Strategies to Enhance Student Engagement and

Boost AchievementGlobal Citizenship Experience Professional Development

DayAugust 8. 2011

Katie McKnight, Ph.D.Katie@KatherineMcKnight.comwww.KatherineMcKnight.com

Twitter: @LiteracyWorldFacebook: Katie McKnight Literacy

What we will do in this session

• Learn about literacy strategies that support development of reading and writing skills as a means to understand content.

• Look at different technology tools that support effective teaching and learning learning content.

Some Reminders about Content Literacy

Assumptions Underlying Content Literacy

• Subject Matter• Role of the Textbook• Active Readers• Independent Readers

The Impact of Schema on Content Literacy

Source: Alvermann, D. and Phelps, S. (2002). Content Reading and Literacy: Succeeding in Today’s Diverse Classrooms. (5th Ed.).Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

More on Schema

The notes were sour because the seam split.

Source: Alvermann, D. and Phelps, S. (2002). Content Reading and Literacy: Succeeding in Today’s Diverse Classrooms. (5th Ed.).Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

More on Schema

The batsmen were merciless against the bowlers. The bowlers placed their men in slips and covers. But to no avail. The batsmen hit one in four after another along with an occasional six. Not once did a ball look like it would hit their stumps or be caught.

Source: Alvermann, D. and Phelps, S. (2002). Content Reading and Literacy: Succeeding in Today’s Diverse Classrooms. (5th Ed.).Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

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Components of Reading

Alphabetics: understanding and using the sounds thatmake up words (phonemic awareness) and the letters thatcorrespond to those sounds (decoding) and being able torelate the letters and sounds to the particular words theyrepresent (word recognition)

Fluency: identifying words accurately in an effortlessmanner and being able to read them in text with appropriateintonation, stress and phrasing

Vocabulary: knowing and understanding the meanings ofwords and using them with flexibility and precision

Comprehension: the process and product of constructingmeaning from what is read, involving an interaction betweena reader and a text, for a purpose and within a context

What are Learning Centers?

• Synonymous with Learning Stations.• Learning Stations are locations that a teacher

designs for students to work in small groups or individually.

• Each center has a clearly articulated learning activity, rooted in content literacy strategies.

Getting Started: A Checklist

1. Write out all directions for the students for each station.

2. Explain procedures and have them written out and posted in your classroom.

3. Create a “make up station” at the end of the rotation so that students can complete any unfinished work. Review and revision are key in the development of literacy skills sets.

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Getting Started: A Checklist (cont’d)

4. The teacher should circulate among the groups to facilitate answers and questions about the work.

5. Formal assessment occurs when the students have finished the novel.

6. When possible, give students a choice at each station.

I like to make a poster for each station.

Let’s look at a model for learning centers.

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A Classroom PictureSample Stations for First Rotation

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Content Study

Vocabulary Activity

Practice with Content

Reading Strategy

Listening or Viewing Center

Make Up Center

Sample Learning Centers

Directions: Circulate around the room to the different learning stations. Consider the following questions:1. How can you use this learning center activity for your

content area and classroom?2. As you consider your content area and a specific

learning center, what adaptations and suggestions do you have for the activity?

Note: These learning centers focus on vocabulary. When you create center activities for your students, you will have a variety of activities, not just vocabulary.

Learning Center StationVocabulary

14Samples are from: McKnight, K. (2010). The Teacher's Big Book of Graphic Organizers: 100 Reproducible Organizers that Help Kids with Reading, Writing, and the Content Areas. Jossey-Bass.

Hints for Struggling Readers• Provide readers who struggle to decode with

opportunities to hear the text read aloud (tape assist)

• Give readers for whom word recognition is a problem supplemental materials that include visual clues to word meaning (or use manipulatives in math)

• Allot additional time for readers who struggle to complete assignments

• Encourage struggling readers to use the internet because often the symbols and icons that are quite bothersome to good readers provide a means for struggling readers to construct meaning

“THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO”Edgar Allan Poe----Sample Anticipation Guide

DIRECTIONS: Put an “X” in the space to indicate whether or not you agree or disagree with the corresponding statement.

AGREE DISAGREE STATEMENT

1) Revenge is a learned behavior.

2) It is OK to do something as long as you don’t get caught.

3) Time eases a guilty conscience.

4) Trust no one.

5) Pride goes before a fall.

6) Greed destroys.

