realizing rigor realistically: navigating the shifts with struggling and reluctant readers ashlee...
TRANSCRIPT
Realizing Rigor Realistically:Navigating the Shifts with Struggling and
Reluctant Readers
Ashlee Gruno, Ed. S. Academic CoachBeth Lee, Ed. S. Lead ELA Teacher
Brooks County Middle School
Essential Question: How can educators really address CCGPS shifts in text
complexity with struggling and reluctant readers?
What we expect from you…O Your attention
We want to check our phones too, but we think this is more important!
O Your participation We know that you all have great ideas and
energy to add to this discussion. Please engage.
O Your feedbackWe are learning as we go (aren’t all good
teachers?), and we welcome suggestions, ideas, and input.
An Invitation to Engage…
http://bit.do/ELAparkinglot
Let’s Get Started…
In the spirit of summer and vacations, please scan the room and choose and
go to your favorite vacation destination.
Upon arrival, please read and discuss the quote. Elect one person to be your
microphone to share out.
Now that we feel good, let’s review…
Common Core Shifts for English Language Arts/Literacy
1. Regular practice with complex text and its academic language
2. Reading, writing, and speaking grounded in evidence from text,
both literary and informational3. Building knowledge through
content-rich nonfiction
When the shifts and the new text bands came out…Teachers were
like…Students were
like…
Want to make your own meme? http://www.memegen.com/
Sometimes, we don’t play fair...
We forget that we are the expert readers. We were the Summer Reading Program kings and queens…the only ones to pass the pop quizzes over the reading homework…the kids who hid
under the covers with flashlights to finish the last few chapters.
To put ourselves in our students’ shoes, let’s do a quick activity.
Your Reading Assignment…
O Read the article on nuclear physics.O Read and remember as much as you
can in 5 minutes.O Be prepared for a short assessment.
This will be graded!
Three Steps to Realizing
Rigor
The simple truth is that many of our students are NOT
ready or prepared to handle the demands of Common Core. As
a teacher, we have to push them forward by creating a text-rich,
supportive, and engaging learning environment. It IS
possible and realistic to help your students become college and
career ready readers!
1. Find and choose the right texts and
resources.
2. Scaffold learning and support your
readers.
3. Engage your students, and
make reading fun again.
STEP 1: Find and Choose the Right Text
Common Core requires complex text; however, complex does not equal long. We have had great success starting our year
with short stories and news articles.
Short selections are engaging, complex, and short enough to complete. They also allow struggling and reluctant readers to gain the
confidence they need to move forward.
For Example… My 1st Year
Teaching 8th Grade ELA CCGPS
My 2nd Year Teaching 8th Grade
ELA CCGPS
UNIT 1: Georgia Authors
Text: Members of the
Wedding By Carson McCullers
UNIT 1: Georgia Authors
Text: “A Good Man is Hard to Find”
By Flannery O’Connor“Everyday Use” By Alice Walker
“Uncle Remus Tales” By Joel Chandler Harris
STEP 1: Find and Choose the Right Text
We need access to rich, complex, appropriate text, and we need it quick and
easy!
Here are some resources that we have found and used successfully…
O GALILEO (Compton’s, SIRS Discoverer, Novelist,
etc.)O Newsela(web)O ReadWorks (web)O The New York Times Learning Network (web)O Eyewitness to History (web)O CobblestoneO Leveled Texts Series (Shell Education/print)O “Find a Book” Lexile (http://www.lexile.com/)O Text and Lessons (print)O Short Stories (We LOVE this genre!)O Junior Scholastic and SCOPE (print/web)
STEP 1: Find and Choose the Right Text
GALILEOO Excellent resource; extremely underutilizedO Supports college and career readinessO Promotes using quality sources and citationsO Features many databases and resources for
on-level texts:O BritannicaO SIRS DiscovererO NoveListO Middle Search PlusO Student Research CenterO And many more!
SIRS Database (GALILEO)
NoveList K-8 (GALILEO)
Middle Search Plus (GALILEO)
Middle Search Plus (GALILEO)
Newsela
ReadWorks
STEP 1: Find and Choose
the Right Text
WORK TIME!!
1. At your table, please take a moment to
browse one or more of these
resources (technology or
print).
2. Fill out the guided questions
resource sheet.
3. Share your findings and
reflections with your group.
STEP 2: Scaffold Learning and Support Your Readers
“Our main job, year in and year out, is to lead our students up a ladder of challenge, building
their stamina, and pushing them along to literature that requires more intentional
thinking. But along that ladder, it’s also our duty to provide just the right amount of and
type of support to keep kids progressing” (Daniels & Steinke, 2013).
It is the teacher’s job to make
complex text more accessible.
O The text is shorter rather than longer.
O The reader has chosen the text.
O The reader has relevant background knowledge.
O The topic has personal interest.
O The text evokes curiosity, surprise, or puzzlement.
Factors that make complex
text more accessible…
(Daniels and Steinke. 2013)
Factors that make
complex text more
accessible (cont.)…
O The text has high coherence (it explains itself).
O The teacher teaches specific reading strategies.
O Readers can mark, write, or draw on text as they read.
O Readers are encouraged to talk about the text during and after reading.
O Readers can hear text read aloud.
O Readers have experience writing in the same genre.
(Daniels & Steinke, 2013)
STEP 2: Scaffold Learning and Support Your Readers
Additionally, all language teachers should have a working understanding of the
fundamentals of reading education; often, secondary teachers lack this foundation,
requiring us to brush up on our knowledge of the basic mechanics of reading.
