Literacy Across the Curriculum

1. Literacy Across the Curriculum Presented by Lyn Gagne Scotland Elementary School

2. Your First Assignment… • Read “Jalapeno Bagels” by Natasha Wing

3. Why teach reading and writing in the content areas? • Opportunity to extend reading instruction. • Offer explicit instruction in content area vocabulary, text formats and comprehension strategies. • The opportunity to make a difference!

4. “They can’t read, so what do I do now?” While there is no single answer, there are answers…let’s explore some of them now!

5. Struggling or “Dependent” Readers • Simply improving the cognitive aspects doesn’t insure that the affective aspects of reading will automatically improve. • Multiple aspects must be addressed when working with struggling readers, beginning with defining “struggling reader”.

6. The struggling reader… • Think beyond the stereotypes • Anyone can struggle given the right text • The real issue is – what the reader does when the text gets tough

7. The problem areas… • Lack of cognitive abilities to read independently. These students struggle with comprehension, vocabulary, word recognition, automaticity and fluency. • Negative attitude toward reading. These students dislike reading and believe that they can’t do it. They often claim a book is boring, and are disengaged from the process. • Don’t know what kind of books they might enjoy. They lack the ability to find books, and are unable to stay with difficult texts.

8. Not being able to read can mean many things, including… • Can’t easily recognize one syllable words • Can’t easily recognize multisyllable words • Has no strategies for decoding unknown words • Limited sight word vocabulary • Inability to use context to help with word meaning • No knowledge of word parts or families • Lack of fluency • Can’t read silently • Reads slowly, and ignores punctuation • Uses little or no expression • Reads too fast, mumbling or skipping words

9. And… • Doesn’t reread to clarify meaning • Can’t keep events in correct order • Doesn’t recognize cause and effect • Can’t compare and contrast • Doesn’t make predictions • Cannot answer literal level questions • Difficulty making inferences, drawing conclusions • Difficulty summarizing important points • Doesn’t recognize impact of point of view • Doesn’t make connections to other texts or self • Doesn’t use features of a text to aid comprehension

10. Frontloading Meaning Helps students to… • Access prior knowledge • Interact with text prior to reading • Practice sequencing, find cause and effect relationships, draw comparisons, make inferences, and predict • Identify problematic vocabulary • Construct meaning before reading the text

11. Strategies for Activating Prior Knowledge • KWL • KNU (enhanced KWL) know, need to know, understand • BKWLQ (background, know, want to know, learned, questions I still have) • Anticipation Guides • Probable Passage • Tea Party

12. Anticipation Guides • A set of generalizations related to the theme of a selection. • Students decide whether they agree or disagree with each statement. • Activate prior knowledge • Encourage personal connections • Help students actively participate with the text before they begin reading.

13. Let’s Try It… • Introduce the strategy by doing a guide with the students • Make sure they understand that there is no correct answer – they are exploring their thoughts • Start with a simple example of a well known story(Goldilocks, The 3 Little Pigs, Cinderella, 3 Billy Goats Gruff) • Discuss

14. Here’s a sample… • Bad things always happen to good people. Agree Disagree • You can’t trust anybody. Agree Disagree • If you’re nice to people, they’ll be nice to you. Agree Disagree • You can’t protect yourself from bad things happening to you. Agree Disagree

15. Anticipation Guide Circle one response for each of the following statements 1.Some parents have no choice but to send their children to live with others. Strongly agree agree neither agree nor disagree disagree strongly disagree 2. Adults should not keep family secrets from teenage children. Strongly agree agree neither agree nor disagree disagree strongly disagree 3. Every wants a sense of belonging and a real home. Strongly agree agree neither agree nor disagree disagree strongly disagree 4. Running away is a poor way to solve a problem. Strongly agree agree neither agree nor disagree disagree strongly disagree 5. Having one good friend makes up for not having a family. Strongly agree agree neither agree nor disagree disagree strongly disagree 6. Everyone was poor during the Depression years. Strongly agree agree neither agree nor disagree disagree strongly disagree 7. There is nothing to fear but fear itself is a true statement Strongly agree agree neither agree nor disagree disagree strongly disagree 8. A policeman can be a very good friend. Strongly agree agree neither agree nor disagree disagree strongly disagree 9. A journey of hope is the best journey to make. Strongly agree agree neither agree nor disagree disagree strongly disagree 10. Homesickness can be cured by keeping busy. Strongly agree agree neither agree nor disagree disagree strongly disagree 11. A true friend will tell you your faults. Strongly agree agree neither agree nor disagree disagree strongly disagree

16. All the Way Homeby Patricia Reilly Giff

17. Probable Passage Probable Passage is a short summary of a text that has several (8-14) key words missing. The teacher presents these words to the students, who categorize them according to their probable function in the story.

18. The Process… • First, choose 8-14 words from your passage. Use words that fit into categories. Include unknown words whose meaning can be figured out by reading in context. • Model the strategy several times, putting the words into categories, and each time thinking aloud as you model. • Model how you would create a gist statement. • After reading, go back to the worksheet to see which “to discover” question you can answer. • After modeling, let students try it as a whole group.

19. Let’s try it… • Get into groups of three • Here’s our vocabulary words • Take your worksheets out of your packet • Put the words into the correct boxes – don’t forget the “unknown” words. • Write the “gist” statement • What are some questions you still have?

20. Tea Party • Active participation • Kinesthetic • Predict and infer • Sequencing • Prior experiences

21. To begin… • Choose a passage or a poem • Choose 15 phrases (repeat if necessary) and give one to each student • Have students get up and go student to student and (1) share their phrases with as many as possible (2) listen to others as they read their cards (3) discuss how the cards might be related and (4) infer what these cards might be about.

