Greetings: I hope your summer is going well. I apologize for posting a day late. A few Hiring updates. We are completed for now... We will have a number of new teachers in the building the building next year and some should be joining us during our PST. Steven Udolff - 8th Language Arts, Kelly Shipley and Robyn Sloan - Science, Jenny Petit - Social Studies, and Jill Fischaber - Orchestra. If you are able, complete Part 2 by this Thursday's meeting. Kathleen brought up a great point about SSR by reading ability. Unfortunately it is just not feasible given our current resources. SSR+ is really about geography and lockers for the foreseeable future. Adding a few sections of Advanced Science was tricky enough.
See you Thursday... comment away.
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Books I Wish I Read Before Sending My Daughter To Middle School
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18 comments:
My head has been whirling with strategies! I use the Strategies That Work book and now I have a continuation. It's already getting me revved up and it's still June. I have some non-fiction reading sheets that would work for any grade content area. I'll try to get to school and grab a copy for our meeting on Thursday. I also have the book list and some small posters I use as I teach each strategy. I'll be happy to share them as well.
As I was reading this, I couldn't help thinking about how teaching is really about teachers learning too. I would find it hard to begin the year now without teaching strategies as I've done it for 7 years or so. With the extensions I've learned in this book, I will have much more. Hard to imagine teaching reading at all without these, but I know I did it.
I loved the part about "fix up" strategies. I wonder if these can be hung up in all classrooms and perhaps given an acronym. Could this acronym be referred to throughout the school at important times of testing or as an at need basis? just a thought?
I agree with Wendy. I certainly could have used these when I was in school. I used to hate to read, and I think this book has shown me why. I managed to learn to read well somehow on my own (but not until college), but many kids won't without some guidance.
I am currently reading "The House of The Seven Gables" by Nathaniel Hawthorne which I find very difficult to read giving me a wonderful opportunity to practice fix-up strategies for myself. It is not so easy to implement as I thought while reading chapter 5. I can imagine it is going to take a tremendous amount of work to teach fix-up strategies to students that already do not like to read and even harder to get their commitment to practice the strategies over time.
Before teaching slope of linear relationships I have students take about the various steepness of staircases that they have experienced "Connecting the New to the Known". Sometimes the discussion goes on for 20 minutes as students share stories about old Aunt Betsy’s antique farmhouse, nose-bleed sections at Mile High stadium, the dome in Colorado’s Capitol building, etc. Who would think that kids have so much to share about stairs? This chapter convinces me to use personal knowledge/experience in every lesson.
Questioning and pondering is exactly what we would like math students to naturally do rather than “just tell me HOW to do it” and then regurgitate an algorithm. I will certainly use Tovani’s activities to help my math students to learn to ask questions in math so that they are more likely to understand the concepts and therefore be more likely to remember the information and to transfer their knowledge to the world around them. Consequently, class will be more engaging for them and more exciting for me.
I'm headed on a road trip this evening so my mind is on the "reading road". Even after a person learns how to drive - or read the words, they still need to know how to maintain the car - comprehend what they’ve read. None of the strategies in the world will help if the driver - the student reading - is not willing to use them. We had all 3 cars break down at once (20 years ago) as we did not comprehend what the signs were telling us. We need to convince the students that keeping the car in shape – comprehending what they read – will make the trip much more enjoyable. How’s that for a connection? This also shows that though a connection may make sense for one person, it may not make sense for another.
I had this in the post section, when I recalled something else… Sometimes it DOES help to change vehicles in the middle of a trip. There are some books that MUST be read, but there are others that don’t. If you cannot get the SSR book to make sense after seriously giving it a chance, change books (also a connection when mother had to buy a new car to finish taking my sister to school).
I also liked the “fix up” strategies. I can see myself making a list, but I will concentrate on teaching only a few of the strategies to my students. I think it will be more important to teach them that when they are confused NOT to just continue and be confused, but to stop and try to work through the confusion and figure out what strategy will help. I know that I did not help them make connections to stories in the past. That will be one of the major changes when we read novels in class using the text to reader connections.
I would like to talk about the “I wonder” questions that Tovani discusses in chapter 7. I use these several times a year and am pleased with the results. When we are reading novels, the only restriction I place on their questions is that they may not ask something when they already know the answer. The next day, I read all of their questions out loud and we discuss possible answers. Sometimes they have clarifying questions which other class members can answer for them. More often though, they are curious about why characters acted the way they did and what will happen later in the book. If there is a question that the class can’t answer, I will help them. I will not tell them what is going to happen in the book if that is their question, but I will tell them if the book will provide the answer. I will also provide clues to help them find answers. I enjoy using this strategy because it gives me a glimpse of the students’ thinking and allows them to help one another with difficult areas.