We must figure our the missing piece for our struggling readers and adapt our instruction
to serve them.
STEP 2: Scaffold Learning and Support Your Readers
The National Reading Panel describes five key “building blocks” of literacy instruction (2000); however, struggling adolescent
readers have slightly different needs (Heller, 2008).
Grades K-3 Grades 4-12O Word StudyO FluencyO VocabularyO ComprehensionO Motivation
O Phonemic Awareness
O PhonicsO FluencyO VocabularyO Comprehension
STEP 2: Scaffold Learning and Support
Your ReadersO Word Study:
O Show students how to break multi-syllabic words into recognizable parts
O Give students lots of practice reading and writing that defy spelling patterns (homonyms, homophones, etc.)
O Teach common root words, prefixes, and suffixes.
O Fluency:O Read aloud to students
(A LOT!)O Show students how to
read with expression/porosity
O Have students record and listen to themselves read
O Have students track their progress
O Use technology to aid fluency assessment (Dragon Dictation, Talk to Me, iPrompt, etc.)
STEP 2: Scaffold Learning and Support Your Readers
O VocabularyO Vocabulary
StrategiesO Marzano’s 6 steps
(2004)O DescribeO RestateO DrawO RevisitO ReviseO Review
O ComprehensionO Before Reading
(Frontloading Learning)
O During Reading (Guiding Comprehension)
O After Reading (Consolidating Understanding)
Step 2: Scaffold Learning and Support Your Readers
Carousel Wrap-Up
O This is not a presentation dedicated to scaffolding and strategies; however, we can not underestimate or ignore the necessity or power of these in instruction.
O Let’s take about 5 minutes to move around and share some of our favorites.
O Please listen for your number, and follow the directions at each station.
Step 3: Engage your students, and make reading fun again.
RANT ALERT!!
Wake up, people! Our students are bored. They
don’t want to read because we teach texts that are hard, old, and boring! We do all of the talking, and we still use
worksheets and tired assignments and projects.
Many of our readers are not struggling but reluctant.
Change your classroom from teacher-focused to student-
focused, and watch the transformation take place!
Step 3: Engage your students,
and make reading fun again.
“There is a 0% chance that
children will learn from work they do
not do.”
-Philip Schlechty
Realizing rigor is not just about the
content. It’s also about the
environment you create. Adolescents want to work hard and do well. If you
prepare an engaging,
challenging lesson, your students will have a good time
reading, analyzing, and learning from
complex texts.
Step 3: Engage your students, and make reading
fun again.When 3 or more of these 8 qualities are
present in a lesson, students will be engaged:
O Personal responseO Clearly modeled expectationsO Emotional and intellectual safetyO Learning with othersO Sense of audienceO ChoiceO Novelty or varietyO Authenticity
(Schlechty, 2002)
Step 3: Engage your students, and make reading fun again.
Emotional and Intellectual Safety
Learning with Others
O Students explain why/how their answer is plausible
O Students take risks with “unpopular” or more subtle answers
O Sources, evidence, and examples are cited
O Reasoning first, answers second
O Answers questioned or defended
O Think, pair, shareO Literature CirclesO Small group discussionO Reciprocal teachingO Peer revision and reviewO One talk, One repeatsO “When he/she talked
about _______, I thought…”
(Schlechty, 2002)
Step 3: Engage your students, and make reading fun again.
Personal ResponseClearly Modeled
ExpectationsWhat it looks like…O Supported predictionsO OpinionsO RemembrancesO ConnectionsO ComparisonsO AnalogiesO Summary StatementsO StrategiesO I think…because..
O Clear objective of activity and learning
O Models of expectation and strategy
O Visual exemplars that persistO Rubrics and self-assessmentO Clear formats and proceduresO SourcesO Quantity and quality required
in personal response activitiesO I included…
(Schlechty, 2002)
Step 3: Engage your students, and make reading fun again.
Sense of Audience ChoiceO Increased level of
concernO Connections to
audience/purposeO VoiceO Responsibility to groupO Proficient work postedO Student work as
exemplars
O Tiered assignmentsO Self-selected reading
materialO ProductO Selecting tasks from
a listO Meaningful optionsO Decision-making
(Schlechty, 2002)
Step 3: Engage your students, and make reading fun again.
Novelty or Variety AuthenticityO Variety of productsO Diverse perspectivesO Integrated funO Layered interestsO GamesO Simulations and role-
playO Competitions
O Relevance to age groupO Tasks that represent the
personalities of the learnerO Real-life activitiesO Inquiry or discovery learningO Hands-on manipulativeO Current events/issuesO Transfer or synthesis beyond
contentO Extension of workplace
activitiesO Use of workplace or home
technology(Schlechty,
2002)
Before you go…OReflect on your own practices. How does the CCGPS demands of rigor and your students’ reading levels impact your instruction?
OWhat can you take away from this session and back to your classroom? What will you CHANGE in the new year?
References O Daniels, H., & Steinke, N. (2013). Texts and Lessons for Teaching Literature . Portsmouth, NH: Heinenmann.
O Heller, R. (2011). Give Struggling Readers the Specific Kinds of Support They Need. Retrieved March 1, 2013, from http://www.adlit.org/adlit_101/improving_literacy_instruction_in_your_school/give_struggling_readers_specific_support/
O Schlechty, P. (2002). Woking on the Work. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.