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 As it discussed how the days of using a traditional textbook are outdated and a disservice to students, it gave many interesting tips on what teachers can do to support communication using a multimodal platform.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?