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So Long, Farewell (Blog 12, 4-15-14 9:45pm)

After 12 weeks of blogging through my content literacy class, it’s hard to believe this is the end. When this semester began, I had no idea what content literacy was and what we were possibly going to do for three hours every week in class. Now, not only do I understand content literacy, I feel competent to use it in my future classroom and I see the necessity of literacy in content classes.

Regardless of the content class, teachers should teach students to read actively: making connections, asking questions, summarizing, and visualizing. A teacher can use tools like double-entry journals, think aloud, and frayer models to enhance students understanding of their reading. I also learned about text sets this semester, which students can benefit from in any class and at multiple reading levels. I could go on and on detailing everything I’ve learned this semester, but that would defeat reading my previous blogs.

In all, reading, writing, listening, and speaking are essential skills that should be taught in all content areas. Literacy occurs in numerous forms; it is not limited to the type of literacy you are used to in a Language Arts class. We read math equations, science journals, maps, and novels. The skills required to use literacy in various content areas takes patience and practice.

“Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.”

-Anthony J. D’Angelo

Until next time,

peachyteachy

Improving Classroom Necessities #groupwork #assessments (Blog 12, 4-8-14, 9pm)

The end is drawing near. As the semester concludes, there are a couple more topics regarding content literacy I wish to address. Both I will discuss today come from Tovani’s book Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? In chapters 7 and 8 she discusses facilitating group discussions and using assessments to guide teaching--both topics I believe to be essential for a successful classroom.

Group discussions can be tricky. In order to be beneficial to the students and not entirely exhaust the teacher a few things must happen which Tovani explains through her experiences:

Group members: Come to the agreement with your students that if they are in a group that does not work for them, they should tough it out and request a different group next time while the you, the teacher, do your best to honor student requests.

Participation: The student is the only one responsible for doing his or her own work. Partners should not be expected to do others work or force the group members to do their own work. The teacher will be in charge of noticing student’s contributions and will not give group grades.

Directions/Help: Students should agree to help other group members when they are stuck. If necessary, seek help elsewhere. The teacher should agree to be available for assistance as well as giving clear instructions and monitoring groups.

Tovani explains how group discussions can improve student writing. Before writing anything, students have had the opportunity to talk through the material and make connections, generalizations, and conclusions. Positive group discussion facilitation can teach respectful and polite interactions among students as well.

The teacher’s job is to show students how to think about their reading and writing while the students’ job is to show the teacher they are thinking. Thinking is ongoing and this should influence teachers’ assessments. The best assessments are those that inform teachers’ teaching. This is why standardized tests are so unproductive: they do not inform daily instruction because they measure finite knowledge. I agree with Tovani that students should be given more than one opportunity to demonstrate thinking especially if they are willing to try again. This encourages students to take risks; they can’t use the excuse that they didn’t know how to do the work because they can learn from their mistakes and try again. Tovani uses several strategies to assess students including conversation calendars, reading response logs, file folder collection of work samples, and quick conferences.

Last, since the semester is almost over, it is time for the final project. We were pretty much given free reign as long as it pertains in some way to content literacy Examples include: brochures, booklets, podcast, video, etc. demonstrating content literacy strategy/strategies. We are to create our own rubric for the assignment that encompasses the objectives of the course. We also have to justify every aspect of our project: explain why we chose to include what we did and the importance of it. I, along with two other classmates, have decided to make a video depicting the execution of a content literacy strategy in the classroom. Hopefully more details to come.

Until next time,

peachyteachy

Teaching Community (Blog 11, March 31, 9:45pm)

Well, I’m back again and this week I have something a little different in store. As I have said before, I am blogging for a middle grades content literacy class at my university. I feel that I have grown a lot in my understanding of content literacy by blogging about it and reading my fellow classmates blogs. So, I’ve chosen some of my classmates’ blogs to share with you some of their brilliant ideas. A few of the blogs I want to share are also of the math content area, because, duhhh, I LOVE MATH! Daily, I am surrounded by some really awesome future educators, so I hope y’all learn from their wisdom as much as I have!

