Chapter 8 Writing to Learn in the Content Areas

Chapter 8 Writing to Learn in the Content Areas, addresses one of the most complex areas of teaching for me personally.  I know it is going to sound horrible but I hate teaching writing.

In Chapter 8 it states the importance of being a good writer and how writing is the most complex communication process within the communicative arts.

As i read more into the chapter it discussed how writing is view as a way of discovering rather than for testing. The chapter discusses many strategies that teachers can use along with reading comprehension.  The symmetry between writing and reading comprehension helps develop academic success.

There are a few concepts that I found to be interesting and even usable within the classroom. The first example provided was a warm-up with student generated questions. I began to think about a few weeks ago when the students and I were talking and I asked the students to write down something they wanted to know about as it pertains to the sun. I received some really good questions from this investigative session. One student wrote how many miles is the Earth from the Sun. Not knowing what do do with this question, I did research with the students and answered it for them. I could of applied other strategies and made this simple question more meaningful.

Another strategy that can be used that I liked from this chapter was the written conversation where students are armed with 1 sheet of paper and 1 pencil or pen. Students use the paper to make predictions, draw inferences, make personal connections, ask questions or detect things that deviate from the norm. I think this strategy would be an awesome collaborative writing project.

As the chapter moved on I gained a better understanding for writing. I know now that I don't always have to "grade" the end product. BUT that students do better when they know someone is going to read their writing. I also learned that there is a time for teaching students how to write for testing and teaching them how to write for metacognitive development.

As I have always desired, I will continue to take professional development classes that offer suggestions and strategies for writing. But I feel it is important that I find formal training classes to help me conquer writing. It is my weakest subject, but because I want my students to do well, it is important that I work at getting better at it.

What's your weakest subject? How do you conquer your fears? And how do you use/ or predict you will using writing in your classroom?

In the article, You can't learn from books you can't read, author Richard Allington talks about the "one size fits all" approach that our students are experiencing. Not only do our students have textbooks that are out of date but they also have books that are not revelant to what is happening in today's world. I often find my students unable to make connections regarding some of the things that they read.

As all the the new SOL requirements and the push to increase rigor is constantly discussed and pushed we are not taking the advice that Allington addresses in the article. "...students will be more successful at new tasks when the tasks they face are closely targeted to their academic skills, developmental stage, and the resources they bring to that task and when families and schools structure tasks in ways that provide appropriate levels of challenge and support".

I wonder how others feel about teaching to a students level. I know that typically in small group instruction the teacher "groups" students by reading level and typically spends about 20 minutes with the students. I would think an ideal situation would be allowing students to be grouped and then rotate to a classroom for the full 90 minutes and work on different activities that are at their level. This would be right in line with Allington's suggestion of individualized instruction.

So how will you provide your reader with individualized instruction that allows them to be a successful reader?

Chapter 6 Moving beyond the textbook

Chapter 6-Moving beyond the Traditional Textbook and Transmission Methods, was the most exciting read so far. As it discussed how the days of using a traditional textbook are outdated and a disservice to students, it gave many interesting tips on what teachers can do to support communication using a multimodal platform.

Typically, I struggle with background knowledge within the classroom. I have developed this mindset (that I am aware of) that even if the student know something, it isn't going to hurt them for me to tell them again. But in reading the section of chapter 6 about the use of a cloze I began to realize that I could use that as a tool for background knowledge! I adore the ideal of taking a passage and deleting the 10th word and having the students fill it in! This week in science we will be learning about the water cycle. I looped with my students from last year to this year and I feel that the cloze would give me a clear understanding of what the students still know and areas that we may need to focus on again to guarantee full comprehension of the water cycle. I am going to edit a passage and try this technique this week. I'm curious if it will change the way the lesson go.

Has anyone ever used the cloze method in their classroom?

I admit the cloze method made me think about Mad-libs that I did as a young child. I began to think about actually using this as a lesson for fun friday. I would take a mad-lib give it to the students and let them create their own mad lib. When the students are done, perhaps have them change what they wrote to make a paragraph that is more sensible.