22. Then… • After about 10 minutes, send them back to their chairs. • Get into groups of 5 or so, discuss what the cards in front of you say and what you heard from others. • Write a “We think…” statement that tells what you think the passage might be about. • Students may visit other groups to refresh their memories.

23. Your turn… • Each “student” receives a phrase. • Now, circulate…share and listen. • Get in groups of 3, discuss your cards and the ones from the other groups. • Write your “I think…” statement. • Share predictions with the whole group, making sure to share how you arrived at that prediction. • Read the passage and compare…

24. Before even reading the text… • You were thinking about its meaning, and where it might fit into a passage. • You were thinking about the setting, the characters or the events. • You were making inferences and sequencing the phrases. • You were connecting these to your prior experiences. • You were engaging with the text.

25. Break Time Take 10 minutes for a quick break. Help yourself to coffee and snacks. We just finished talking about some of the pre-reading strategies you could use. When we return, we’ll be covering during-reading strategies.

26. Literacy Across the Curriculum Constructing Meaning With During-reading strategies During reading strategies help make reading an active process, and help students understand and develop the internal dialogue that a good reader has with a text.

27. Making Sense of Text Strategies • Say Something • Rereading • Think Aloud • Double entry clues • Logographic cues • Bookmarks • ABC’s of comparing and contrasting • Signal words

28. Rules for “Say Something” 1. With your partner(s), decide who will say something first. 2. When you say something, do one or more of the following: • Make a prediction • Ask a question • Clarify something you misunderstood • Make a comment • Make a connection 3. If you can’t do one of these 5 things, then you need to reread

29. Rereading • Prove the value of rereading • Model your thinking as you reread • Give students specific tasks as they reread • After rereading, review what happened

30. Think Aloud • First, model thinking aloud. • Tell students you’ll be pausing to think through what you’re reading. • Stop frequently to analyze what’s happening in the text. • Cue students when you are switching from reading to thinking aloud. • Jot some of your think aloud comments down on the board or a chart. • Have students try it on part of a text with a partner. • Provide opportunities to practice. • Reflect on think alouds.

31. A few more… • Double entry journals • Logographic clues • Bookmarks • ABC’s of comparing and contrasting • Signal words

32. Reflecting on during-reading strategies • Show students the invisible process of comprehension • Invite the students to bring conversation into the classroom • Hear the internal dialogue of independent readers

33. Lunch Break Time for lunch – see you in 30 minutes.

34. Extending Reading with After-Reading Strategies After-reading strategies extend the comprehension process to after-reading activities and help dependent readers figure out how to “get it” throughout the entire reading process.

35. After-reading strategies help students to… • Question what they don’t understand • Monitor their understanding • Discover ways to fix up misunderstandings • Clarify what confuses them • Make connections • Visualize what they’ve read • Compare and contrast sections of text • Summarize • Identify characters, events and details • Identify conflicts and problems in the text • Make inferences and draw conclusions • Tell what is fact and what is opinion

36. Scales • Likert scales: requires student to read a statement, and select a degree of agreement or disagreement. • Semantic differential scales: place opposite character traits at opposite ends of a scale-student judges “how much” of a trait the character has.

37. Somebody Wanted But So • SWBS is a strategy for summarizing that can be used with all ages. • SWBS is a framework for examining the characters, events, conflicts and resolutions of a text. • Let’s try it…

38. SWBS Jalapeno Bagels by Natasha Wing Illustrated by Robert Casilla

39. Retellings • Model the retelling • Use a rubric • Chart students progress • Use to inform Instruction

40. Retelling… • Begin instruction by modeling a retelling • Use a rubric as an outline for the students and as an evaluative tool for yourself • Chart students progress over the course of time • Use the retelling to help students see what they need to work on and what you need to teach

41. Text Reformulation Also called “Story Recycling”, Text Reformation is when a student transforms a text into another type of text. Some examples are: • Turn expository texts into narratives • Turn poems into newspaper articles • Turn short stories into pattern books (ABC’s) • Turn narratives into newscasts • Turn anything into cartoons

42. Text Reformulation • Introduce students to the different types of text they can use as templates in their reformulations • Model several types of reformulations • Decide who chooses the type of reformulation • Provide time for practice, evaluation, and feedback

43. It Says – I Say • A visual organizer that helps students make inferences

44. A couple more… • Sketch to Stretch – creating symbolic sketches of text interpretations • Most Important Word – finding and relating the most important word in the text to characters, conflict, plot and setting. Most important word

45. Reflecting on after-reading strategies • Comprehension is a process • Don’t limit after-reading activities to the questions at the back of the book or in a novel’s study guide • Make the invisible process of comprehending visible for all readers • After-reading strategies help students “get it” through the whole reading process

46. Effective Vocabulary Instruction • Word study, not word memorization • Focus on fewer words • Use the words in your own speech

47. Teach using context as a clue… Sometimes authors use direct clues including: • Definition/ explanation clues – the author usually defines the word, often in the same sentence • Restatement/synonym clues – clues that explain words by restating them in other terms or by using synonyms • Contrast/antonym clues – includes an opposite meaning of a word following a signal word • Gist clues – meaning must be inferred from the gist of the passage, extremely difficult for struggling readers.

48. Teach word parts… • Teach specific affixes and roots • Plan vertically for grade level needs • Include time for review each year

49. Build Vocabulary Trees • Instead of lists of roots and affixes… • Teach students to build vocabulary trees • Look in your packet for a sample

50. Vocabulary Tree