My first classmate is Teacher Tales:

Taking notes while reading a text requires much patience. Thinking about what you’re reading takes time and effort that we don’t usually expend. Tovani accounts for this too, so she gives helpful tips to keep students involved in the text without giving up. I’m just going to quote her here so I don’t botch her words:

"1. Trust the author. Don’t panic if at first the text doesn’t make sense. The author will slowly reveal clues.

2. Ask questions….

3. Slow down. Give yourself time to read, reread, and paraphrase what you’ve read.

4. It’s okay to go back. Sometimes readers go back and reread confusing parts of texts.”

What Teacher Tales explains here is key to remember. Even I sometimes lack the patience to read through a difficult text, but there are tips available to help us out. Number 1 and 3 in the list above really resonated with me. Sometimes I’ll get stumped or not follow the text at all. These are good reminders to stick with it and take your time. If you’ve done a thorough job, by the time you get to the end you’ll have something valuable to take away.

Next is Education Dawg:

Since I love math, it is hard for me to relate with a student who doesn’t understand the book. This is a lesson I think all teachers have learned or are going to learn. Many teachers did well when they were in school. The subject matter they teach now was probably their favorite subject in school. We have to have an open mind at all times to every student. We have to relate to the struggles they are having even if we didn’ go through those struggles ourselves.

My classmate, Education Dawg, makes a critical point here. I love math and always have; it is the primary reason I chose to teach it, but a great teacher can relate to all her students, even the ones who aren’t interested. I understand that all my students are not going to like math as much as me. Teaching is relational: we put ourselves in our students’ shoes and find ways to present the material in a way that is relevant to them. Education Dawg also includes a list of 5 C’s for teaching kids how to teach math books. Click the link above to read it, I’d highly recommend it!

This is Educator in Training:

Low and behold Tovani gives an example of a quad-entry diary journal. This is based off of the double-entry diary. This was used for a test review and the student was to fill in the chart about 4 properties and had to include a diagram, what you know and what you didn’t know. The teacher would then go through the entries and use them to help prepare for a review for the upcoming test. I thought this was a great example of a strategy to help student retain or learn information.

Educator in Training, a fellow future math teacher, explains above a literacy strategy that would be useful in a math class: the quad-entry diary journal. This is beneficial for the student and the teacher. I can see the value in a student identifying what they do and don’t understand: it clarifies what they do know and makes it easier to ask for help about what they don’t understand.

From my classmate Teaching to Change:

Curiosity is a sign of engagement. If a student is curious about your content, then they must be thinking about your content and are exploring the areas that interest them because they want to, not because you are asking them to.

I think this ties in well with Education Dawgs point. We, as teachers, have the ability to spark a student’s curiosity in our subject. Teaching to Change writes about a Ted Talk by Ramsey Musallam that I would highly recommend watching. He discusses inspiring curiosity and encouraging students to not be afraid to fail.

Last but not least, Teaching on Canvas:

I learned that text sets are awesome. I really enjoyed making my own and I hope to be able to use it in my own classroom in the future. They are beyond beneficial for teachers to create for all subjects and all grades. When students walk into your classroom on the first day of school, they will all be different. Different background, different home life, different social skills, different learning styles, different opinions, DIFFERENT STUDENTS. By creating a set full of different books, videos, activities, and games you can reach all of your students. You can build up your material to hopefully build up there confidence and knowledge on the specific subject.

I love that Teaching on Canvas felt this way about math text sets, because I was unsure how to approach making one for math specifically. I did not include the entire text set, but I highly encourage you to go to the link above and check it out, it is great! Teaching on Canvas is SO right that students are different, so our resources should be of a variety to accommodate all of them.

That is all I have for today.

until next time,

peachyteachy

What do you think? (Blog 10, March 25, 6:40 pm)

The past week we have focused on two ideas within content literacy that I would like to discuss today: class discussions and reading to remember.

Did I loose you?

Are you still there?

I know, I know, not the most exciting stuff. And if you are anything like me, the first suspicion of a class discussion would have you planning your escape. But as a future teacher, I am here to offer some insight and advice to those dreaded discussions, and hopefully you will feel less hatred toward them.