I think using the cloze for my mid and upper ability groups would be interesting. However, for my lower level learners, as per the text, I might do a small group setting and use the maze to help eliminate frustration.  Guaranteeing the students that this is not a graded assignment would be beneficial and offer a no pressure assessment of prior knowledge. I could do this for the upcoming weeks lesson and then plan accordingly to what I learn from the students responses.

This chapter gave me a new prespective on the Lexile scoring that Norfolk Public Schools uses. I like that using the Lexile score helps lower level students pick material to read that would truly benefit their learning. However, for at or above level learners it could be paired with Fry, checklist, and a common sense approach. The technique of having students turn to the middle of a book and use the rule of 5 to determine if a text is at their level or not helps the student take responsibility for their learning.

Does anyone currently run into problems with this approach?

I do have concerns in regards to the students being responsible.

I am researching if our school uses A-Z reading. A-Z has leveled readers that would allow students to read the same subject matter but the level of reading. A-Z combined with their Lexile level would help me group students accordingly.

In regards to technology in the classroom, I would love if we had access to a blog site that the students could access. I think it would be an excellent tool to use for reflection. Students' could blog about the subject and even use the internet to do more research. I know that my student's love using computers but I don't often use them in a capacity that they could be used in. How do you use technology in your classroom?

In closing, I agree that students must have many different approaches to learning about a certain subject. For the upcoming year, I will begin to look at the pacing guide and how I can tie all subject areas into what we may be learning. This chapter gave me the idea that the water-cycle (science) and probability (math) could be tied together, creating a symmetry between the two concepts. This chapter was the most interesting read of the book thus far.

**Update..I did a little experiment on my nephew who goes to my school. I gave him an at level book and a paper pencil test. He scored a 71% then I asked him to go to AR and take an AR test on the book..Can you believe he scored a 100% and took the vocabulary test as well??!!** He's much better at using technology to test than he is at paper/pencil. Do you think we have conditioned today's children to depend on technology too much or too little? 

Chapter 11 Supporting Diverse Learners in Content Classrooms

Chapter 11 was an interesting read for me. Being that I am orginally from Illinois I related to the voices from the classroom section directly. As a young child, I spent most of my summers are many cultural festivals. I would explain to my mother that I didn't understand why we were going to the Asian American festival if we weren't Asian. She would often reply with a simple don't you want to know what they know. Planting that seed of cultural interest was big for me. As a young child I knew that we were close to my Grandparents home when we would begin to smell manure because they live in southern Illinois. We also knew that we were getting close to the city when we began to see tall buildings and there was a different "mysterious" type odor in the air. I understood that my "two families" ate different and did different types of activities. I developed a love and passion for both. I love a true southern baptist church, and have a small fetish with some country traditions. I think of how different my life was back then compared to my classmates.

One of the most interesting changes from Illinois to Virginia was the inclusion structure. In Illinois inclusion didn't mean that the student spent the majority of their day in a general education classroom. Typically, the special needs students would be included in the general education classroom for a certain amount of time each day. In Virginia the student is included all day.

In Virginia, the gifted students are removed for services each day with the gifted teacher as long as they are identified. This was not the case in Illinois. Gifted and talented students weren't identified and didn't receive special interventions.

I must admit that one of the MOST challenging things each day for me is differentiated instruction. I don't know if I will ever master it. From year to year and just when I think I have the strategy or method that works, the kids change. Daily my challenge is how to I keep students who are at a 5th grade level engaged while the two students who are at a first grade level get the basic concepts? And while doing all that how do I make sure that all students are on task? engaged? and learning? How do I manage the student with a physical compulsive disorder? How do you create an environment where all students respect and understand students who may look or behave differently?

I had a strong connection moment during my reading of Chapter 11.

Last week, my student with a compulsive disorder stole money from another classmate. She admitted to taking the childs money. Later in the week, another student called her "sticky fingers" she looked down at her hands and touched two fingers together to see if they were indeed sticky. At that moment, I realized that the students didn't understand analogies. Since then, we have begun working with analogies. I know that they play an important role in the students understanding and learning.

