BEST Instruction INCLUDES the HEART of the Core Curriculum: ILOs

Good Day, Friends,

One of the most rewarding experiences a teacher enjoys is hearing from former students who take a minute to say thanks. It is THE BIGGEST PAY DAY when it happens - at least for me. And I'm guessing many of you would agree. Over the years, I've experienced a few of those pay days, but never have I received a thank you note for helping a student achieve a dynamite score on a standardized test.

I'm not saying that hasn't happened to someone; it just hasn't been MY experience. I have received email messages, however, thanking me for other applications of knowledge gleaned in my language arts classes. For example, a few years ago I found an email in my in-box from a former student who told me she learned to love writing in my classroom, and that writing literally saved her life as she worked through several psychological issues.  Housed in a rehabilitation center, she filled journal after journal with her thoughts, her reflections, her fears, and her hopes. Writing was therapeutic! And now writing is her career.

That is just one example of "goal accomplished," as outlined by the "over-reaching intent of language arts instruction, grades 7-12: ... to understand and investigate the self ... ."

Today we're going to look closer at the first detailed description of what students should take away from a language arts class, as found in the USOE Secondary Language Arts Core Curriculum.

1. Demonstrate a Positive Attitude towards Language Arts and Processes.
1. Develop confidence in the ability to access text.
2. Enjoy the processes and outcomes of reading and writing.
3. Develop confidence in the ability to express ideas, emotions, and experiences.

As I read over this elaboration, these questions come to mind:

• How many students have positive attitudes about Language Arts and processes? If they don't, why not?
• What can I do to help promote a more positive attitude about this subject I love and the processes I value?
• How many students enjoy the processes and results that come from reading and writing? Why do some students find them enjoyable and some do not?
• What can I do to help students better enjoy and appreciate processes and results?
• What does it take to support students in developing confidence in their ability to express ideas, emotions, and experiences? Why is that important? How can I help them value the ability to do so? 

While I won't answer each question separately, I do believe there are some basic answers that apply to many of these questions, starting with LIKING KIDS and possessing a PASSION for teaching. I know there are 101 buckets of problems that are dowsing the fire we try to keep kindled. I read the JEA survey results that 57% responded that morale is lower this year than last year, but losing our passion while working with students will only make the situation worse. Instead, let the interaction with students be the refuge from the bickering over budgets and the policies of politicians.

This post took a turn I didn't plan on, but I don't feel that we can get at the heart of ANYTHING if we LOSE heart.

Best wishes,
Renae

BEST Instruction: REMEMBER Intended Learning Outcomes!

WoW! That title is a grabber, isn't it? Uh, no! UNLESS the reader remembers what Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) are! Now most educators depend upon a definition that reads something like this:

ILOs: Statements that describe what students should KNOW, UNDERSTAND, and be able to DO with their knowledge as well as what they FEEL and BELIEVE as a result of their LEARNING EXPERIENCES.

While most teachers focus upon the knowing, understanding, and doing, many forget the feeling and believing. Why? Because the latter part of this definition - that "touchy-feely" part is NOT tested. Understandably so. How can test-makers create a standardized, summative assessment that measures how students feel and what they believe?

After all, in this test-taking day and age, why should we worry about what WON'T be on the CRTs, the UBSCT, the ACT or SAT? As long as we teach the core and prepare the students for the season of testing, are we not doing enough?

The answer is "no." ILOs are a part of the core curriculum, and are expected to be an important part of instruction. With added capitalization, I created my own Wordle  "word cloud" to quote this excerpt from the USOE Langugae Arts Core Curriculum Introduction:

The OVERARCHING INTENT of language arts instruction in grades 7-12 is for students to VALUE, APPRECIATE, and DEMONSTRATE LITERACY through EXPRESSIVE and RECEPTIVE LANGUAGE skills, and to UNDERSTAND and INVESTIGATE the SELF, OTHERS, the CULTURE, and the ENVIRONMENT. The INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES (ILOs) describe the GOALS for language arts SKILLS and ATTITUDES. They are an INTEGRAL part of the CORE, and SHOULD BE INCLUDED as part of INSTRUCTION. PROCESS SKILLS in LANGUAGE ARTS domains are CRITICAL to the development of HIGH LEVELS of LITERACY and LEAD to UNDERSTANDING and INTERNALIZING ILOs.

