apparently, there is more stress related to going in front than I thought.

Vocabulary Strategies

Reading strategies strengthen students' abilities to comprehend and understand what they read. Vocabulary strategies do the same and that's why this year we are shifting our focus from reading strategies to vocabulary strategies.

The National Reading Panel offers some great insights into the importance of effectively teaching vocabulary:

"First, vocabulary should be taught both directly and indirectly. Repetition and multiple exposures to vocabulary items are important. Learning in rich contexts, incidental learning, and use of computer technology all enhance the acquisition of vocabulary."





In his book Reading Reminders, Jim Burke offers some guidelines for teaching vocabulary:

Teach the words that are most useful now and in the future

• Teach the words they need before reading; review them after they are done; reinforce them when they come up in the subsequent readings


• Provide multiple exposures to these words in different contexts over time
  
• Help students activate their prior knowledge when learning new words
  

Burke also offers a warning with vocabulary instruction:

• Don't spend too much time preparing students to read a text; too many vocabulary words and too much review of prior knowledge will intimidate the readers and undermine their interest in the reading selection.

Here are some strategies Burke recommends: word walls, Semantic maps, Modeling, Words as ideas, Vocabulary square, Linear array, Concept target.We will have a closer look at these Wednesday, October 13. If you would like to borrow my copy of Burke's book, I'd be more than happy to share.

Word wall: Keep a running display of words you have introduced so they can be referred to or reviewed by students. Model using the words yourself. When students see you consulting the word wall for just the right word, they will be more likely to do the same.

Whose job is it?

"The college instructor blames the high school teacher, the high school teacher complains of the grade teacher, each grade teacher above first grade finds fault with the poor work of the teacher in the grade below, and the first grade teacher in turn is chagrined at the shortcomings of the home training. Must this go on indefinitely? Whose opinion shall prevail? Is it not possible to get away from personal opinion to an agreed-upon consensus of opinion? May we not replace the constantly conflicting subjective standards with definitely defined objective standards?" —Wilson & Hoke, 1921 1

Although Wilson and Hoke are discussing the need for national standards, the same idea can be applied to reading strategies and thinking skills. When struggling readers walk into our classrooms, what can we do to help them better understand and learn content?

Using reading and vocabulary strategies across the curriculum is a great way to improve our students' ability to read, think and learn.

Baiting the Reading Hook

The October issue of Educational Leadership has a great article entitled "Baiting the Reading Hook." There is a copy of it posted in the faculty lounge for your perusal.

One quote stood out of the article.
"Research has shown that high-achieving students read more than low achievers (Allington, 2006; Guthrie, 2008). To accelerate students' achievement in reading, literacy educators must ensure that striving readers are reading at least as much as their higher-achieving peers."

How can we accomplish this simplistic, yet crucial goal? The article offers some insights.

Reading-as-Thinking

Harvey Daniels is the author of Subjects Matter: Every Teacher's Guide to Content Area Reading. The Lutheran North faculty is using this book to help students become better readers and thinkers in all their classes.

Daniels authored another book, Teaching the Best Practice Way. Chapter two of this book is entitled "Reading-as-Thinking" and contains some great insights into what students, teachers and parents can do to help readers better understand what they are reading.

Follow this link and peruse chapter two to learn what educators and parents can do to help students become better readers, better learners, better thinkers.

Technology and Reading Strategies

Tim Hardy recently sent me information that reveals how e-readers can be used for reading strategies. Before you roll your eyes and say, "I'll never use one of those technological e-reader gizmos", read on.

At some point, our students might be using one e-reader instead of lugging around an assortment of physical textbooks. Right now, some students and their parents use the iPod touch, Kindle or Nook. Clinton Township residents can check out a Kindle from the Clinton-Macomb library to experience this e-reader.

Students have access to a variety of e-readers so exposing them to reading strategy options for this technology might enhance their learning experiences. If you have time check out this brief video on the diigo application to learn about how students can highlight text and use technological sticky notes with e-readers.

If nothing else, it's an interesting and practical use for developing reading strategies.

Sticky Note Reading Strategy

Here is an easy-to-use reading strategy that helps students focus while they’re reading and provides entry points into the text that will strengthen understanding after they’ve read the passage.
Many teachers already use this strategy because it provides concrete reminders of what students were thinking about while they were reading. Students can use these reminders to prompt discussion and strengthen understanding.

Why Use It?
How many times have we absent-mindedly read the same sentence, paragraph or page several times? Tracking and returning to important points in our reading is something that all competent readers do, particularly with material for a course or other practical purpose. And when the notes mark particular concepts, facts, or thinking strategies that teachers wish to emphasize they help students actively watch for them.

How Does it Work?
1. Students need guidance when they first use this strategy. Explain what you want them to discover, find or investigate. Maybe you simply want them to note a confusing word or idea in the text. A question mark on the sticky note with a brief note on the confusion is all that’s needed.
2. When students are done reading you may want them to look back on their notes and see if any questions are clarified. If not, they will be able to ask questions for the following day’s discussion. 3. Assessing this assignment is easy. Have the students peel off the notes after completing the chapter or unit, stick them to notebook paper and turn in as an assignment.
4. Use the paper cutter to make strips of sticky notes. Most applications don't require a lot of writing space. Cut the stack of notes in half and double the quantity, double the pleasure, double the fun.


Here are some other options for sticky notes:



Making Connections



Content Area Suggestions

International Literacy Day

Yes, the rumors are true!

Today, is actually International Literacy Day. To help you celebrate this festive event check out the International Reading Association's reading resources.

A webinar on Building Support for Effective Reading Instruction featuring IRA President Patricia Edwards, Richard Carson (Rotary Representative to the OAS) and Instructor Judy Backlund is available.

Check it out and learn how you can help your students become better readers and better learners of your content.

3...2...1...LAUNCH!

Welcome to the Lutheran North Reading Blog. The LHN Reading Club will use this blog as a compendium of reading resources, strategies, ideas, research and other information that will help you use reading strategies in your classroom.

The Reading Club will alert you when there are new posts with useful information. The idea is not to overwhelm you with information, but present reading strategies, applications and research in a way that is manageable and practical. You can also subscribe to this site with the RSS feed on our Google Reader.

This blog will also be made available to parents and students so they can benefit from the reading strategies as well.

Helping our students become better thinkers and readers will also help them become better learners. Now that's a win-win!