Workshop with Louise Dempsey and Sheena Cameron on Reading. I'm really looking forward to getting some insight into transferring what I learn today into my program for more able readers.
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The Reading Book
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Look at Goal Sheet to come up with a focus.
Summary of slides
A balanced reading programme - reviewing the approaches.
Guiding Principles and practices
We need to ensure that our reading programme caters for all three aspects of reading:
- Reading for pleasure
- Reading to support writing
- Reading to learn.
Using Reading to support writing to pick apart what is in the text to use in their writing.
Teaching the reading process
The development of reading skills and strategies need to be tailored to the age and stage of the children. Developing a love of reading and developing oral language are crucial across all ages but neet to strengthen in the middle and senior primary years.
Becoming a proficient reader - when decoding is no longer a focus. Mainly focusing on comprehension. What you're reading and understanding that. Explicitly teaching how to find key points and how to infer.
During the middle primary years, students are learning to:
- use a range of self-monitoring strategies to gain meaning from the text
- understand more challenging vocabulary and words/phrases with ambiguous meanings
- answer inference questions using evidence
- summarise the main ideas in the text
- give opinions about events and characters in the text
- identify and discuss text features and organisation.
- More abstract and implied ideas
- Some mixed text types
- Varied sentence structures
- Challenging vocabulary, including subject-specific words and words/phrases with ambiguous meanings
- Figurative language
- May include a range of visual information
During the senior primary years, students are working on:
- using a range of strategies to deepen comprehension — analysing text features and structure
- comparing and contrasting events and characters
- identifying and discussing themes
- creating new understandings (synthesising)
- giving opinions about the text (ideas, action, characters, effectiveness etc.) — identifying author’s purpose and discussing different perspectives
- evaluating ideas in the text.
Text includes challenges such as:
- complex plots, sophisticated themes and/or abstract ideas — non-continuous text structures
- academic and content-specific vocabulary
- figurative language
- challenging and descriptive language
- varied sentence structures including sentences with a lot of
- information.
Teaching the reading process
Comprehension
Thinking about what they should be focusing on from the sheet we looked at earlier.
Synthesising is a Level 4 strategy because it is pulling apart the text based on what they already know as well.
We need to ensure that we are making time to talk. There are conversation cards in the oral language book. These have been turned into speech bubbles in the Reading Book, promoting prompts during discussions. Creates quality discussion.
Using quotes, similies and metaphors to prompt students thinking to analyse what they are meaning and thinking. Use a proverb a week to promote extended thinking.
Cracking the Code
Pulling it all together, including phonics etc, to pull it all together. Looking at non-words:
All three decoding skills are important in reading to build up our strategies to decode. Mini-lessons are great for this. Decode in reading and then transfer to encode in writing.
Using word building - morphology - to increase vocabulary in the classroom. "Tricky words" from the text.
More than half the words in the English language use prefixes, suffixes or are compound words.
**Give the kids a baseword and get kids to build upon that with their knowledge of prefixes and suffixes. Give 1 minute to get as many down as they can, then roam and share them with others.
The most common prefixes and suffixes.
**Use the Affix card templates and print them off for kids to use to build their understanding of language and for spelling programme. You can find more in the literacy place (Can go to the bottom corner and sign up to their newsletters.
**Word building grid - to add prefixxes and suffixes to add words.
Self monitoring strategies
Fix - up strategies
A balanced reading programme
This is ideally what it should look like. This might be a four-day programme. The 5th day might include a sharing session where we are developing a love of reading and celebrating what we've done. Teaching how to use things etc, that can be used throughout the week.
Reading To
This is developing their Reading comprehension, which can be really engaging for some of the tricky kids. It makes tricky texts accessible and allows them to develop their comprehension skills without having to decode the texts. For kids that haven't read a novel independently, this can make it more accessible.
In Chapter 3 there are some Weblinks to Audio and Visual Stories online. These include Radio New Zealand stories which include topics and celebrities reading aloud to students. Look for ways that they could be listening to stories.