ILOs are sometimes described as the HEART of the Core. While the voice of the above elaboration may be rather formal, some words and phrases create the heart. For example, the verbs value, appreciate, and understand, along with the adjectives expressive and critical, as well as the adverb integral denote passion and importance. The objects of the verbs - self, others, culture, and environment - specify subjects worthy of rigorous study and deep reflection. Skills and attitudes imply physical and emotional characteristics needed to develop high levels of literacy. 

As this is the time of year when goal-setting becomes a priority, it is also a good time to emphasize that ILOs describe the goals for Language Arts and that they should be included in teachers' instruction. But how long has it been since you reviewed the particulars of the core's Intended Learning Outcomes?

Over the next couple of days, let's look at a few of the ILO's descriptors. As we do, note the verbs used and the broad ramifications of those we examine.

Until tomorrow,
Renae

BEST Practices: LAST Call for Round-Robin Reading!

Dear Readers,

Part 3 of this series asked the question "who killed round-robin reading?". The question rises from a similar query posed hundreds of years ago. "Who killed Cock Robin?" refers to Sir Robert Walpole, the first prime minister in Great Britain to occupy 10 Downing Street. The rhyme referred to Sir Robin's downfall, not his death, and has since been parodied to denote the demise of a plethora of programs, agendas, ambitions, etc. 

In that spirit, this series has attempted to build a case AGAINST round-robin reading and BUILD a case for other options: Teacher read-alouds, think alouds/alongs, and paired partner reading. Today, we'll examine guided reading as it might look in a secondary classroom.

In the elementary classroom, balanced literacy includes guided reading. While students rotate among centers created to emphasize comprehension strategies, writing to learn, word work, etc., teachers work with groups of children as they rotate. During this time, students will read aloud from their leveled books while the teacher assesses their progress in fluency, decoding, phonics, etc.

Observers can find a similar model in secondary settings, but I'll wager that most of those circumstances center on expensive programs like Scholastic's Read 180. Some teachers, however, have tried to create their own centers so students have the opportunity to participate in small-group instruction.  Such an undertaking is labor and time-intensive.

As I've contemplated this situation, I decided that incorporating a guided reading experience into a literature circle format might work without investing as much time and energy into the project.

There are so many resources to support teachers in bringing lit circles to their classrooms, but I haven't found one that incorporates guided reading. I don't think it would be all that hard. Again, lit circles require intense training in the associated protocol if we want the groups to function effectively. Once that's established, teachers should be able to move from group to group to work on the needed areas of development.

On occasion, groups could be organized according to reading level as determined by Lexile measurements. Teachers could differentiate instruction by moving among the groups to work with one group that might struggle with fluency issues and another with comprehension concerns. By the end of the hour or block, the teacher may have interacted with 3 to 6 groups.

Books could be either the same or diverse titles, and instruction would be adapted accordingly. Currently, 3 teachers in our district are helping me create lesson plans for advanced readers. While all students benefit from this model, teachers can support students' needs by varying novels or assignments.

I don't think I've ever blogged about literature circles, so perhaps I will do that during this month of 31 posts. If not, the guru of lit circles, Harvey Daniels is scheduled to present at Literacy Promise 2010 (Feb. 17-19), along with a dozen other OUTSTANDING literacy experts.

Before signing off, can you answer who killed round-robin reading? Not the sparrow or the owl; not the fly or the kite. Hopefully, the strong practices shared here will bring RRR to its end!

Best wishes,
Renae

BEST Practices: Who KILLED Round-Robin Reading?

Hello there,

Are you tiring of these round-robin reading (RRR) posts? I'll wager that this will be the last of the series on this site! There is just a lot to say about this poor practice. The last post reviewed 2 instructional strategies that could AND should replace RRR: Teacher read-alouds and think-alouds/think-alongs.

After I finished posting that last installment, I started thinking about the last teacher to read aloud to me: Mrs. Hanks, my 6th grade teacher. Right after lunch, we slid into our desks, all hot and sweaty from chasing around the playground. To transition us from playing to learning, she read novels to us. I vividly remember one book was Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, the little lady who, according to Abraham Lincoln, started the Civil War.