7) Keep you friends close and your enemies closer.

Daniels, H. and Zimmerman, S. (2004). Subjects Matter: Every Teachers’ Guide to Content –Area Reading. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, p 121.

Sketch Through Text

Cornell Notes: Mathematics Example

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Story Impression

• Step One• Make a 3 column chart on a sheet of paper.• Label it like this:

Word Group Definition The Dictionary Definition

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Story Impression

Step TwoIn your group, assign a definition to each word.

Step ThreeCreate a story using each word with the definition

that your group assigned.

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Story Impression

Step FourWe will now read the text from which the words

were selected. As we read, write the new definition for each word in the 3rd column.

Author’s Chair

• Select a reader from your group.• Volunteering for the “Author’s Chair”

– Clap when author goes to the chair– Read the piece– Clap when the author has finished reading– Discuss what we liked about the story– Clap again when the author leaves the Author’s

Chair

Story Impression

• introduces vocabulary• taps into students’ prior knowledge• catapults the reader into active reading and

comprehension

VOCABULARY AND TERMINILOGY

Learning Center StationVocabulary

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Samples are from: McKnight, K. (2010). The Teacher's Big Book of Graphic Organizers: 100 Reproducible Organizers that Help Kids with Reading, Writing, and the Content Areas. Jossey-Bass.

Concept Sorts

• What is it?• Introduces students to the vocabulary of a new topic or book. • Students are provided with a list of terms or concepts from

reading material. • Students place words into different categories based on each

word's meaning. • Categories can be defined by the teacher or by the students.• When used before reading, concept sorts provide an

opportunity for a teacher to see what his or her students already know about the given content. When used after reading, teachers can assess their students' understanding of the concepts presented.

Concept MapYou or the student selects a word or concept for the center box of the organizer. In the box directly above, students should write the dictionary definition of the word or concept. Students should record key elements of the word or concept in each of the boxes on the upper left side. In each of the boxes on the upper right side, the students should record information that is incorrectly assigned to the word or concept.Examples of the word or concept are recorded in the boxes along the bottom of the page.The ‘‘What is it like?’’ and ‘‘What is it NOT like?’’ boxes can be particularly challenging.Be sure to model responses to these or allow students to work in pairs so that they will have greater success in completing this activity.

Word Detective

• The importance of encouraging students to study words cannot be emphasized enough.

• In this center, students are prompted to research the etymology of words (and content area terms) and connect visual images to the words that they encounter.

Vocabulary Demonstration Lesson

• http://www.adlit.org/media/mediatopics/vocab/

• http://www.adlit.org/media/mediatopics/vocab/

SAMPLE READING ACTIVITIES

KWL

K= What the reader already knows

L= What I learned

L= What the reader wants to learn or know.

DRTA

DRTA

Daniels, H. and Zimmerman, S. (2004). Subjects Matter: Every Teachers’ Guide to Content –Area Reading. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, p 121.

Sketch Through Text

Stop and Write

I Do, We Do, You Do

• http://www.adlit.org/media/mediatopics/comprehension/

Visuals

• Graphic Organizers and other visuals support student comprehension and understanding of text.

• Here is an example from a Social Studies teacher

• http://www.adlit.org/media/mediatopics/contentarea/

Web 2.0 Tools

• For Organization and General Study Skills:

• Evernote

• Live Binder

Digital Natives

• View Technology as Part of the Environment• Desire entertainment and play in their work

and education• Collaboration and relationship oriented

Digital Immigrant

• Education system was designed for Industrial Age

• Accommodating new technology• Concerned about overuse of technology

Slide Shows

• What reading and literacy skills can slide shows develop?

Getting Started with Blogs: Class Blog

• Post class materials• Post assignments and rubrics• Provide samples of work expectations• Post materials to support assignments (i.e.

reading materials, web links, web sites, and an area for student comments and postings)

• Class Schedule and Letter

Getting Started with Blogs: Student Blogs

• Learning Logs and Reflective Journals• Reactions to Assigned Reading• Literature Circles• Questions and Comments about Current Events• Word-A-Day• Math Problem-A-Day• Posting Projects• Posting Videos of Lab Experiments

Your Turn:

How can you use blogs for the teaching of your content area?

What are your questions and concerns about starting blogs with your students?

Exit Slip

• What did you learn this today?• Which tools and strategies are you ready to

use in your classroom?