First we need to acknowledge the difference between discussion and recitation. Recitation, as Finley describes it in his article “Rethinking Whole Class Discussion,” is where the teacher asks the questions and then evaluates the students responses. I view class discussions differently than recitations. While teachers should ask the students questions throughout the discussion, there are several other factors to include. Make sure the students have plenty of opportunity to talk. Have students talk to each other and not just the teacher. Encourage students to justify their answers. This article also provides ideas for implementing discussion in your classroom, like a fishbowl or group discussion. Other ways to make class discussions more exciting can be found here.

As I have previously discussed in many blogs, reading is essential to any content class. Teachers assign reading, not to be annoying, but to supplement and enhance the information they are teaching in class. When we read a text, the goal is to take something away, form opinions, and ask further questions not answered in the text. Often times, students—and even I am guilty of this—read through a text and give it no thought or meditation. The next time we look at it, no one remembers anything about the text. In order to fix this problem, Tovani gives some beneficial insight. The problem teachers run into is that it is nearly impossible to measure a student’s thinking while reading. As a new concept to most students, talking, responding artistically, or writing about a read text proves challenging. This is more than answering the teachers’ questions. Students need practice and tangible models that demonstrate teachers’ expectations.

Here is a list of advice for marking a text from Tovani:

1. Don’t copy the text; respond to it.

2. Underlining is not enough. Thinking about the text must accompany the underlining.

3. There is no one-way to respond to a text. Ask a question, make a connection, give an opinion, draw a conclusion, and make a statement.

The extra time you take to mark a text, form an opinion, and think critically will prove worthwhile when it comes time to discuss in class or write an essay on the text. I hope this has given you something to think about!

theatlantic

Middle School: Not So Bad

Middle school has a terrible reputation. The titles of James Patterson’s middle-school series say it all: From the number-one New York Times bestseller Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life, which launched the series in 2011, to last summer’s Middle School: How I Survived Bullies, Broccoli, and Snake Hill, to this spring’s Middle School: Ultimate Showdown!, the titles reflect a dystopian vision of life in middle school. And he’s far from alone in this. When it comes to young adolescents in schools, Americans seem determined to perpetuate a narrative of hormones and horror. In her book Operating Instructions, writer Anne Lamott described her worst fear as she anticipated the birth of her son: the knowledge that “he or she is eventually going to have to go through the seventh and eighth grades.” In my own research, I found that more than half of middle-school teacher education graduate saw the statement “middle school students can be appropriately described as ‘hormones with feet’” as true.

Yes, it’s true that young adolescents are navigating profound and often complex changes—new bodies, new brain capabilities, and new social realms. But as a former public middle-school teacher who once taught more than 100 young adolescents each day, I have seen firsthand that middle schools can be constructive, happy places. When there are teachers who understand young adolescents and are prepared to teach them, smaller schools and classes that facilitate meaningful relationships, and an intellectually challenging, engaging, and relevant curriculum, middle school can be some of the most inspiring and enlightening years of a young person’s—or teacher’s—life.

Read more. [Image: Michael Jacobs Productions]

Write Right (Blog 9, March 19, 1:40 pm)

I have focused many of my blogs on reading, which is an important part of content literacy, but not everything. Writing is an essential skill we will be using the rest of our lives for countless purposes: texting, emails, letters, blogs, evaluations, and various academic related reasons. I am a firm believer in practice. Naturally, if students don’t write—particularly in content classes like math—they aren’t likely to improve their writing. The more you work at something, the closer you will come to master it. When I think about writing, math class is probably the last thing that comes to mind. I never wrote much in my math classes growing up. It was not until college that I began really writing in a math class and I felt very unprepared. Once I started to get the hang of writing down the mathematical steps I took to solve a problem, I found it very beneficial. It is one thing to understand something in your head, but if you can convey it on paper, you demonstrate a more thorough understanding.

Mathwire explains that writing in math class “help[s] students reflect on their learning, deepen their understanding of important concepts by explaining and providing examples of those concepts, and make important connections to real-life applications of the math they are learning.” This site also offers ideas of ways to incorporating writing in a math class. A math journal, for example, could have endless possibilities. A teacher could have her students write concerns or questions at the end of a lesson, the steps they took to solving a problem, why a formula or concept works, vocabulary and definitions, and so on. Overall, to benefit from writing in any class, the teacher should define the purpose for the writing topic. This way, students can support their learning and teachers can assess their progress.

