Cloudy with a Chance of Comprehension

Last post, I discussed the importance of prompting students to pay attention to the confusing parts of text. It reminded me of a bookmark that I made and used for students in the past. The bookmark was comprised of weather symbols: A bright, sunny day, a cloudy day, and a dark, stormy day. As students read, they could choose a symbol to track their comprehension. I advised students to put their finger on the sunny day block if they were reading with understanding, to touch the cloudy block if comprehension was starting to break down, and lastly, to finger the stormy block if they were "in the dark" about what they were reading. This allowed me to circulate through the room and stop to help children whose comprehension was falling apart or those who were totally stuck. It also served a a wonderful self-monitoring tool. Sometimes, the simplest devices help to focus a reader and motivate them to pay attention to the meaning-making process of reading. Try it!

What don't you know?

Since I was not in yesterday, the first thing I did today was distribute the Article of the Week to my students. Typically, I preview the article with my students and they have until next Monday to read it three times (rating their comprehension after each read) and develop a written response. Knowing that spring is in the air and students extracurricular activities are on the rise, I decided to simplify the original response requirements and create a series of prompts for them to use instead. I also decided that we would use today's class to do the actual reading of the article. I planned to give the students time to discuss the articles with a partner after the second reading.

When my first group of student had read the article twice, I told them to discuss it with their partner, summarizing key points and also parts that they found confusing. When they were finished, only one of the three pairs admitted to finding anything confusing in the article. Consequently, I asked one of the students with no confusion to clarify that portion of the text for the ones that did not understand it. Surprise, surprise! No one could explain that portion of the text. Ahh...the priceless "teachable moment" was obvious. "Good readers know what the know AND what they DON'T know," I quipped. With that, I launched into a brief (really!) discussion of the importance of recognizing confusions, lack of background knowledge, and words you don't know when you read. I used myself as a example and shared with the students that often, when my husband and I are both sitting around reading the newspaper, I need him to clarify something for me, especially in the areas of business, finance, or sports. I wanted my students to realize that it is okay to be confused, but as a reader, it is not okay to stay confused!

At that point, I sent my students back to the text to consider parts that were "cloudy" for them. How can we begin to make meaning when we aren't willing to consider what is unclear and work through it or ask someone for help? As teachers of reading, we often fail to help our students realize they don't have to know it all. Challenging text poses problems, but challenging text can also provide an excellent chance for us to hone our reading skills and use strategies to decrease our confusion and make sense of what we read. Let's stop simply asking, "What do you know?" and start prompting students to navigate through text successfully by asking,"What don't you know?"

PCQC

As educators across the state turn the calendar to the month of February, our thoughts also turn to the dreaded PSSA test. Have I done enough? Will my students succeed? What if many are below proficient? Should I forego that wonderful new unit in reading or writing and concentrate on "practice tests"? These and a million other similar questions seem to attack us with the vigor of the February wind. Apparently teachers, as well as students, would find a tangible strategy helpful as they prepare students for the state reading assessments. With this in mind, I created PCQC.

For most people, progressing through a series of steps when confronted with a challenging task is advantageous. Consider how you learned (or teach) long division. If you follow the proper sequence, not only will you arrive at the correct answer, you will have a fairly easy time getting there. When we use this same concept and provide steps that will facilitate our students' approach to the PSSA reading test, we are setting them up for success. Here are the steps of PCQC:

PREVIEW
-Carefully read the title and author.
-Read the header
-Examine any text supports: pictures, captions, charts, graphs, maps,
vocabulary, bold words, etc.
-Read all questions carefully

CHUNK
-Break passage into manageable chunks.
-Stop after reading each chunk of text and think about what it means.
-Reread if necessary.

QUESTION
-Read each question and the answer choices carefully.
-Consider what kind of question it is (Based on QAR strategy)
-Think about possible answers.
-Choose the best answer.
-Return to text to find support for your choice.

CHECK
-Reread all questions and the answer you chose.
-Ask yourself...Does my answer make sense?
Why did I chose that answer?

If students habitually use this PCQC strategy, they will have the tools to successfully navigate any reading assessment.

Meeting the Needs of the Bright and Gifted Students

Yesterday, we had RTI (Response to Intervention) meetings all day. I attended three of the four meetings, the ones for 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students. The district asked one of the people that work in curriculum development to facilitate the meeting. What an intelligent, articulate, and knowledgeable young woman! Through a series of activities and discussions, she led each group to consider what they already do for the students on the higher end of the learning scale and what they could be doing. We began by considering the profile of many of our gifted students. Almost every group concluded that many of these students prefer to work independently, often challenge the teacher in multiple ways, sometimes lack social skills, and frequently have problems with organization.