Audio and video stories online
Shared Reading
Shared reading isn't always reading aloud together... so long as they can follow along, they can be reading along in their head.
There are Slide presentations that can be downloaded from the site (Chapter 4) There are also plans available too.
It's important because we are modelling how to self-monitor or infer, how to find evidence etc, so they can do this at their own level when they are reading independently.
We really need to make sure that we are using a range of texts, which includes a range of publishers. How many kids can read a PM easily but get thrown by a Ready to Read at the same level?
Kids really get engaged by learning about a song fro shared reading. They can pull apart the figurative language in inferences etc.
Kids News (Australian based) differentiates the text for different reading levels.
Literacy Online has everything available from the government, particularly from the last 8 years, as a PDF and as a listening file.
Using Think pair share etc and modelling.
Vocabulary - pull out 6 -7 words from the text. Give each group of 4 a word and get them to decode the word and think about what that word meant. Use phonics, chunking and analogy. Then discussions around what the book might be about if these words are all in the book. Great for developing word meaning.
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| Having the objects/props available can be fantastic for developing meaning. |
Predictions - Get the kids to write a prediction. Then get them to walk around and share their ideas. Then rewrite your prediction. This gets writing mileage. It develops practice at writing your idea. It also models changing your idea and making it ok to do that. Whiteboards can be really powerful.
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| Do one session "zoom in" with littlies, two sessions with older learners. |
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| Puppets are great because they can make mistakes. |
Read a page and the puppet makes a mistake. In an older class, you can use "tick and check" to self-monitor while reading the text. The text might be on the screen and you can use post-it notes on the screen.
The third session, after two sessions of zooming in, looks at zooming out. It's a great way to focus on questions as well. If you model this in shared reading they can copy and transfer to guided reading sessions. You can teach something in shared reading to be utilised independently.
Drama can be used to combine the arts with literacy:
There are a set of drama cards to use in class with a book. 10 different activities. To get up and act out a series of events, rather than retelling.
There are question dice available, which can be really good for getting away from the constant "Why?" questions.
Take one section from the shared novel for a focus for the week.
Making sure that you have the evidence, from the book - "Be prepared to tell me how you know, from the text, when you answer."
Guided Reading
We've looked at making it more manageable and more realistic to get a bit more out of the guided reading lesson. Again making sure that there is more time to talk during the lesson.
Guided reading seems to have a very High Stakes feel in New Zealand classrooms. If you are having a rich Shared Reading Programme, then it becomes another part of that rather than the be all and end all.
If you're rushing all the time, it's no fun for anyone.
Kids on the colourwheel, grouping on colours rather than numbers. Mixed ability is difficult in the junior school otherwise it becomes shared reading. You could have a child in two groups for a while until they fit into one group. Minimise the goals they're working on. A goal could stay around for a month to ensure multiple opportunities for practice.
There could be a class focus goal, with differentiation between book difficulty.
Don't spend huge amounts of time on follow up activities for individual groups. If they're more generic it's more time sensible and manageable. Page 124 has loads of levelled goals for guided reading.
Modelling Books
SIt with the text while planning and write tricky words in the modelling book.
Again, sitting with the text and the modelling book... write key questions on post it notes.
It can be a great place for recording teaching points that impromptu crop up. Kids can take away the modelling book to work on things before and after their group.
Put the goals in the front (Group goal sheet - PM34
In Guided Reading, it's about the kids sharing their prior knowledge and predicting, whereas the teacher is just guiding it.
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Writing down the tricky words.
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Our job is to listen in, they can be reading in a quiet voice OR read silently. Regarding noise level, think about whether they are interrupting or disrupting each other. There is a strategy called "Tap & Check" where you can tap them on the shoulder and you get them to read a little to you in a quiet voice, then you tap out and tap someone else.
- Read in Unison
- "Round Robin" read
Put a "Stop" post-it in their books to stop them from reading on.
Pointers that kids can use in their book to highlight tricky words as they go.