The other novel was a mystery set in Quebec, Canada. I can't remember the title of that book, but I remember being riveted to every word Mrs. Hanks read. I loved listening to her and was among those students who always urged her to KEEP READING!

Today's post will focus upon paired or buddy reading. Again, teachers need to decide what the purpose of this activity is. The experience provides students opportunities to practice fluency and can include timed readings where one partner reads while the other records the number of words read in the allotted time. It's also an occasion where peers can practice echo reading, although language arts and other content teachers may see these are both tasks that should take place in a reading class because it goes beyond the scope of learning content.

Paired partners/buddy reading, however, does have a place in content classes. Perhaps you have problems with students failing to read the assigned pages even when you give them time to read in class. By partnering up students and giving them "during reading" work, the chances that students will read AND understand the assignment increase.

For example, a teacher assigns 2 or 3 pages of a text book, dividing the pages into 4 to 6 sections. Students decide who will be Reader 1 and who will be Reader 2. Next, the teacher provides a list of tasks to perform after each section. Here are a few ideas:

1. Reciprocal Teaching:
1. After Reader 1 finishes his section, Reader 2 will ask any questions that came to his mind, and the two can discuss the answers.
2. After Reader 2 finishes reading, Reader 1 will predict what might be covered next and discuss which text clues helped him form his prediction..
3. When Reader 1 finishes the 3rd secion, both readers will confirm or reject the earlier prediction. Reader 2 will then clarify how he worked through any confusing sentences, words, or concepts found in the text.
4. When Reader 2 finishes the final section, Reader 1 will summarize what was read in that section. The 2 readers may create a summary of the entire assignment if time allows.
   
2. Question/Answer Relationship (QAR):
1. After Reader 1 reads, Reader 2 writes up a literal question that can be found "right there"  in the text.
2. After Reader 2's turn, Reader 1 creates a more complex question where the complete answer is found by "thinking and searching" the text to find parts of the answer in more than one place.
3. When Reader 1 finishes reading her paragraphs, Reader 2 writes up a question that requires the reader to "read between the lines" or make an inference. This question is named "author and me" because students must look for clues from the author and fill in the gaps with her own background knowledge
4. When Reader 2 completes her assigned reading, Reader 1 writes up a question that requires the reader to think outside of the text. For example, the text may be about taking risks, and so the questions might center on what risks the reader would be willing to take to get what she wanted. This is often an opinion question, and the answer is found "on my own." 

Learning activities other than these two can be incorporated into paired partner readings, or by asking buddies to address just one part of either framework rather than require all questions. Reading together, followed by conversations, pulls in those students who do not regularly participate in whole group discussions. It is important, however, to pair up the right students. Do NOT pair lowest readers with highest, as that partnership can be embarrassing for one and frustrating for the other. Assigning students to others whose reading levels are a LITTLE above the other readers' is the ideal situation. Mixing up the partnerships on occasion is a good idea, too.

Another worthy concern is about the noise level. It takes a lot of instruction and practice in  "routines and procedures" to teach middle and high school students the protocol of paired partner reading. When classrooms are small and students are big AND numerous, it seems like an impossible task. I do think this practice is important enough, however, to find a way to use it. Make arrangements with the media coordinator to allow students to sit in pairs around the center with sufficient room between duos so that they won't disturb each other. Or find another roomy area to adopt on pair reading days.

Wherever the class is, the teacher must roam about, eavesdropping on conversations, even taking notes on and about the discussions. Plus, you must include some type of accountability and assessment tool - an exit slip, a template for recording their questions or answers, etc.

I know I promised this would be the last posting on this topic, but today's entry is LONG, so I feel I should end now, and write up the final idea for next time. You can pick and choose what you want to read anyway, so you don't really mind, do you?

Bye for now!

Renae - and the question remains? Who killed Round-Robin Reading?

BEST Practices: Replacing Round-Robin Reading

Hi All!

It's Friday - WHEW! And most of you are hurrying down the halls and out the doors; heading for home and relief! Yesterday, I tried to "ruffle some feathers" about round-robin reading (RRR)! Seriously, this is a poor practice that needs to be replaced with better practices.

Choosing the best replacement plan depends upon your purpose for oral reading in your classrooms. To be honest, I incorporated RRR into my curriculum for classroom management purposes. Some days it didn't matter to me if my students were bored, drooling, or asleep as their peers labored over words in the paragraphs. I was just thrilled that they were quiet! NOT the best of purposes!