I also LOVE the use of the student interactive notebooks. I have my students use their interactive notebooks. Since this class I have changed the notebook just a bit. My students write the concept on the top line. Then they list in a red square "What I know" students are able to write everything that they know about the subject we are talking about. Students also highlight the things that they know and prove to be confirmed facts. I like this approach. In addition, the students can use the interactive notebook to bring in things from the outside that they can add. Perhaps a poem or magazine article that they make a connection with. I love the interactive notebooks. It also allows students an opportunity to determine information that is important vs. interesting.

I have developed very specific guidelines regarding respect in my classroom. I allow students to recognize differences and at times we even talk about them. I think this approach is why I do not currently have issues of bullying or romance within my room. We also celebrate small successes in the classroom, a years worth of growth is just as important to me as a student who is working at level. Growth is growth!

My challenge is the gifted students, keeping them motivated and keeping them engaged. I also want to know how to create a 100% buy-in in the classroom, how to keep all students accountable and motivated.

I would like to look into getting some beginner-oriented texts for my struggling readers. I think this would be a helpful strategy.

Midterm Questions

What strategies work well for special education students in regards to vocabulary?

I would expect to see questions about visual literacy, affective domain, conation (36), internal locus of control(42)

Preparing for Fables and History

Standards
3.1          The student will explain how the contributions of ancient Greece and Rome have influenced the present world in terms of architecture, government (direct and representative democracy), and sports.
3.10        The student will recognize the importance of government in the community, Virginia, and the United States of America by

a)   explaining the purpose of rules and laws;

b)   explaining that the basic purposes of government are to make laws, carry out laws, and decide if laws have been broken;

c)   explaining that government protects the rights and property of individuals.

3.12        The student will recognize that Americans are a people of diverse ethnic origins, customs, and traditions, who are united by the basic principles of a republican form of government and respect for individual rights and freedoms.

 

OBJECTIVES

TSWBAT- identify that there are different ethnic origins, with different customs and traditions.

TSWBAT –to analyze what law was broken, dramatize what the offense was and what the alternative could have been.

TSWBAT- produce a written opinion based on if the offender’s punishment were done by direct vs representative government.

Written purpose- Students should understand that the three basic principles and the type of government determine what laws are created.

Preparation
Before the lesson TTW give S word inventory

Words will be

citizenship, thief, consequences, morale, fable, liberty, pursuit of happiness, judge, judgement, guilty, innocent,  and rules

TTW put the title of the passage on the board. The Thief and his Mother.

TSW make predictions and create possible sentences that may be found in the story.

ASSISTANCE

Story Impression-

I would place the word CITIZENSHIP, THIEF, CONSEQUENCES,and  JUDGE,  in three places around the room. (leaving space for students to post their note cards underneath.

Each student will look at the words and decide which one they have knowledge of and write what they know about the word. Post their definition underneath the word.


TTW give each student a Reader's Theatre copy of the thief and his mother. TTW allow students to work within their group to act out the Reader's Theatre copy of the Thief and His Mother.

**Have more steps to add here

REFLECTION
When the students have completed the task TSW begin discuss what are some characteristics of of the boy

Students will spend 4 minutes doing a rally robin about what is unspoken about the mother?

**This is not complete




Reflection
The students will infer what the author meant by determining the morale of the story.

#2 Pages 176-183 Stop after possible Sentences

See Chelsa's blog

Chapter 7 Vocabulary

Chapter 7 Vocabulary

This week I learned about the impact of vocabulary in today’s schools.  I must admit that I love vocabulary and all of the “tricks” of the trade.  After this chapter I felt as if I had been doing a disservice to my students in the sense that I sometimes don’t let them struggle through incidental vocabulary that they encounter. I will typically define the word before we begin reading or while we are reading. I do know that at times when I am actually facilitating a lesson that I will use vocabulary that the students may not be familiar with and try to back it up with a sentence that contains its synonym  to guarantee that the students understand what they are reading.

My favorite activity was the 7.2 Word inventory. This would be a great introduction strategy. It would be an awesome assessment of what they already know. It would also help me to determine prior knowledge. (One of the things in the past that I have struggled with)

I do, however, celebrate the fact that I am good at concepts of context. When there is a word that has a different meaning across curriculum I stop to address it with the students.  We talk about the way the word was used and the context in which it was used.