We could group a lot more broadly with our proficient readers (9 1/2-10 1/2). There's lots more flexibility to group them according to goals etc. Therefore not having so much going on. Makes it more streamlined and ensures you have less going on as the teacher.
Use of the 3 level thinking-frame to dig deeper.
Use of Pointer sticky notes in guided reading novel study:
- Pink ones for people (anything you learn about the person).
- Blue for anything about the setting.
- Yellow for unfamiliar words.
- Purple for characters.
Interrupting calling out with "have a little think"... to ensure thinking time is extended.
For when some kids finish reading before all the others.
Older kids can be doing these things when they finish before the rest. They could write down one thing that they learned about something on the subject.
Independent Activities:
- Don't plan too many activities.
- Activities can be across groups.
- Consider letting kids move between activities when they are ready rather than when the teacher finishes guided reading.
- Consider moving towards self management.
Plan activities so that kids get o go back to the text to deepen their understanding, reread, talk and be creative.
Kids work hard on something that is valued. No child in the world has ever placed value on a worksheet. How does this motivate them to have a love of reading?
StoryMaps are great for use across a range of texts and contexts. They're open-ended. They can be used to retell.
Venn diagrams can be great for comparison etc. They could be written or drawn (the teacher can annotate). Ideas are on the Literacyplace.com/resources. (templates and exemplars). Reading/writing links can be supported by comparing the language features of two types of texts.
How could you use a Venn diagram in your learning programme?
Use of detail dice. These are big in The Writing Book.
Students take turns to throw the dice and then everyone tries to find that detail in the text.
"The barn owl's call echoed in the still night air"
The person who finds the detail calls out "stop!" and reads their detail.
This can work in groups as well. The child rolls the dice and then shares back their relevant idea.
These are kept as a resource to be reflected back on and referred to. Older kids might: Choose three of the words and writes a sentence with them. The next week, the kids will choose the words.
Y charts - identifying what happens Before, During and After.
Sociograms - characters are written in circles, then arrows go between them to infer the relationship between them.
Activities where kids can be reading independently:
Book clubs/reading circles
Provides an opportunity for learners to understand that people interpret texts in different ways.
There are Role cards that can be printed off and laminated so that kids can use them independently.
Task boards, choice systems and contracts.
Task boards
To simplify, a variety of groups could be working on the same activity, with groups pulling out for guided reading. Makes it really clear what each group is doing when not with the teacher, as well as clearly defining when the groups are each seeing teacher.
**Reading challenges such as book discussion cards (many of these can be downloaded PM17). This builds up oral language around books. Works great with Silent Reading.
**Author study - Combine with writing. Great link to summarising. Create a class bank of writing.
Can control the number of students at each station.
Makes it really clear what they are expected to do.
This is in the PM box 44
There are 4 section and 6 section pizza wheel contracts.
Introduce it slowly, but it has a goal of keeping students working independently over a period of time.
Contract grids can be written up and signed to say when completed. Like a job card.
Reading response plan
This can utilise iMovie movie trailers. Busy and engaging. Get kids to make a QR code so that it can be attached to the book in the library so they can be viewed before reading.
Reciprical Reading:
There's a slideshow in the online downloads that explains to kids what the different roles are.
A lot more intense than the book club. Lots of research around its ability to build comprehension strategies in more able readers.
Readers Theatre:
Can use with poem's too (e.g. Flanders Field)
LOads of scripts online. These can be reused as Independent reading.
Independent Reading
Sustained Silent Reading
Relax & Read
Drop Everything and Read
Sustained Quiet Un Interrupted Reading Time
The Role of the Teacher.
- We need to be more explicit in what we do at this time.
- Set clear expectations about what they should be doing and why it's important.
- Reading interest inventory (PM50) Find out about your kids so you can get a sense of what they are all about and can find a way of connecting with them.
What next?
- Look at Goal Sheet to come up with a focus.
- Create a wall of prompts near the mat with speech bubble prompts.
- Mini-Lessons - structured literacy approach - to build up the skills.
- Book discussion cards - laminate and use after Silent reading.
