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    Questions from the Classroom
    Questions from the Classroom
    Questions from the Classroom
    Ebook176 pages1 hour

    Questions from the Classroom

    By Karen D. Wood

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    About this ebook

    Provides educators with a research and theoretical base, but more importantly, practical strategies for integrating literacy across the curriculum.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBookBaby
    Release dateNov 6, 2015
    ISBN9781560902713
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      Book preview

      Questions from the Classroom - Karen D. Wood

      Word

      Section I:

      How Can I Integrate Comprehension Strategies?

      One of the critical realities for many middle grades students is that very often they are not able to understand the central focus of learning contained in their content area text. In turn, this lack of understanding impedes their comprehension of the central focus and the key concepts presented in a unit of study. Comprehension is the ability to construct meaning, and reading comprehension is the ability to construct meaning from texts (Vacca, Vacca, & Mraz, 2013). While the term reading comprehension seems straightforward, the actual process that students employ to translate words into meaning is complex and requires students to interact with the text, to draw upon prior knowledge and experiences, and to consider the context in which the content is presented (Vacca, Vacca, & Mraz, 2013). As a result, the reader, the text, and the context are all integral components in the reading process, and each one affects how well young adolescents comprehend their reading material.

      Teaching with texts requires middle grades teachers to recognize that, in truth, they are teachers of textual comprehension and that reading in a content area classroom requires students to employ a unique set of skills to understand each discipline. Today, we refer to this application as content area literacy or disciplinary literacy, and thus, instruction for content area literacy needs to be part of the content curriculum (Shanahan & Shanahan, 2008).

      The literacy tools people use for communicating and learning constitute a thread common to learning in all disciplines. Middle grades students must be able to read, write, listen, speak, view, and visually represent information in every content area. With the volume of information students must learn, teachers cannot possibly tell them or read to them everything they need to know. They must, instead, help their students become self-directed learners, enabling them to take control of their own learning—a highly motivating experience essential for knowledge building (Guthrie, 2007). In addition, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) place further emphasis on the importance of teaching students to read complex informational texts independently to build knowledge in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects (CCSS, 2010).

      Implementing literacy strategies in the content areas can be a difficult and complex undertaking. Middle grades teachers face many constraints that hinder the use of literacy practices as tools for learning. With a predominant focus on content knowledge and so little time in which to teach, many content area teachers are reluctant to invest in instructional practices that appear to be too time-consuming or unrelated to their immediate purpose. It is not a wonder that many middle grades teachers ask. How can I integrate comprehension instruction in my discipline area?

      This section provides strategies for maximizing student motivation by incorporating meaningful ways to engage them in the learning process. The field of literacy has long recognized the relationship between vocabulary development and comprehension (Anderson & Freebody, 1981; Baumann, 2005; Blachowicz, Baumann, Manyak & Graves, 2015). It also emphasizes the importance of allowing students to self-select their assignments and their reading by first having accessible texts within the classroom environment and also by providing a menu of choices. The section includes activities that encourage group and pair interaction that meet young adolescents’ social needs, as well as visual activities that provide alternative ways of learning and responding to text to meet the needs of diverse learners and students of all ability levels (Wood, Lapp, Flood & Taylor, 2008; Wood, Stover, Pilioneta & Taylor, 2013).

      Think-Tac-Toe

      Think-Tac-Toe (Samblis, 2006) uses a structure similar to a Tic-Tac-Toe board. The boards can include before-reading, during-reading, and after-reading activities that foster deeper interaction with text to enhance students’ comprehension. The use of Think-Tac-Toe creates a balance between teacher-selected activities and student-selected activities. The parameters developed by the teacher ensure academically significant and rigorous activities.

      Goal. These activities integrate writing skills, speaking and listening skills, collaboration, and the use of technology—all of which are expectations in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS, 2010).

      Benefits. As young adolescents transition to being more like adults, they want to feel more self-worth and a stronger sense of autonomy— to do things independently. This strategy is developmentally appropriate due to the multitude of choices it provides. The strategy gives students ownership of their learning by allowing them to make decisions about their learning and engagement. It also provides teachers with a better understanding of their students’ learning styles, interests, and strengths based on the activities selected by the students and the open-ended nature of the work.

      Teacher Actions. Teachers can write Think-Tac-Toes specifically for a given text such as a textbook, class novel, or online articles, or they can construct them in an open-ended manner to coordinate with a particular genre that students are reading independently. Figure 1 is a sample seventh grade language arts Think-Tac-Toe one teacher created for the book The Hunger Games (Collins, 2008).

      Figure 1. Sample Think-Tac-Toe for Language Arts

      Student Actions. Students choose three tasks from the nine cells to explore the key ideas and concepts. As in typical tic-tac-toe games, the three activities may be chosen from a horizontal row, vertical row, or a diagonal row, giving students a set of choices that will include a variety of activities.

      Differentiation. Teachers can easily adapt this strategy to meet a range of learner needs. Figure 2 is a Think-Tac-Toe board developed by a seventh grade biology teacher to engage her students in the study of sea turtle conservation and barrier island ecology. In this example, the teacher planned activities that would engage her students in collaborative discussions, interpreting information presented in digital images, citing evidence to support claims, and integrating math skills her students were learning in their seventh grade math curriculum.

      Figure 2. Sample Think-Tac-Toe That Provides a Variety of Challenges to Meet Students’ Needs.

      Accessible Texts

      The term accessible text is often used interchangeably with the more familiar term leveled reading. Accessible texts are quality, well-written books and passages of high interest to students and most importantly, match students’ reading levels.

      Goal. Match students to appropriate texts. Texts that are too difficult to read will not support learning for anyone at any age. Even with teacher support, some school texts can be beyond the reach of some students, and requiring them to read such texts leads to frustration and low self-efficacy, with little or no learning occurring. Students cannot learn from texts they cannot read.

      Benefits. When students are matched to appropriate texts, the material becomes more relevant and meaningful.

      Teacher Actions. After careful assessment of students’ reading levels, middle grades teachers can differentiate the reading material by providing the highest level text students can comprehend without the frustration that comes from complex textbooks. For example, Figure 3 provides an overview of the multiple forms of texts teachers could use to teach the Holocaust.

      Figure 3. Sample Text Set for the Holocaust

      Texts that are too difficult to read will not support learning for anyone at any age. If a book is far beyond a reader’s capability, even support from a more knowledgeable other may not be enough to make it productive for learning. Even with teacher support, school texts can sometimes be beyond the reach of some students, and requiring them to read such texts leads to frustration and low self-esteem, with little or no learning occurring. Students need opportunities to acquire the necessary reading skills and content in their specific subject areas. The use of accessible texts in the middle grade classroom provides middle grade students the reading comfort they need, while offering a balance between teacher support and challenge.

      Accessible Text Sets

      Goal. Use a collection of multiple resources, known as text sets to provide a range of reading material unified by a particular topic, theme, or concept and include

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