One thing I would hope to grow into is vocabulary podcasts.  Being able to use podcast would be a monumental experience for the students.  The students definitely enjoy technology enhanced learning. I believe they would embrace the concept.

I wasn’t a fan of the jot chart method until I began to think about the fact that I work in a lower social economic area that has extreme challenges with vocabulary.  I think about the speech that our gifted and talented teacher gave at the beginning of the year and a parent said “I don’t have a clue what that over-educated lady is saying.” I would be interested in knowing what the students thought for the possible definition as this could shed some light on cultural differences or even economic differences. I would like to marry the jot chart with a type of dictionary game and see if the students are more motivated to complete the activity.

After reading the chapter it placed an intense need on making sure that I spend time teaching vocabulary.  I know that my students struggle in this area and the chapter made me realize that my deficiency in context clues may stem from my lack of attention to vocabulary. I also will not be using all the suggested vocabulary words as per the teacher manual, but will read the passages, stories, or poems myself and determine which words would be beneficial to focus on. OF course I love illustrations and will allow students to do that as well. I am a firm believer that if you can’t talk it out you can draw it out!

Chapter 5 -Learning through reflection

I must admit that I love the voices from the classroom section of you book! I like that it create a scenario and prepares us to be reflective.

As educators and potential educators we all enter the classroom with the hope that our students will be autonomous learners. We want them to be as invested as we are in seeking our initial degree/certification or additional endorsements. However, we do not leave students any time to reflect on what they are learning. On page 109 the text discusses the connection of the preparation phase and the reflection phase. It is no secret that at the beginning of the week we are amp'd up. Alright here's the vocabulary, let's do a one pager, okay read the story, take the test...SEE YA MONDAY! As the end of the week nears we forget to look back on what we learned. Did the story teach us a lesson? What do you think about the character(s)? What do you still wonder about? Are all important questions that students NEVER get to answer. From a behavior management stand-point you hear teachers constantly complaining that their students talk too much. I'm certain that they don't, they actually don't get to talk enough? On Monday look around our own class, Dr. Johnson will say something that will spark a question, we turn to our partner, log onto the internet (yes we already know that you googled taxonomy last week) or mumble a comment under our breath. We are no different than the students that we interact we are comprehension monitoring. During times of the day in my classroom, when I catch a student talking and I think they should be paying attention, I say Danyla (who is my think out loud and most talkative student), are you talking about learning? I love it when she actually is talking about something she doesn't understand. She's trying to monitor her comprehension but seeks help from others most of the time to do it. This is where I adore partnering Kagan Collaborative strategies with reflection within my classroom. The simple act of allowing students 5 minutes to just reflect on what they know, what they want to know, what they learned, and what they think is valuable. There are times that a student can find so much understanding from a partner. Kid to kid language is an awesome example of speaking to learn. We have concrete facts that this strategy is imperative to reading, why isn’t it practiced?

While reading page 110, it talked about the Oppenheimer study, where American teachers traveled to Japan in the late 1990’s. When they observed the students in Japan, they didn’t see recall and memorization but they saw analysis, and reflection. The student confirms that reflection is an important piece of the learning process. Did you find this cliché in a sense that the researchers brought the information back and no reflected on the study? Are we so confident in what we do that we didn’t learn anything from our information research? Isn’t this a contradiction of what the study concluded?

As I read on I began to look at what elementary teachers typically do. Shy away from reflection, use time as an excuse, and the recognition that critical thinking can’t really be assessed on a standardized test. Have we become a factory of test takers? Is critical thinking so unmeasurable that we discount it in an effort to teach test taking skills?

One of the techniques that I hope to add to my classroom is juxtapositioning, where learners are able to compare and contrast texts having opposing perspectives. I would love to do this in social studies using government for Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. The ideal of a direct democracy and representative democracy on an issue may help better connect my students to the concepts. At this time, it seems to be their most difficult concept to understand. My grade level struggles with ideals and concepts that would help students understand how both forms of government operate.