To conclude this week’s blog, I want to reiterate the value of writing in content classes. I was never one to enjoy writing—hence why I want to teach math—but through my experiences, I see how it enhances learning. Writing forces you to organize your thoughts. We, as teachers, should encourage more writing from our students.

Until next time,

peachyteachy

What's the Point?

I have gathered in my study of education that in a teacher’s attempt to cover a lot of material, they just skim the surface expecting students to pick up on every little detail and become experts on something they have seen once. Through Tovani’s text Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? Ch. 5, I have gathered that this is very unrealistic. We as teachers do not even do what we are expecting from our students. We have multiple opportunities to work through a text and make sense of it, but our students only get one chance. Tovani suggests, to make reading more meaningful for students, defining the purpose of the reading or the desired outcome before the student does the reading. That way, as they are reading, they are actively processing the text and picking up on what is necessary to understand. Some may say that this limits students from learning more from a text, but I do not find this true. Tovani says “If [my scope] is not limited, I try to remember everything in the text. I quickly realize that I can’t do this and soon give up. When someone gives me something to look for, reading feels less overwhelming” (60). The goal is for students to get something out of reading.

Tovani also defines two types of reading voices: reciting voice and conversation voice. The key to successful reading is noticing when you are using your reciting voice to read and consciously attempt to use your conversation voice. When you are using your conversation voice to read, you are interpreting meaning from the text and questioning the author or agreeing with the author.

Reading is NOT a race. We have grown up in a society that tells us speed = the best. Really, the speed of your reading will slow down the more you use your conversation voice to read, but your understanding will improve.

I want to teach math, so I have to ask: How does this apply to a math class? So many students are scared of math and claim “I’m just not a math person.” The Math Dude has plenty of resources as well as a podcast that are very beneficial for math teachers. Often, students are taught the steps to solve a problem and then given a handful of practice problems, including word problems. They must transition from just following a series of steps to assigning meaning in a word problem to solve. This can be very confusing and often students are not taught properly how to solve word problems. The Math Dude makes a good point in his first podcast: math is just an assortment of tools you can apply to everyday life. I believe it would be beneficial to teach the concept with assigned real world meaning to help the students make sense of the problem, demonstrating why and how it works. Then, when they have to solve the ambiguous problems, even if they don’t understand the steps, students can assign their own context to the problem, making it easier to solve. That is what is really cool about math; apart from the context, the processes still work. But it is just as easy to put meaning behind the problem to make sense of it. Assigning purpose to mathematical concepts makes understanding it easier. Students are critical readers when solving word problems in math because they must pick out the important information in the problem, assess how to use that information to answer the question at hand. Racing through math problems is not the best way to solve them. Slow down and evaluate the problem. What question am I supposed to be answering? What information do I need to answer this question? What information am I given? How can I use this information to answer the question? All of these questions are a product of a conversational reader. Even thought the language of math is different, reading with a purpose is still essential.

Until next time,

peachyteachy

Easy and Useful #textsets

Below I have attached a text set that I created on political parties. This would be applicable in an 8th grade GA History class or really any level students learn about political parties in the United States. It was surprisingly easy to put this text set together. I included a variety of resources including videos, websites, charts, and books on an assortment of reading levels. Most students should benefit from at least a few of these resources. All students are different and will connect better with a variety of content. The purpose of a text set is to appeal to a majority of students who have different needs and abilities.

Here you go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lt-f3QQ7-A

This video is a quick and fun way to get the basics on political parties. Make sure that you listen carefully because they speak very quickly. Maybe watching this rap video more than once would prove beneficial. It is kind of cheesy, but concise.

http://cdn.icivics.org/sites/default/files/uploads/One%20Big%20Party_0.pdf

This source has a lot of teacher resources to use to teach political parties. It contains well-organized handouts, worksheets, and activity ideas for instructing political parties. I used this source to teach political parties in my 8th grade GA History class last semester.

http://www.democrats.org

This is the official Democratic Party’s web page. It has video links and various articles on various topics that students can search through and read about. This site may be a little overwhelming for a student who knows little about the political party system in the United States. This is a good source to show how real political parties are in our society today.

http://www.rnc.org

This is the official Republican Party’s web page. Obviously it provides a lot of the same benefits and concerns as the Democratic Party’s site because they are relatively on the same level. This site and the one above I would consider the most rigorous. Refer above for more detail about this source.