The facilitator then asked teachers to consider a list of ways that they differentiate to meet the needs of these students. Most of the teachers were already doing several things on the list such as meeting in small groups, providing alternative assignments, and providing enrichment work. Of course, many of the teachers are used to modifying instruction for struggling students. Conversation revealed that teachers often spent so much time meeting the needs of the struggling learners, that little was left for those students who require a challenge. The facilitator provided several simple, practical ways to provide more balance in this area:

• Talk frankly with gifted students. Let them know you realize they are smart, but that you still have things you can teach them. Let them know that you will work with them to determine ways they can demonstrate mastery and move on with more challenging work.
• Use pre-assessments. If students already understand and have met the objectives of your lesson or unit plan, consider ways to enrich or move them into a new study.
• Allow students to develop projects; Once you approve them and create a rubric, they can work on their own.
• Give choices. The areas of process and product can be varied in many ways. For example, students can decide if they want to work independently, with a partner, or in a small group. Students can demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways (products).
• Help students learn good social skills if they are lacking in this area.
• Use Bloom's Taxonomy when planning lessons. It is essential to develop higher thinking skills, especially with bright or gifted students.
• Don't always rely on these students to help others or act as "teacher's aides". These students need to have an equitable learning situation. They should always be engaged in learning, not merely helping others learn things they already understand.

Once again, our RTI meeting was productive and enjoyable. Our facilitator showed ways to manage the needs of the brighter students without spending an inordinate amount of time doing it. In April, we will work together to create lessons that differentiate with these students in mind.

RTI

Today I attended the RTI meetings for first and second grade teams. Although I only have a few RTI groups at these levels (I support primarily 4th to 6th grades), I look forward to witnessing this amazing process. Each grade level meeting includes our Instructional Support Teacher, who facilitates the meeting, our school counselor, our district school psychologist who has synthesized all the data, our reading specialists, grade level teachers, and usually the principal and/or vice-principal. The purpose of todays meeting was to review all the data gathered from mid-year DRA's and Dibels testing. We look closely at individual students who are in Title 1, Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 (Reading Recovery in grade 1). Everyone has a chance to comment and we use our collective expertise to move students into the appropriate supports. I teach in a school with close to 1200 students. It is gratifying to see so many professionals working together to make sure no child slips through the cracks. It is also amazing to see the progress that children make when there are appropriate supports in place. I always leave these meetings motivated to do my best. The dedication and professionalism of the people with whom I work is inspirational.

Poetry Academy

At times, everything is in line for a new program to begin. In the September, 2008 issue of the Reading Teacher, an article written by a Reading specialist who created and established a "Poetry Academy" in her school, appeared. I was so impressed with the simplicity of her plan and the resulting data, that I copied the article and put it aside with the hopes of trying it sometime in the future. As luck would have it, one of our Title 1 Aides had a twenty minute block of time open up. I suggested that we consider initiating a Poetry Academy with a small group of fourth graders who could benefit from fluency support and instruction. Coincidentally, all the reading specialists from our school attended the Tim Rasinski workshop last week so we were feeling very positive about the benefits of fluency instruction. After discussing the idea with administators, we got the green light and our "Poetry Academy" will begin next week.

The beauty of this concept is that it requires very little time and according to the author of the article, Lori Wolfong, the students made significant gains. Briefly, this it how it works:

• A teacher or an aide works with individual students for about 10 minutes per week.


• Instructor selects an appropriate poem and reads it aloud to the student.


• Student and instructor read the poem together.


• Instructor discusses meaning and unfamiliar vocabulary with the student.


• Student reads the poem aloud.


• Instructor provides a copy of the poem and instructs the student to practice reading it aloud to other throughout the week. Student is to have anyone who has listened to them read the poem sign off on it.


• The following week, the instructor hears the student recite the poem, tracks number of signatures, and the whole process begins again.


• At the end of a determined number of weeks, students are invited to choose some of their favorite poems and share them in an open forum that includes parents and others. It is a celebration of their participation in "Poetry Academy".

This week we will test targeted students and choose eight whom will benefit from this program. We will pre-assess using a one minute read, retelling, short comprehension test, and attitude survey. Our program will last for ten weeks. At the end of the ten weeks, we will re-assess the children to compare data. Hopefully, this intervention will result in improved fluency and comprehension for the selected group of students. Should be interesting!

Snow Days

Ah! One of the best parts of being a teacher is the coveted "snow day". The apprehension starts the day before. "What's it doing out there?" "Do you think we'll have off?" "Did you hear the latest report?" "See you tomorrow...Not!" These are common comments prior to the big day. During the night, most teachers give in to the temptation to peek out the window to see what's going on. Finally, the phone rings. Yes! You feel for the phone, hoping for the best. "No school today, go back to sleep chirps a familiar voice." And you do! The funny thing is, a few hours later when you log onto your computer, you find there's already a slew of emails and these teachers that so desperately wanted "off" are doing, of all things, schoolwork! That's really the beauty of the snow day. You can do the schoolwork you love in the comfort of your home. After a good sleep and a leisurely breakfast, many teachers delve into their schoolbags and use the time to catch up or develop some creative lesson plans. Hope all of you enjoyed the found time as much as I did.