Overall, the main point I take from this book as an English teacher is not to take anything for granted when we are doing reading-related activities. As she mentions, many students have learned how to play the game and know how to give the appearance of comprehension that isn’t really there. Although I use various check-for-understanding activities, I think there are times when I have been fooled. I need to take more responsibility for teaching fix-it strategies when necessary, and have the students take more responsibility for showing me real comprehension. Like I said before, I am familiar with Tovani’s work, but rereading this book gave me some needed reminders. Combined with the lessons we did in the Montaño class, I feel much better equipped to work with the kids next year and look forward to using new, and old, strategies.
I have also had to deal with a situation where the students needed to practice some basic strategies which I normally would have thought unnecessary. One group of students we had in the 7th grade was not the sharpest, and I could not presume things that I could with other groups in previous years. I had to make quite a few adjustments as the year went by, especially after a frustrating first few weeks. I noticed that they did not always understand even simple directions and often missed what many of us would consider obvious connections in literature. I had to step back and look at my delivery because I was clearly not reaching many of the students. I needed to employ different strategies in order for them to be able to handle the material we cover in 7th grade. The loss of time, as I initially saw it, was frustrating for me because I realized we would not cover as much material as usual. However, if I had not taken the time to work on fix-it strategies to help them with some of their difficulties, they would have gone through the year understanding considerably less. In this case, covering more material would not have been a good choice. The situation also reminded me that I need to consciously consider the students’ needs when I make decisions in the classroom. What works with one group will not necessarily work with another. The key is to identify the students’ difficulties and go from there. Certainly not all strategies are necessary for all students, and some are able to move faster than others. I try to find what will be most effective. In the long run, covering more material is pointless if the students don’t understand.
On a lighter note, I noticed how some of the comments Tovani’s students made to express their initial frustrations sounded just like some teachers I have been with who had difficulty with technology issues. Myself included!
I have to agree with Victor on his last point about the technology issues. I’ve heard many of the same grumblings in helping out with technology solutions myself! That is why I think that Chapter 6 “Connecting the New to the Known” really resonated with me. Tovani made an excellent point when she stated that we should not assume that students are connecting information just because the connection seems obvious to us as teachers. Helping students make connections as they read is critical to their retention of the material. As we live in such a high tech and digital society now, I think that it might help students to better make these connections by supplementing reading assignments with watching a video with the class that makes a modern connection with classical material. Once example of this could be the remake of the classic “Romeo and Juliet” starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The film puts a very modern spin on the story thereby putting it into a context that could help students understand the complexity of the story line more effectively and thus helping their retention of the material. That is not to say that this strategy will work with every student or with every novel, but it might be an interesting way to see how well it works as a baseline for helping students understand how they can "connect the new to the known" with other material that they read.
My mind lingers on the sections about questioning after reading Chapter 7. This is a core skill the students need to use constantly in science, and it is often a major weakness. I know I am suppose to be thinking about teaching reading or at least implementing reading techniques into my science content, but not being able to develop questions is a huge barrier in learning science.
As resistent as some kids are to reading, there are even more students who resist questioning in the context of science. Why are they so afraid to be wrong?
I love how the "I wonder" activities on page 83 illustrate that questioning almost always leads to a question that involves science (which includes psychology and social sciences) and, eventually, if you continue "wondering" it leads you past science to philosophy/religion/metaphysical.
The section "So How Does It Help Me?" (pp. 72-74) struck a cord with me. I utilized a great deal of Tovani's strategies in my English classes, including marking the text (those sticky notes make great flip books and nice little note-passing missiles, BTW!) with all sorts of connections and questioning, but now I am trying to recall if I ever really pointed out how working with these strategies would make them better readers. I must have... right? Regardless, I think it is important to teach the students how utilizing these strategies-- working with them until they become innate-- will make them better readers. I also like when she pointed out how we aren't aware of the strategies we employ when the text isn't difficult; it's when meaning breaks down that we have to really kick in the strategies. We should emphasize to students that this crucial moment in reading, the loss of meaning, will be different for each individual and there's no shame in recognizing when it happens and helping yourself out, even if it does slow you down!
Good book. I need to buy her newest one for the library!
Bernie, I couldn't agree with you more -- you might say that visions of strategies are dancing in my head! Victor, I'm thrilled to learn that you already use the "I Wonder" activity, because I'm excited to implement that as well. I also plan to post the "How to Tell that You're Stuck" list in my room, along with the "Fix-Up Strategies."