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/political-parties

This is a very student-friendly site about political parties. It is organized in categories so the student can read about a specific detail such as the history or how they work. I would consider this an average reading level for middle school students.

http://www.amazon.com/Friendly-Foes-Political-Parties-Government/dp/0822513498/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1392925886&sr=1-11&keywords=political+parties

I checked out this book at my middle school’s library to use when I taught a lesson on political parties. It is similar to a child’s picture book. It has a lot of shorter captions with a lot of visuals. This would be easy for a student to flip through during class.

http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/5123?ref=search

This is an image of the evolution of political parties in the United States. This is beneficial because it is a different form of text. Reading a chart/graph is just as important as reading a text of words. It would also be easy to find maps of party preference distributions and election outcomes.

http://flhspatterson.pbworks.com/f/politicalparties%5B1%5D.htm

I really like this site because it lays out a compare and contrast of political parties throughout American History. It is in a bulleted list, which is a different structure to experience a text.

Until next time,

peachyteachy

It's just a matter of time.

30 minutes on the clock… ready, go.

Today, especially, I am faced with a challenge most teachers face all the time. That’s it. TIME. I think that one of my biggest concerns as a new teacher is having enough time. What have you learned that helps you make the most of your time?

Between coming back to classes after several snow days, getting ready for midterms, and anticipating spring break in the next few weeks, this week has proved to be more hectic than most, so I am going to attempt to go quickly (but thoroughly) through my blog today.

Tovani writes in chapter 4 of Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? about “Connecting Students with Accessible Text.” Now, what exactly is accessible text, you ask? I like to think of it as the actually interesting stuff to read. Just because something is interesting to read does not me we have to sacrifice content or rigor. The problem is, most textbooks do not offer this accessible text. Most textbooks are “above [student’s] grade level and inconsiderately written” (39). When a text is not accessible, students begin to feel defeated when they read in class, and find these readings pointless and eventually will find reading in general pointless. You get the point, accessible texts are most definitely important. So, what are we as teachers to do? A couple things…

Provide alternative texts. To help get a struggling student up to the reading level of your class, start with some “companion pieces” that are similar but a little more approachable for a struggling reader. The student can still get the same main take-aways from the text without feeling overwhelmed.

Use text sets. Text sets are texts organized by units of study. They contain a variety of length and difficulty. Students have options of texts to read depending on their interests, reading level, etc. The key here is that there are many options. If a student can pick out a text, he or she is more likely to succeed reading it than being forced to read one specific text. A text set could be anything from a collection of poems to baking recipes to geographical maps.

If students are reading material that is too hard, they will never become better readers. Find texts that are interesting and students will engage. Don’t let a textbook do your job; you will surely fail.

Ever since I was little, I loved the idea of being a teacher. Now that childhood fantasy is quickly becoming a reality. I plan to use the time I have left in college to prepare to be a fun teacher, a creative teacher, a realistic teacher, a supportive teacher… and my list could go on and on, but time is of the essence, so for now it’s…

Until next time,

peachyteachy

Synthe-what? Thinking Actively

We have used many resources about content literacy and my goal today is to synthesize my thoughts. Before I can do that I need to fully understand what synthesize means. As stated by the Free Online Dictionary, to synthesize means “to combine so as to form a new, complex product.” In the past week I have read an article, listened to a podcast, and watched a video all-relating to content literacy. From all of these sources I have gathered that content literacy requires active and critical thinking. Often when we read, it becomes mindless, but the more conscious we are of our reading, the more we will benefit.

I’ve been talking a lot about the reading aspect of content literacy lately, but I want to start to transition to writing and how the two are so closely connected. I really liked what Franki and Penny discussed in the podcast; students should be using more creativity in the classroom. Teachers should not give such strict guidelines to write about X text. Allow students to write a letter or make a digital story. There are many options other than your typical essay. They stress using non-fiction and asking questions, discussing with partners, and doing a quick write as means to process the information.

