BEST Ideas: FUN with FLUENCY!

Dear Friends,

Today I think I was the lone secondary educator in the Tech Atrium at Copper Hills High - until Carolyn arrived, anyway. I was SURROUNDED by elementary teachers, literacy facilitators, principals, and assistant principals.

Holding tight to a microphone, Dr. Tim Rasinski belted out, "You're a grand old flag; you're a high-flyin' flag ...". From the JumboScreen, the song's lyrics shone down upon the rows of educators, and by the 3rd line, many voices joined in singing - including mine. At the end of the song, the volume had increased, and I couldn't help but applaud and holler, "Whoot, WhOOt, WHOOT!"

Even in a room full of elementary folk, I was the only one thus inspired to cheer, and so I hastily slumped down into the plastic chair. As I thought about the incident, I realized it wasn't just the spontaneous community sing that stirred up my enthusiasm; it was interacting with a passionate, knowledgeable, AND entertaining educator/researcher! (A researcher ENTERTAINING? Sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it?)

Dr. Rasinski is a literacy ROCK STAR who sings the REAL, REAL oldies, and who is BEST known for his work in fluency and word work. Because of the correlation between both areas to comprehension, I was especially interested to attend the meeting arranged by JSD's Kathy Wittke and Scholastic, Inc.

Peppering his presentation with the perfect balance of research information and great ideas, Dr. R. shared instructional tools that support students in building fluency AND vocabulary. Among these are singing, choral readings and poetry recitations, readers theater, word building, and word ladders.

Back in the day, teachers required students to memorize poetry . I always thought the purpose was to scare the heck out of kids, but it was probably meant to help us appreciate poetry. I don't know if another purpose was to build fluency, but it also achieves that goal!

When I taught The Outsiders, I assigned students to memorize and recite "Nothing Gold Can Stay." What I did NOT emphasize was reciting the poem with expression or prosody (a fancy "learning-to-read" word for "reading with expression.") I didn't stress that part of the assignment because I didn't realize how repeated/practiced reading and expressive recitation could help build fluency. AND I didn't know about the correlation between fluency and comprehension.

Another reason I didn't push reciting with expression is because of the students who would rather die than recite poetry in front of their peers. So what do you do?

• Assign students to work and present in pairs to other pairs or small groups that include the teacher.
• Turn the poem or even the TEXT BOOK PASSAGE into a CHORAL READING just by having all or groups of students recite the words in unison - either formally or informally. (Dr. Rasinksi recommends content area teachers do this, too. Primary documents, biographies of great scientists, etc. can turn into some dynamic oral presentations.)
• Opt for readers theater instead or in addition. These are popular with students, BUT one cold read is the same as round robin reading. AND you know how heartily I DON'T recommend THAT! 
• To review how Dr. R. develops these lessons, click HERE! 

Before the month is out, I will write about the word work ideas Dr. Rasinski shared. I CHEERED again when he plugged the importance of learning Greek and Latin roots, pre- and suffixes. Such study is REALLY a BARGAIN: students learn about 30 words for EACH root! So cool.

I don't want to leave without sharing a link to "From Phonics to Fluency: Effective and Engaging Instruction to Two Critical Areas of the Reading Curriculum." Please don't let the word PHONICS scare you away. Yes, there are pages that definitely target the elementary teacher audience, but Dr. Rasinski works with middle school teachers and students, too, so peruse the pages, and you will be rewarded with lots of very helpful and engaging ideas!

In the meantime, HAVE A TERRIFIC DAY today and EVERY day!
Renae

BEST Practices: Rethinking Reading Motivation

Motivating students to read is ALWAYS a tough challenge, and Dr. Ray Reutzel addressed this challenge at the UCIRA November conference. To review what we know about the research, click HERE to study his summary of research findings concerning motivation in general.

Recently, I also introduced you to Dr. Ray Reutzel's research concerning the effectiveness - or lack thereof - of Sustained Silent Reading as it is REGULARLY practiced in most classrooms: students choose books; students read books or pretend to do so; teachers read books for 15 to 30 minutes. Dr. Reutzel's research resulted in recommending that teachers "scaffold" sustained silent reading in order to monitor students' progress.

Today, I want to introduce you to another of Dr. Reutzel's studies that examines specific motivational "paths" teachers use to motivate students to read. Among the most popular are tracking the number of minutes, pages, books, AR points, etc. After completing the prescribed requirements, students are usually rewarded with prizes ranging from pizza to an assembly where the principal has is head shaved.

