Are they Really Understanding What They are Reading? Helping Your Students Respond to What They Read

During the last two weeks, we've been focusing on Reading Comprehension.  Specifically, in our Ontario Language Curriculum, we've been working on specific expectation 1.8:

Responding to and Evaluating Texts

1.8 make judgements and draw conclusions

about ideas in texts and cite stated or

implied evidence from the text to 

support their views 

Teacher prompts: “What conclusions

can you draw from the events or information presented in the text?” “Has

the author chosen the most convincing

facts to support his or her opinion?” 

We've been looking at short informational texts.  I've been using articles about Space because I believe that as much as possible, it makes sense to tie in my content areas to my Language program (it's like killing two -or three or four - birds with one stone).   

Here is my "Instructional Pathway" for Reading from the last two weeks.

Day 1

I actually put our specific expectation from the Language Curriculum document up on LCD projector, read it to the students, and said, "It is difficult to make sense of this expectation, how can we put it into our own words so that it makes sense to us?". This is what my students came up with for our Learning Goal in Reading:

Then, I read aloud a passage called "Space Junk" and modeled for them how I paused to check for understanding, how I asked questions as I read, and how I made connections and inferences to better understand the text.  

Day 2

The next day, I took a text from our EQAO samples called "The Constellations", (found on line; even if you are not from Ontario, there is a great selection of texts and student exemplars found here).  Again, I modeled how I used the comprehension strategies to understand the text, but this time I used a document camera so that I could mark up the text and they could "see" my thinking.  

Day 3

We looked at the open response questions from EQAO that went with this particular text.  I made several copies of the student exemplars from each level, and in groups, my students had to order the responses, and then provide "feedback" to the students who wrote the responses, i.e. what they did well, what next steps they should take to "bump up" their work.  My kids LOVED doing this!  They wanted to know if they could really send their feedback to these sample students!  They even decided to name their "mystery students"!

   

We posted the student exemplars on our "Bump it Up Wall" along with post-it notes with our feedback, as we did a couple of months ago with our Math journal samples.

Day 4

I asked the students to consider the feedback we gave our "mystery students" the previous day, and in groups, they then began to consider what they felt are the criteria for success for a good reading response.   We took those up, and as a class wrote up the Success Criteria for a successful reading response. 

Day 5

Between Day 3 and Day 4, we had a PLC on Learning Goals and Success Criteria.  We watched a video from Anne Davies and Sandra Herbst's blog on how to have students co-create Success Criteria.  In the video, the teacher said that it is important to have the students sort or categorize the criteria.  I was doubtful about this step, but my Literacy Coach wanted my to try it with my students.  This is what they came up with - and honestly, these criteria suddenly made more sense to me - I love it when I get to learn from my students!

Day 6

With that established, I once again had an article to share with them, this time on our favourite Canadian astronaut, Chris Hadfield, (from Teaching Kids News), using the document camera.  This time, they each had a copy of the article in front of them and we did a shared reading of the article. We coded the text together, they shared their thinking, I shared mine, and we documented ALL of it on our articles.   

Day 7

I posted a question from the article on Chris Hadfield.  With a partner, the students wrote a response to the question using the Success Criteria as a guide.  We then used the document camera to review each response and provide feedback.  I find the students are quite comfortable with this for a few reasons; 1- we have created a risk-free environment where it is safe to make mistakes, 2- they were explicitly taught how to give feedback in appropriate ways, our feedback is now solely based on the criteria, 3- because they worked in partners, it is less personal. 

Using all of the feedback, we share-wrote a final response together using the document camera. 

I think it is very important to use the gradual release model in our teaching practice.  It is slow, and explicit, but I think it pays off in the end.  

So what comes next?  The students will meet with me in small groups and I will give them guided support in responding to informational texts at their reading levels.  They will also have opportunities to practice responding to these texts with a partner, and then on their own.  I will provide them with feedback throughout, and they will also provide one another with feedback.  Once we've had lots of practice and feedback, I will then do an Assessment OF Learning to see if they have in fact "bumped up" their work!

My "Ravenous Demand" - #etmooc

My husband is away in Texas tonight.  My kids are at a concert.  I have the house to myself, and that is a really good thing, because it meant I could spend the night at the computer reading, absorbing, collaborating, learning, reflecting.

Week #1 of my first-ever MOOC is not even over yet and I feel as though I have been pushed and pulled and stretched in every which direction.  I no longer remember who shared, posted, linked what; BUT, I remember all of the new things that I learned.  And I had a small epiphany this week that I shared with my students.

One of the themes this week was "How do you make your learning visible?" And it came to me today that learning = change.  If I haven't changed the way I think, feel, understand, then I haven't learned anything.  Tony Stead says it all the time, "I used to think.... But now I think...."  If you can fill in this statement you have made your learning visible. I explained to my students how important mistakes are because they help us to make our learning visible - they help us to see how we have changed.