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1419

One strategy we have discussed in class is a think aloud. A think aloud is basically what it sounds like: speaking out loud your thought process as you read through a text before, during, and after. This video is an excellent example of a think aloud. Even though it is for a science class and I do not plan on teaching science, the teacher brings up some beneficial questions to ask and steps to take as a student reads a text. Is the source credible? What does this word mean? Students are overwhelmed in everyday life with information. Regardless of what they are reading, this video helps the student think about what to look for as they read. This is an incredibly valuable skill students can learn. Again, the key here is actively thinking about what you read.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJ_ae40TgN4

I have spent a lot of time in my blogs up until this point focusing on math, but I also am studying to teach social studies. I found this chapter from Building Literacy in Social Studies that focuses on reading Social Studies texts. I particularly found the figures contrasting struggling and fluent readers before during and after reading a text beneficial. By reading thoroughly through the “fluent readers” column I can compare myself and see where I am succeeding and where I need progress. I know that I am good at “[Monitoring] comprehension, [recognizing] where and when comprehension is lost, and rereads for clarification,” but I could use work on “[Questioning] the viewpoints of the author regarding the support given through facts and evidence.”

http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/106010/chapters/Reading-Social-Studies-Texts.aspx

As I sit here on another snow day in Georgia (SO rare) watching the Winter Olympics, I am reminded of a quote I heard once before, “Fall in love with the process of becoming great.” There is no way these incredible athletes would be so good if they were not dedicated to becoming great. I think for students to be good readers and writers, they need to want to be good readers and writers. When they have this desire, they can easily accept the challenge of getting to that point. Reading and writing is a skill that most usually does not come naturally and takes work and practice. As some words of encouragement: “Fall in love with the process of becoming great.”

Until next time,

peachyteachy

Model, Read, Repeat

This week I am focusing on pre-reading and reading strategies in content area texts (particularly math). Reading is a process. It has a beginning, middle, and end. If you skip part of the process, you are missing out on all the text has to offer. Modeling is a great way to demonstrate reading techniques, which I will discuss a little later in this blog. Reading is challenging, but with a little practice, and the right steps, it won’t seem so bad, I promise!

A. Pre- Reading Activities

We have discussed in class the importance of pre-reading activities. It would be easier to pass out a text and have your students jump right in, but a lot of problems could arise from doing this. Students may not see the purpose of the text and therefore not benefit from what it has to say. There could be background knowledge that students lack and therefore miss out on a key part of the text. The list could go on and on; my point is that pre-reading activities serve a purpose. With the use of pre-reading activities, like asking questions, reviewing vocabulary, getting background knowledge, etc., students have an idea of what they should be looking for in a text and why they are using the text.

We created our own starter activity in class last week. I created a math starter. My plan was for students to choose a problem from their homework the previous night and write in complete sentences the steps they took to solve the problem including why the steps they took are correct. The students would also be encouraged to draw a corresponding picture with their math problem. If time permitted, the students could share their thinking with a partner. This provides writing, reading, listening, drawing, deeper thinking, and review of the homework.

B. Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? Tovani, Chapter 3

Tovani emphasizes modeling reading in content area classes in her third chapter. An important idea from the chapter is that there are various types of text and each teacher is an expert in the text of their content area. I want to teach math, so I am a lot better at working through math texts than language arts texts. To model reading in your content area, Tovani suggests slowing down your thinking and paying attention to what you do as an expert reader of your content area. From there, you can develop strategies of instruction. With a math text—a word problem for example—I would likely read whole problem and then go back and pick out pieces that I need, like given variables or numeric values necessary to solve the problem. From there I can draw a picture to better visualize and use my prior knowledge to make assumptions about the problem. Some tips to keep in mind when reading a math text is to go slow, make sure you understand the instructions, don’t skip over the figures and tables, and underline or write key points in the margin.

We often take for granted the skills required to read a text because it comes naturally to us. If you can determine how you made sense of a text, you can model it for the students. Modeling is an effective way to teach reading. Students can see how you worked through a text and they can mimic the steps you took. Odds are, a student will struggle in places you had to work through too. Tovani says, “Authentic questions can drive the reading and guide the learning well after the lesson is finished” (34). You are the expert in the room; point out what was going through your mind when you first read the text. Students are likely to relate to your thinking and see how thinking changes with your familiarity to the text. Modeling is a beneficial reading instruction strategy.