Part 1 of this blog mini-series also talked about a better way to assess for fluency. This post will share several practices that are better AND evidence-based.

1. Read-Aloud/Think-Alouds
2. Paired/Buddy Reading
3. Guided Reading

Read-Aloud/Think-Alouds ~ Both teachers and non-teachers are sometimes surprised when they learn that many teachers still read aloud to their secondary students. I read a recent article in Education Week on this very topic that touted the benefits of such a practice, along with a warning not to overuse it.

Although there is little research on teachers reading aloud to secondary students, in 2006 Lettie K. Albright of Texas Women's University "summarized research showing that the practice builds middle school students’ knowledge in content areas, helps them have positive attitudes toward reading, and helps increase their reading fluency" (Reading Research and Instruction).

Listening to a teacher read smoothly and with expression serves as a model of fluent reading that students don't often hear from their peers, and that's bound to keep them more engaged. Furthermore, when the teacher stops reading and assigns his students to continue on silently, the dynamic voice of the teacher is often the one they keep hearing in their head as they read.

Teachers often read difficult texts aloud for a couple of different reasons. One is to help students understand what's being communicated. For example, a history teacher might orally read a primary source document and explain difficult words or concepts as she goes through the paragraphs.

A second, and I think a more powerful practice, is using the "think-aloud/along" procedure to model how we as teachers and proficient readers create meaning from the difficult document, novel, text book, etc. The link embedded in this paragraph defines and details the think-along procedure, and I suggest the same cautions: don't go on and on and on, or you'll encounter the sleeping and drooling student problem; don't overwhelm students by using a million and one strategies; don't expect them to grab hold of this right away; and practice BEFORE you think-aloud in front of your student!

After a FEW MINUTES of reading and thinking aloud, teachers should then ask students to try the same procedure by reading to a partner, stopping now and then to explain what he or she is thinking in terms of working out meaning. If classes are large, thus creating havoc when partners read and discuss, students can read silently and then have a "silent discussion".  (For additional information about how to use silent discussions/ written conversations, click HERE.)

Regardless of the choice, if teachers in all content areas incorporated think-alongs into their instruction and taught students how to monitor their own understanding in the same way, comprehension levels would rise. As is often the situation, kids don't always know what they don't know. Let's help them figure that out and then learn what to do to fill in the gaps.

Paired or Buddy Reading is the next topic! Until then, have a great day.

Renae

BEST Practices: NOT Round-Robin Reading

Happy Friday Friends and Colleagues,

While reading the True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle years ago, I learned of a custom that sailors practiced when they had a grievance or when they were planning nefarious mischief such a staging a mutiny. The seamen signed their names on a "round robin" which looked like a wheel with spokes attached to a hub. Each signature was written on a spoke, and so the leader or the instigator was not exposed as his name was not at the top of a list.

With such an ignoble beginning, I wonder how any positive derivative of the term has survived. While a round-robin tournament is an effective way to organize a sporting event, round-robin reading is the LEAST effective strategy to organize oral reading in a classroom.

Round-robin reading is defined in The Literacy Dictionary as “the outmoded practice of calling on students to read orally one after the other” (Harris & Hodges 1995, p.222). And yet, it still occurs in far too many schools throughout our district, and from what I've read, throughout our nation.

I was talking to my elementary counter parts, and they were very surprised that round-robin reading is practiced in a secondary setting at all. They thought it was only an elementary problem. Now, please know that I have been guilty of resorting to that routine as well, and I knew better, too. But it's really time we put that pathetic practice to bed for good.

Research stresses that round-robin reading is not only ineffective, it is detrimental! And you can understand why just from your own observations because students are ...

• NOT following along
• texting
• working on something else
• bored
• sleeping
• drooling
• embarrassed to read aloud or ...
• overeager to read aloud, as in their hand is waving for yet another turn

I used to justify the practice by telling myself that I could assess their fluency when they read aloud during round-robin sessions, but there are better and more effective ways to do that - ways that don't bore the dozens of other students in the classroom.