In the past week, every time someone in the etmooc community posted a reflection or a question about making learning visible it left me wondering "How DO I make my learning visible to OTHERS?"  But tonight I participated in Sue Waters' Blackboard Discussion on Blogging and we talked about why we blog.  Many of the participants said they blog to reflect.  One brilliant person (wish I could remember the name) said "I write to create myself" (sorry if I misquoted).  I reflected on that a long time.

Tonight I realize that I don't need to make my learning visible to anyone else other than myself.  I need to look at myself and think - How have I changed? And if I can answer that question I will have made my learning visible to ME.

One of the things that impacted me most deeply this week was a shared youtube video of David Wiley on Openness in Education.  He talks about how we can give away knowledge freely without losing it; in this information age, "Digital expressions of expertise is nonrivalrous".  I am so thankful that all of my fellow-etmoocers are so willing to share their knowledge and expertise with me without rivalry  because I have a "ravenous demand" to learn and change and grow.

Authentic Purpose for Writing

Before Christmas, I introduced my students to Chris Van Allsburg's picture book: The Mysteries of Harris Burdick.  I like this book because the illustrations are so intriguing.  If you haven't already heard of "Harris Burdick", the introduction explains that years ago, a writer named Harris Burdick brought illustrations with captions to a book publisher named Peter Wenders.  Mr. Wenders was very impressed with the illustrations, so he asked Mr. Burdick to bring him the stories that went with the illustrations.  Mr. Burdick promised to return, but he was never heard from again.

Teachers have been using the illustrations to inspire budding authors.  My students loved the illustrations and couldn't wait to write their stories.  Before they did though, I went on-line and found many student samples, thanks to thoughtful teachers who posted their students' work, to read with my students.  I used these samples as exemplars.

After reading several of the student samples on-line, we created an anchor chart for Narratives.  We then co-created Success Criteria for what should be included in a good narrative.  After completing a graphic organiser, the students were chomping at the bit to get on with their stories.  But I wasn't ready to let them write yet... I had one last activity up my sleeve.

I found The Chronicles of Harris Burdick on-line.  In it, fourteen famous authors "tell the tales" of Harris Burdick's illustrations.  I used some of these tales as mentor texts. 

I liked the way teachers were posting these stories on-line.  When we read them, the first thing my students asked was, "Can we post our stories?!?"  They reminded me how important it is to have an authentic audience for our writing.

We learned so much writing these stories.  We learned about using quotation marks, voice, sentence fluency and word choice!

So please, check out our Harris Burdick Wiki and read our growing collection of stories!  (The really long ones are not posted yet!)

I just found this Mysteries of Harris Burdick website!  Students can learn more about the "mystery man" and send in their stories to  Mr. Chris Van Allsburg.  I can't wait to tell  my students!

#ETMOOC

I'm really stepping out of my comfort zone now.  I am going to join my first MOOC - Massive Open Online Course.  I'm hoping I can figure it all out, and that my fellow-bloggers will be patient with me.  I"m really excited, but kind of nervous too.  I think it is important to put myself in the role of "student"; it helps me appreciate what my own students are going through every time I ask them to take a risk and go out on a limb. 

As part of the MOOC, I will be posting/sharing all of the work for my course here under the label "ETMOOC".

Birch Trees

Before the holidays I enjoyed the company of a student teacher.  Not just any student teacher, a marvelously creative student teacher who wasn't afraid to try new things. 

She found a great art activity on Pinterest that she wanted to share, so she taught it to my students on her last day with us.  What a wonderful piece of creativity to leave us with!

This art activity involves using chalk pastels to create a sunset or evening sky (depending on your colour choices).  It is a snowy scene and below the horizon line lies the snow.  Then you create birch trees using white paper with strips of newsprint running horizontally to create the birch bark.  The effect was quite stunning, but what I loved was how my students individualized their unique pieces.  Here are some examples:

This student was inspired by the work of Emily Carr that we saw at the Art Gallery of Hamilton in the Fall.  She wanted to show the devastation of deforestation. She used "white out" to create the falling snow - how appropriate!

This student used an eraser to create her snowflakes.

Feeling in Control

Four days ago I was dreading the thought of going back to work.  I felt over-whelmed and was unhappily anticipating all of the work I had ahead do me.

But for the last three days I have been catching up on my marking and planning, and now I can't wait to go back!  I guess what I was really feeling four days ago was that I had lost control, that I was not on top of the work, and that made me feel as though I just wanted to avoid work at all costs.