C. Reading Strategies for Struggling Middle School Reader

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdiScrcP2Nk

I found a video on YouTube that gives “Seven Habits of a Good Reader.” You can teach these habits in isolation or incorporate them in day-to-day lessons. What I liked most about the habits is that you could apply them to various content reading. The seven habits are visualize (create an image), make connections (to the text, yourself, and world), make inferences (educated guesses), question the text (ask questions before, during, and after), determine importance (make an outline), fix-up strategies (use context clues and word parts to decipher the meaning of a word), and synthesize (putting the pieces together). It might seem like a lot more work to read using these seven habits, but the more you use them, the easier reading will be. These habits engage the student and help them to benefit from reading a content text. This would be an easy poster to recreate and hang in the classroom as a reference for students when they read.

Until next time,

peachyteachy

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When Life Hands You Peaches...

Another week, another content literacy blog! Today I'd like to address some classroom challenges and solutions from various resources I have reviewed. Continuing to evolve my definition, I think an important point to add to the idea of content literacy is using content-based reading to create a deeper, more personal understanding of the material. I think that course readings can be very beneficial especially when students work to make sense of the reading.

From a course list, I found the blog Math with Bad Drawings. I browsed several of his posts and came across one titled “Blaming the Last Guy.” Though I haven’t started teaching yet, I think his ideas are important to remember. Putting blame on student’s previous teachers for student’s gaps in knowledge will not solve any problems. Remember that the context material is presented in plays a big role on recall. One or two years later the material is foggy, especially if a short amount of time was spent introducing the topic. Use patience and “find what snags and pitfalls are holding our [student] back, and to help her along her journey.” This does not have anything to do with content literacy, but I found this valuable advice for the future.

(http://mathwithbaddrawings.com/2013/12/30/blaming-the-last-guy/)

Last week, we discussed double-entry journals. What is a double-entry journal, you say? It is a notes journal with two columns. Typically the left column has key ideas and quotes from the reading and the right column has the student’s thoughts, reflections, and questions about what they read. I think this strategy can be very beneficial for encouraging critical reading. It gives students not only to pick out what is important about a reading, lesson, etc, but to expand their thinking. I have used a double-entry journal in a previous class. It forced me to think about what I was reading and not just skimming the words on the page. This can be a helpful aid especially when a student is not interested in the material: it forces them to invest in what they are reading which will benefit them in the future. Reading won’t be a waste of time if you make the effort to reflect and ask questions in a double-entry journal.

I found a chapter from the book Literacy Strategies for Improving Mathematics Instruction online. The chapter discusses math language and reading in mathematics in detail. I found this article very interesting and valuable. You wouldn’t think that literacy in a math class would be difficult or complex. Math is all numbers; where’s the literacy? But really math literacy is complex. Math texts contain a lot of information in a very compact style. There may be graphics necessary to understand to make sense of the problem. This chapter lays out many other concerns of math literacy and how it may be challenging for students. It also provides helpful tips to solve some of these difficulties. Enunciate to prevent confusion when reading to students. Paraphrase the problem to make it easier for students to understand. Doing this with the class is good practice for when they will have to do it on their own. I would highly recommend reading through this article. It is a bit lengthy, but full of great information!

(http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/105137/chapters/Reading-in-the-Mathematics-Classroom.aspx)

Last I would like to talk about a podcast assigned from class. It is about content literacy strategies, number 17 in the link below. A key idea I took away from the video was the idea of making thinking visible. How on Earth can you make thinking visible? All you thinking happens inside your head. One way to make thinking visible is by “talking to a text.” You can do this by writing reactions or thoughts during reading in the margins or on sticky notes. If you come across an idea you agree with write “I agree” in the margin. If something is funny, confusing, broad, interesting, etc. make note of it. That way when you skim back through the reading you can refresh your memory about what the text is about. Another piece of advice I liked from the video was to create a safe classroom where students are comfortable admitting they don’t understand. It takes courage to ask for help. If you can make yourself vulnerable and show your students you are not perfect, they will feel more comfortable coming to you for help. It is okay to be confused or to not understand: that is how you learn.

(https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/content-literacy-strategies/id446166098?i=95152716&mt=2)

Until next time,

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