PAR and Cooperative Learning (or Collaborative learning) seems to offer three options to achieving the desired reflective learning results. It allows a choice of three phases and if I tie it to the social studies lesson students may actually understand the two forms of government. The challenge will ultimately be time. With SOL’s right around the corner the pressure to follow the pacing guide, district benchmark testing, and monthly monitoring test are put in place to make certain that I have taught what the district says teach within the allotted time frame.

While it’s true that time is the issue, I wonder how many people believe we can as a nation do better if we go to year round schools with more breaks?

In closing, as it pertains to our classroom and this course. I was very suprised to learn last week on the test that we were not able to use a strategy repeated readings and text lookbacks. Many of us are taking many courses, maintaing full time jobs and reading throughout the week. If your like me you may have memory difficulties.

If research indicate this as an important practice for not just children but adults why aren't we using it in this class?

Chapter 4 Assistance in Learning

Chapter 4 Assistance in Learning was an interesting read. My favorite part of the chapter was learning about the fix-up strategies. In early November I attended a Kagan training. Kagan's focus is  on the students working collaboratively to understand what they are learning. The fix -up strategies  would pair nicely with my students working together. I learned a long time ago that the students learn better when they work together to analyze what they are learning and justify the things that they have learned.

I battled with this chapter in many ways. While I understand that reading is a culmination of strategies for the students to learn, apply, analyze, and discuss, I also know that the pacing guide doesn't allow for ample amounts of time to develop mature readers. I often excite my students about a subject, attempt to access prior knowledge, and address misconceptions the down side of this is that just as we get rolling on a particular story the week is over and we have to move on. The students get excited they want to learn more regarding a specific subject but we have to move on. So unless students have their own desire to learn more regarding a topic we continue on. I think the school systems should pick better material and gain more insite with less literature. Enforce critical thinking and allow teachers to use more adjunct methods. Students would become constructivist operating at the highest level of Bloom's taxonomy. Students would be encouraged, interpertations would be be accepted and the simple factural recall methods would have no place in the classroom. Students would have so much more insite into the passage. Ultimately, it would allow students indepth knowledge of the literature.

Chapter Two and Three Reading to Learn in the Content Area

Chapter 2 of Reading to Learn in the Content Area brought back memories for me.  As the chapter discussed affect and learning and specifically the affective domain I recall my day in first grade. While in first grade I wanted to badly to master addition and subtraction. My teacher at the time had this box of worksheets and each morning she would prep us for the day by doing Minute Minders. I can admit that I was slightly obsessed with Minute Minders, my goal was go get to the highest group possible. Each day I would go home practice and hope the next day that I would pass to the next level. I grabbed sheet one and would wait for the teacher to start the clock. Today would be the day I would think. I would move to the next level. Everyday, I was met with with the horrible words "You didn't pass to the next level". My self-concept and self-esteem was diminished. Even today as things get tough within my studies I think back to my ability (or lack thereof) and it changes my attitude. I attempt to use this as motivation to push through and know that with hard work and effort I can be successful.

The text encourages teachers to make learning fun and relative to the students life and everyday events. I struggle with the motivation of my students. Attempting to help my students honor, respect, and value themselves and others is a daily struggle. I began by assessing my classroom, making sure that I had a climate that was affective. Students are placed in groups and I utilize Kagan strategies of collaboration to help the students be expressive. I also felt motivated to do a self assessment. I know that I play a large role in impacting my students and have since created data folders where students can track their learning. I'm working at being more accepting of the stories and things that students wish at share. My goal is to make sure that my students know that I value their inquiries, sharing and inquisitive nature.

In Chapter 3, Preparation of Learning, there is a focus on addressing students' prior knowledge. In November 2013 my students were given a monthly test for comprehension in the area of science. A test question displayed a  bird feeder that had a cylinder shape. It measured how much bird seed the birds had eaten over a given period of time. After the students had taken the test, I noticed that almost all of students failed the question. Confused we began discussing the picture. I asked the students what the bird feeder showed. The students were extremely confused regarding the question. This is when I discovered a total disconnect. The students could not tell me that the picture was a display of how much bird seed the bird's had eaten over a period of time because they could not see the feeder. I began to let the students talk, I listened and this is when I discovered that a majority of my students had never seen an actual bird feeder before. They didn't know that the cylinder was the feeder, they had never seen anything like it and kept claiming that they couldn't see the feeder. To them the feeder was the person throwing out the birdseed.  I can admit that there was a huge disconnect with my students and making a connection in what was relevant.