I think our students often feel this way.  When I notice task-avoidance behaviors in my students, I try to determine the cause.  It really bothers me when people say that students are "lazy". I think that is very rarely the case. If a student is avoiding work it is usually for a reason, and often they can't articulate that reason.  If I think it is because the student is feeling over-whelmed, as I often am, I help them break the task up into smaller parts so that they can feel as though they can handle the tasks one step at a time and be in control.

Another thing that helps is giving the students new and exciting tools to make the work more fun.  I know this works for me.

Three years ago, I had an FM System in the classroom. It was wonderful!  While it was a necessary accommodation for one of my students, it was a very helpful accommodation for all of my students, and it saved my voice.  I loved being the loudest sound in the room when I spoke.  It was so much easier to maintain the students' attention.  But its real power was discovered when I handed the microphone over to my students.  Suddenly they all had something important to say!

I was bemoaning my lack of an FM System to my husband a while back.  Although I had asked my principal for one, there just weren't enough funds, (mind you our ELKP classes have them!).  So for Christmas my husband bought me an iRig Mic that I can connect to my iPad.  After downloading the free VocalLive app, all I need to do is connect to a set of speakers and once again I will be wired for sound!

Now I can't wait to get back to school!  I can't wait to hand back the feedback I have for my students on their work- many of them really excelled, so wonderful to see! And I can't wait to demonstrate our new technology.  I love my job!

Why Every Educator Should Be Using Twitter

This year, one of the goals for my Annual Learning Plan is to incorporate technology more effectively in my teaching.  I'm hoping the increased use of technology in creative ways will lead to increased motivation and better differentiation.  Ultimately, the hope is I will see an increase in achievement as an end result.  I knew going in that this would be a rather tall order.

Knowing this would be my goal, I began this blog as a first step.  I also joined Twitter (at the behest of my son Stephen who said everything worth knowing is on Twitter).  In August, I went to the Pearson Literacy Conference where Heidi Hayes Jacobs reiterated my son's opinion.  Twitter is a must.

At first, I really didn't see the point of Twitter.  I don't care to know what Lady Gaga ate for breakfast.  But then I began to follow some professional organizations like the CSC, Pembroke Publishers, ASCD, and some of my favourite authors like Lisa Donohue, Kylene Beers, Dylan William, and Robert Marzano.  I could see the merits in this as I was updated quickly on anything new in the world of Education.  I even started following NASA and thought this would be useful as I could share updates with my students during our Space unit in Science.

Tweeting, however, was a challenge.  I was confused by the use of the hashtag, had trouble following conversations, and didn't understand the true power of Twitter.  So this holiday season, I decided that I would gain a better understanding of Twitter so as to use it more effectively.

I learned that Twitter is the IDEAL Professional Learning Community (PLC).  Actually, I found out on Twitter, many educators refer to Twitter as their "Personal Learning Network" (PLN).  I Googled Twitter and found helpful articles on how to use hashtags, how to search and follow conversations; I even found this most helpful Twitter Cheat Sheet.

The power in Twitter is in the people you follow.  It is great to follow our favourite authors and professional organizations, but it is in following our fellow educators and joining in on their conversations that true learning takes place.  I use the word "educators" rather than "teachers" because it is more inclusive, and I have "met" vice-principals, principals, consultants, coaches, and professors from all over the world using Twitter.

This is how I've seen Twitter used - educators find something that they question, or something that interests them, or something that they value and are passionate about - and they share it via a link to an article, a blog, a Youtube video, or a photo.  And then others comment and question and this incredible "dialogue" ensues.  The important thing is the hashtag.  You use a hashtag to thread a conversation.  I've been following #edchat, #cdned, #flipclass, #ipaded (there are "Apple Certified Educators" out there who let you know when apps are free for a day!!!  Downloaded three great apps for free this week!), and #onted.

Case in point - check out this blog post by Lori Cullen that shows just how powerful Twitter can be for teachers to scaffold one another's learning and understanding!

This link from from Teach Thought tells you which hashtags to follow on Education issues.

You can start a conversation with a new hashtag - post a question you need help with, there is SOMEONE out there with an answer!

Your Twitter Timeline shows all the tweets by people you are following.  It takes forever to go through them;  I haven't figured out the most time-effective way to do that yet; so I've been searching by hashtag and just following specific conversations.  When I find a link to something I like I've been "pinning" it to my "Pinterest" board to save it.  I am finding this is very effective.

If you aren't on Twitter yet, or if you are on Twitter, but not really using it, it's time to join the party.  Get in there.  Tweet.  Join a conversation.  You'll be amazed at how quickly your learning is stepped up a notch.  And if you have a message that you want to share - this is one of the most powerful and effective ways of getting your message out there!

To find me on Twitter:  @RaineCB - hope to see your handle in my timeline!

My next step - using Twitter in the classroom with my students!