Two things keep sticking out to me: It is so important to help our kids understand 1) how these reading stratgies are used in everyday life, whether it be the sports page or an Income Tax form; and 2) that everyone - even teachers - get confused and needs to use these strategies. I think a lot of struggling readers really are under the impression that "good" readers just magically understand everything the first time they read it. The great moral here is that it's more about effort and persistence that natural skill level. I also liked the Driving and Reading comparison, and I think this can be applied to just about any other activity. For example, if I'm coaching an Altona basketball game and we're getting the ball stolen every time down the court, I'm not going to blindly keep running the same offense; I'm going to call a time out and try a new strategy. Likewise, it doesn't do a student any good to just keep reading the words if they're not comprehending; they must stop and "fix it."
It strikes me as very important that we take time to help the kids make connections between their learning in different classes. In 5th grade when I taught every subject to the same kids, this was easier: We'd be reading in the history book about the Revolutionary War, and I could stop and say "We already know that from reading our novel, huh?" In grade 7 though, it will be crucial that I'm familiar with what they're learning in their other classes, and that I point out these connections instead of assuming that they're making them on their own.
Now that I think about it, perhaps I've already been using more of these ideas than I'm giving myself credit for: When we read a novel together last year, we would keep running lists of Connections, Questions, and New Vocab Words on chart paper that the kids could add to as we went. We'd discuss these as they came up, and the kids knew that the material for the next quiz would come from these lists. I've only recently begun muddling around with this idea, and it's something I can fine-tune and do more effectively with Tovani's help. As she points out on page 81, "In the real world, the learner, the one wanting information, initiates the questions."
Another line I loved was "Whenever an activity fails, it's because I haven't done enough modeling." I might even write that on a post-it and keep it at my desk.
I was intrigued by the follow-up questioning activity that's described on pages 90-92, where she helps them post their questions under "In the text," "In my head," etc. But I couldn't help thinking that it must have taken Cris forever to copy down everyone's question twice! Now that I have over 100 kids, perhaps I could plan a modified version of that?
Visualization is key to working on word problems in math. I find that having students draw pictures of the situation also helps.
This book is not just about how to teach reading strategies, which is crucial for all subjects and all students. This book is about how to teach critical thinking using reading as a venue. It would be valuable to identify parallel specific strategies in other subject areas.
I like how Chitra points out that this book goes beyond reading, which is a response to Kathleen's comment, that she is supposed to be thinking about reading, but is adapting the book and its strategies beyond that.
I really like Wendy's idea of having a concerted school wide effort around fix-it strategies, it is a lot better for the students if there is lots of consistency and they are getting the same message about what to do with reading in all their classes.
I also liked the chapter on "What do you wonder", as Kathleen says great science and social science applications, as well as other subjects.
There were two items in this section that really hit home with me. First, on page 93 she says, “ Teachers have a choice. We can choose to cover the curriculum or we can choose to teach students to inquire…It is our obligation to renew our students’ curiosity and guide them toward inquiry.” I think this is not only an obvious statement, but one that so often is forgotten on the long march to CSAP. So much of the research in education these days tells us that students need to learn in context, through personal experiences, and in a manner that is applicable to the real world; however, if we can all begin with inspiring a bit of curiosity in our students, we will then be able to move towards giving our students those kinds of experiences because they will be ready for them. They will be ready to be self-motivated and self-directed learners.
The second item that I really connected to was the section on making predictions and taking inferences too far. I see this quite a bit in math class when students are constantly asking if they have the right answer. Usually I respond by asking them if they think their answer is REASONABLE. So many students don’t even know were to begin in trying to determine if they have come up with a reasonable answer. They lack the strategies to test their thinking. Sadly, many often say, “Well, I did it on the calculator so it must be right.” These students are assuming that the calculator knows more than they do, they never stop to question or analyze the situation to validate their answers for themselves. The students who ultimately succeed in math class are those who estimate or approximate an answer first, then proceed with a valid problem-solving strategy. These students realize that having some idea of where you are headed makes getting there much easier, and if you get lost along the way, you might actually realize you are lost instead of repeating the same mistakes over and over again.
What I find so significant is that Tovani’s suggestions and strategies, as written specifically to relate to reading, are not just applicable to reading but to all forms of learning as well, appropriate for anyone, any subject, any classroom. I relate completely to Chapter 7, the section on wondering and real-world questions, and can and do use questioning strategies all the time in my classroom. The emphasis is not only on the techniques and artsy principles, but on higher level thinking, problem solving, and independent thinking. In order to create their projects, they must question probable outcomes, use inference to draw conclusions, ask questions of themselves and/or others as they problem solve, discovering as they learn.