I like the idea of doing a prelearning concept check.  After reading the chapter I began thinking about learning how to heighten interest in my classroom. I think making sure that I do some prelearning and checking prior knowledge would better guide me in the delivery of my lessons. I know that the prior knowledge attempts don't have to be grand or even have a project attached to them. It could be something simple like reading the first page of a story, performing a preconcept check, or using a story impression to get the students involved and motivated. The concept that I found most interesting is factstorming, the concept being similar to brainstorming may be easy to introduce to students. It also allows the whole class to be involved in the activity. If we marry factstorming with anticipation/prediction guide it could be an explosive learning experience.

As teachers we struggle with passion. I find myself asking "How do I motivate them? Why don't they love this?" Chapter 2 and 3 provided great information to me as a teacher. If I can feed my students emotional needs, self-esteem with strategies I can create passionate responsible learners.

Making Reading Relevant for Adolescents by T.W. Bean left me questioning myself and what I allow in my classroom each day. Am I giving my students the opportunity to read what they enjoy? Am I providing the best environment to encourage readers? What more can I do? What books would my students find interesting? How do I choose books that relate to my students for my classroom library? Ultimately, what can I do different now that I have this information?  As I reflect on the 2013-2014 school year thus far, I think about all of the changes that have happened within out school. We have a new Principal and many new staff members (a large amount of them are first year teachers), a brand new reading specialist, no reading interventionist and no real plan for remediation. While I am not opposed to change, I am a firm believer in "if it isn't broke don't fix it". In previous years, we had DEAR time at the beginning of the school year. I love Bean's concept of DEAR and allowing the students to journal about their readings. What a great way for students to have a opportunity to express themselves about what they are reading. This simple technique could increase student engagement for reading and possibly spark students to become more motivated at writing.  The end result could help students become better at comprehending , as well as analyzing the author's perspective. In previous years, students were required to have a book at all times. Books seemed to have an importance within our school. Seldom did you see a student without a book. Partnering that with AR, we had impressive results and our school is not in academic warning for reading. This year, we don't have a full time library attendant, students are not able to check out books at their leisure and at times don't visit the library as often as they should. We no longer utilize Accelerated Reader as a huge motivator in our school, but with all the changes it has not played a role of importance in our school this year. This definitely concerns me since I am in a school with academic warning and next year our school could be at risk of being taken over by the state. As we begin to prepare for the next quarter, I think it is important to bring back some of the things we have done in the past that made us successful. One thing I would love to see happen; with the introduction of PBIS is find readings that are aligned with our schools motto of Respectful, Responsible and Safe. I am currently in the process of finding readings that apply my dynamic of student and look forward to reading their journals which will be like primitive blogging.

Donna Ogle's The Challenge of Content-Area Reading, brought forth an interesting concept of passion vs curriculum. As teachers progress to content experts, their passion for a subject may actually hinder a learners ability to learn. I have to wonder, is a history teacher really teaching their students? The content expert has a passion and love for the subject that has developed over time, the student doesn't. The expectation for the student from the expert is that they should indeed love the subject as much as they do. I can only make a comparison of a farmer and his crops. A farmer's livelihood depends on the crop that is produced. In order to cultivate the land in the proper manner he must plant the seed and care for it. When a content expert reaches a certain level they are assuming the seed of excitement for the subject has been planted.

I am in agreement with Ogle's idea that content experts need to spend more time observing, listening, and strategizing what would help the students stay involved. If content experts could have an equal amount of passion for a subject and excitement to transfer that to a student learners would become more engaged. The process of helping students learn to read and read to learn would be complete.

Taking what I have have read from both articles, I need to step back and let my student drive some of their own learning. Of course, I should find a foundation of the key concepts I need them to know and understand but more student talk and discovery may actually make my job easier.