Again, Dr. Reutzel conducted the research in elementary classrooms, but the results and recommendations are of interest to secondary teachers as many offer various extrinsic rewards to students who reach reading goals. In the past, research in this area focused upon the rewards rather than upon the paths leading to those rewards, Dr. Reutzel decided to examine the 4: number of BOOKS or PAGES, or MINUTES or GENRES read.

As you examine the details of his study, note the effect size of the results, the limitations of the study, AND the benefits of the different paths. The following is a list of questions about both sets of slides. Can you predict the answers to these questions?

• What can teachers do to help motivate the UNmotivated?
• What, if any, are the most motivating rewards for reaching reading goals?
• Which path had the largest effect size in improving Gates-MacGinitie Reading scores? Pages? Minutes? Books? Genres?
• Which path had the largest effect size in improving attitudes towards recreational reading? Pages? Minutes? Books? Genres?
• Which path had the largest effect size in improving attitudes towards academic reading? Pages? Minutes? Books? Genres?
• What path offers the broadest benefits for supporting readers?
• What do you think were the limitations of this study?

(Click HERE to review the "Differing the Paths" study.)

Accumulation of Accelerated Reader points was not researched, but there are some studies that look at this program. Finding research that is not an INhouse study is important in determining the effectiveness of AR. Concerns that any incentive program contributes to the "Matthew Effect" - good readers get better and poor readers get worse - is a the strongest complaint.

Before I sign off, I have to tell you about South Jordan Middle School's WILDLY SUCCESSFUL incentive program implemented during first semester. Each student who reached their Accelerated Reader goals, earned a RUBBER DUCKY and had their picture taken with their little buddies. Kids LOVED the program! BUT rubber duckies cost money, and so the program is not being continued.

While incentive programs may motivate students to read more over the short term, the lasting effects are minimal. My final question to you is this: How can we promote reading, instill a respect, if not a love, for reading WITHOUT counting pages, points, books, or minutes and WITHOUT dangling donuts, pizzas, or candy bars in front of our young readers and non-readers?

Till tomorrow,
Renae

BEST Practices: Re-examining Sustained Silent Reading

Dear Colleagues,

During a recent workshop, a participant who teaches special education asked the class about the value of Sustained Silent Reading in the classroom. He had recently learned that there is insufficient research to warrant its implementation. Our colleague's observation is correct, and Dr. Ray Reutzel of Utah State University and the International Reading Association (IRA) board addressed that topic last November at UCIRA.

(If you can't wait, click HERE to review the PowerPoint of Dr. R's keynote address, BUT if you want a PREVIEW before you REVIEW, read on!)

While Dr. Reutzel's research in this arena focuses on elementary students, his remarks were to k-12 teachers, and he addressed secondary concerns and needs which include the following:

• Lack of sufficient research about the effectiveness of Sustained Silent Reading
• National Reading Panel's determination that evidence which does exist demonstrates "insignificant or mixed effect for SSR on students' reading achievement/growth"
• Lack of student motivation/engagement during SSR
• Lack of accountability for students' reading during SSR
• Problems associated with students' reading selections in conjunction with their reading abilities/levels

Sometimes I am concerned that we secondary teachers only pay attention to research conducted in the secondary world. Instead, we should review relevant elementary studies and ask if we don't encounter the same issues in middle and high schools. If we do, then perhaps we should examine that research and the recommendations, regardless of grade levels studied.

While studying Dr. Reutzel's PowerPoint that summarizes his research and recommendations, secondary teachers might determine which findings apply to their students and how they might incorporate the recommendations into the curriculum to fit the needs of older students.

For example, Dr. Reutzel introduces Scaffolded Sustain Silent Reading (ScSSR) which includes several structured steps that a secondary teacher could implement in the secondary classroom. One critical component of ScSSR is Individual Monitoring Conferences (IMC). Rather than reading WITH students, teachers conduct short meetings to discover important information ranging from fluency to comprehension levels.

Some teachers may feel they cannot implement the recommendations with exactness, but may want to adapt or adjust suggestions. While such changes will not support the research, teachers can conduct action research to determine whether or not the ScSSR, as they implemented the program, is more effective than traditional SSR.

The main point is that SSR is a practice lacking effectiveness for MANY students. While teachers try a variety of plans to improve the results, it is important that we start with ideas that emerge from research.

After reviewing Dr. Reutzel's PowerPoint, I would appreciate your feedback. I also hope that you will find ways to scaffold the sustained silent reading that occurs in your classroom, based on the best research currently available. : D

BEST wishes!
Renae