One way is to conduct those individual reading conferences during silent reading as Dr. Reutzel suggests. This is how such a tete a tete might play out:

Teacher (in a soft voice): Hi, what are you reading today?
Student (in a too loud voice): I'M READING -
Teacher: Shhhhh. Quieter, please. I'm right here and can hear you if you speak softly in my good ear.
Student (in a softer voice): I'm reading The Road.
Teacher: Show me a paragraph you just finished reading. (Student points to 3rd paragraph on page 29.) Okay. Could you softly read that paragraph to me?

Student reads aloud.

Teacher: What's happening at this point?
Student: You know a nuclear bomb has gone off, right? Well, the father is trying to find food for his son, and he's left him and the shopping cart for a few minutes to follow some tracks he thinks might lead him to something.

Depending upon the students' responses, the teacher can decide whether or not to ask the student to read a few more lines, predict what he thinks is going to happen next, make some connections, etc.

An 8th grade teacher recently told me she conducted a similar activity with her students and was able to get around to almost all of them. "I really liked it," she said. "And I'll do it again."

Tomorrow I'll share some other ideas to use instead of dredging up the wretched stand-by round-robin reading. Boo. Hiss.

Take care, okay.
Renae

BEST Ideas: Reading DIFFERENT Texts

Hello All!

This little exercise is turning into a habit! But I'm really excited to bring you today's idea because it just dropped into my lap, and I think it has very cool potential for teachers outside the wonderful world of Language Arts!

If you have attended one of the Content Literacy professional development classes over the past couple of years, you know that I share Dr. Roni Jo Draper's research about comprehending "texts" of every size, shape, and design. Dr. Draper reminds us that we "read" music; sea captains once "read" stars to navigate their way across oceans; hunters and trackers "read" signs along the trail; crime scene investigators "read" evidence. You get the point.

Today my friend and colleague Becky sent me a link to a YouTube performance of an "essay" in the making. I know you're saying, "Oh, that sounds EXCITING! Let's all watch someone write up an essay worthy of a DWA knockout score." Au contraire, my friends! Be prepared to be amazed! Unless, of course, you are one of the 4,000,000 plus who have already watched this video. Nevertheless, think of how it can engage students!

This"writer" creates her story in pictures - nothing new there, right? WRONG-O! This is NOT a story board, and her medium isn't pen and ink or colored markers. It's SAND! Okay, I know you've seen some sand art on commercials and maybe on YouTube, but this performance surpasses most others, and it crosses content lines in such a moving way that I had to pass it on.

The following is a description of the performance as described by Mr. OR Ms. Anonymous - you know those people who pass on a million or more email messages about a million or more topics, and we have absolutely NO idea who these people are, but sometimes he or she sends us something worth perusing. This is one of those! As you check this out, think of ways you can incorporate it into your curriculum.

The video shows the winner of 2009's "Ukraine's Got Talent," Kseniya Simonova, 24, drawing a series of pictures on an illuminated sand table. [Through her artistry, she tells] how ordinary people were affected by the German invasion during World War II.

The images, projected onto a large screen, moved many in the audience to tears. Kseniya begins by creating a scene showing a couple sitting and holding hands on a bench under a starry sky, but then warplanes appear, and the happy scene is obliterated. It is replaced by a woman's face, crying, but then a baby arrives and the woman smiles again.

The war returns and Miss Simonova throws the sand into chaos from which a young woman's face appears. She quickly becomes an old widow, her face wrinkled and sad, and then the image turns into a monument to an Unknown Soldier.

This outdoor scene becomes framed by a window as if the viewer is looking at the monument from within the house.

In the final scene, a mother and child appear inside and a man is standing outside, his hands pressed against the glass. He's saying good bye.

The Great Patriotic War, as it is called in Ukraine, resulted in one in four of the population being killed with 8 to 11 million deaths out of a population of 42 million.

An art critic said he finds it difficult enough to create art using paper and pencils or paintbrushes, but using sand and fingers "is beyond me." Bringing an audience to tears is the no bigger compliment, especially when the war is used as the subject matter.

Teachers of language arts, history, geography, art, and music could engage their students through this visual, audio, artistic essay about war and its effects upon countries' citizens. Students could record their reflections, supply written words to describe the images, create their own pictures in different mediums, research the time period, write a poem, tell a fictional story. The possibilities go on and on.

Let me know what you think, and SUPER-SIZE your day!,
Renae