Another area that I draw upon heavily in class is making connections with the new to what is already known presented in Chapter 6. We constantly re-loop to experiences they have already had, both in my class as well as previous grade levels, and knowledge they’ve already gained, and connect how those process can be used to advance what we are learning and doing now. They remember when they did such and such or tried this or that, and by connecting what they are comfortable with and already know it is easier to transition to the unknown, new experiences and learning that we encounter. Somewhere I learned this as the Velcro theory – that there has to be something already there for the new to be able to stick. And often, depending on the unit and project, I don’t just try to help them relate their previous knowledge of artsy stuff, but attempt to help them make connections that are inter-disciplinary and very real-life as well.
But one of the most poignant reminders for me in this section was about making assumptions – or that we shouldn’t make them. I think all too often we do this in all aspects of life, not just with our students, and as we all know, assumptions can cause so many unnecessary problems, both in our classrooms and in life.
There were some great strategies the author called “Fix-up” strategies on page 51. Make a connection, make a prediction, stop and think about what was already read, ask yourself a question and try to answer it, reflect in writing, visualize, use print conventions, retell what you’ve read, reread, notice patterns in text structure, adjust your reading rate- slow down or speed up.
Of these fix-up strategies the one that is used a lot is reread, and Tovani mentions all of these strategies to help struggling students with comprehension. I also agree that these strategies are great for all readers.
I think back when I first started to put reading comprehension together- and taking it to the next level. For me that was about 3rd grade. My teacher used to separate us into small reading groups, and we would jig saw and each small group would have an individual session with her, while others worked on math or whatever.
I’ve always loved reading, but what that teacher did for me then really helped instill love of reading. I used to really enjoy the discussions we would have. When I think back on it now, I cannot really remember what we were reading (I know they were short stories), but I just remember enjoying the discussion. I’m sure that, for a few students the discussion format was not the most comfortable, but my teacher did a great job ensuring the emotional safety of the discussion format, and by talking about what was interesting to us- relating the story back to our lives, and also allowing US to discuss our ideas as well.
To me, many of these fix-up strategies are really about getting kids to discuss- and talk about what they have read. This is understanding/comprehension at the most basic level. One of these strategies used in my class is read and discuss. This can also lead to read, discuss, and visualize- make a drawing (students love it when your drawings are ridiculous). Any way that we can make comprehension fun, and have fun with what was comprehended, is going to help all readers.
As I read and think about Tovani’s strategies, it makes me excited for school to start and especially for the opportunity to teach a lit lab this year. Reading through the second half of the book made me think back to CSAP tutoring from last spring. Those ten weeks spent with five students who struggle in LA were very eye opening for me. They could not hide what they didn’t understand in that context. I found myself having to think hard about ways to help them since they weren’t “getting it” based on the way we did things in class. After the 10 weeks were up, I remember thinking that I wished I had more time with them in that context to really focus on reading strategies and how to plan their writing. I am excited that lit labs will be time set aside to really help those struggling students be successful. This book has provided a lot of good tools in helping achieve that goal.
I really liked ch. 6, “Connecting the New to the Known,” because it resonated a lot with what I already do. I use the three types of connections (text-to-text, text-to-self, and text-to-world) in class discussions, but also when they blog on the novels we’re reading. Students have done VERY well with it. I love seeing how proud of themselves they are when they come up with an intertextual connection and use it in our class discussions. It really does deepen their thinking and help them become more engaged and invested in what we are reading.
Overall, this book offered many useful strategies that can be applied to may different types of texts. I plan to use a lot of what I’ve read, especially by explicitly teaching those fix up strategies. Not only will they help poor readers become good readers, but they will also help good readers become great readers.
The section on repairing confusion was most meaningful to me because I struggle to get my students to articulate exactly what they don't "get" when they are stuck. I like the idea of the fix-up strategies and shifting the responsibility from teacher to student to determine what is causing the confusion. This not only forces them to think about their own thinking, but teaches students to become self-sufficient and not view the teacher as the only source of help and correct answers.
In our meeting, Brendan pointed out that poor or struggling readers probably believe that good readers naturally "get it" and don't need fix-up strategies, so they are hesitant or self-conscious about using them because it would identify them as poor readers. We need to make it clear to all students that even the best readers use fix-up strategies.
Continuing on this topic, the section starting on page 59, "Practice Makes Perfect," gives teachers the tools to model how to recognize confusion. Tovani gives students the words to use to begin to analyze where their understanding broke down. ("I am confused by _______," or "I am confused because ______," and "I will try ________.") This seems very simple, but I know that I have never thought to model to students how I use this when I am stuck on some difficult text.
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