4 Steps to Boost Students Close Reading Skills

Close reading is a crucial skill for students to have in their toolbox in order to 

succeed. At every grade level-whether students are hearing a text read aloud in

the early grades or reading it themselves- text-dependent questions serve as a 

scaffold for students, helping them break down complex texts and start talking

about their meanings and this will help them in their writing as well. 

Here are four consecutive phases that teachers should follow when developing

text-dependent questions, coming up with several questions for each phase. As

soon as students demonstrate mastery within a given phase, the teacher should

move onto the next one.

1. Ask Literal questions. To start, literal questions help gauge whether or not students understand the text's basic subject matter, At this point, you're simply trying to make sure that students understand what the text says, literally; this is the entry-level phase of close reading. What's the overarching subject matter of the text? What are some of the key facts and details that indicate what the author is saying? Teachers tend to linger in this phase, but as soon as it's clear that students understand on a basic level what's going on in the text, it's time to move on the next step. So, if you have four or five text-dependent questions for this literal stage, you may mot need to ask all of them, if the students demonstrate a clear understanding early on. 

2. Encourage them to consider text structure. Once students understand the text on a literal level, you want to ask questions that will encourage them to think about structure. What techniques is the author using to communicate his or her point? These may include: vocabulary,literary devices, narration, genre and the like. Questions in this phase should help students understand the internal structure of the text. 

3. Lead them to make deeper meaning of the text. At this phase, questions should help students make deeper inferences about the meaning of the text based on what they have learned in the first two phases. Can they make an argument or a claim about the text? How would they compare it to other texts they've read? At this point, students are moving away from the text to do their own thinking, but they are still using the text as a resource to support their thinking. 

  

4. Challenge them to take action with the text. In this phase, once students have a grasp of the text's meaning, we invite them to take action based on the text. What is it that the text inspires them to do? They could research write, debate, present or discuss, as examples. Collaborative conversations are important when it comes to understanding compels texts, so at this level your questions should encourage students to discuss the text with each other and work together to take action based on the text. 

  

"The goal is for students to practice and

internalize this process and start developing text dependent

questions themselves and take

ownership of this questioning process"

https://www.amplify.com/viewpoints/4-steps-to-boost-students-close-reading-skills

SPRING CLEANING

Welcome SPRING!  As we move into a new season, many of us are excited and looking for a little rest and relaxation over Spring Break.  Whatever your spring break plans may be, a little organization and spring cleaning might be on your list of to do's. My favorite type of cleaning needs no mop, broom, or paintbrush. So, grab your laptop and a cup of coffee and let's look at two tools that are great for organizing your desktop. 

Click here to watch an introduction video

Symbaloo is a cloud-based application that allows users to organize and categorize web links in the form of "tiles" on a customizable start page.  It works from the web and allows users to create a personalized virtual desktop accessible from any device with an Internet connection.  It is easy to create a free account and begin to organize your webpages. Users simply drag and drop items to create webmix collections.  It was easy for me to take my most visited webpages and drop them into the webmix.  All are just one click away! 

Click here to install OneTab in less than 5 seconds!

Have you ever had so many tabs open at once that you can no longer tell which tab was which?  When working on various projects, it is easy to do.  OneTab is a free extension which opens in Google Chrome and converts all of your tabs into a list.  It also frees up memory as you do not have all of those tabs open.  Tabs can be saved and exported to other people, computers, or your smartphone.  A definite advantage is that if your computer crashes, you can easily restore by simply clicking on your OneTab extension. 

The Cult of Pedagogy

What is Cult of Pedagogy?

If you are looking for a way to keep up with what is new in education, this online magazine and series of podcasts might be just what you were looking for!

The author Jennifer Gonzales sums it up best, "Cult of Pedagogy is an online magazine for anyone who teaches anything — that means high school geometry teachers, elementary school special ed teachers, golf instructors, homeschoolers, corporate trainers, English tutors, preschool teachers, medical school instructors. Teaching is an art, a craft, and a science, and perfecting it is an ongoing, endless process. There are hundreds of ways to study and practice it, and this is what I obsess about here."

Ms. Gonzales sifts through many of the new technology tools that are out there, books on methodology, and current research to bring the most relevant resources to teachers. Her magazine has links and articles about some of the most important changes and current trends within the field. 

The podcast topics are relevant to every teacher regardless of the subject area or grade level  taught. Lengths of the podcasts very from as few as five minutes to hour long in-depth discussions. The strategies and ideas that she shares can easily be adapted to the classroom. Her interviews are entertaining, interesting and insightful. She is a wealth of information and always practical.  Click here to give it a try!

Teaching Techniques from "Teach Like a Champion"

We are continuing our discussion on Teaching Techniques.  To remind you, the book,  Teach Like a Champion, by Doug Lemov discusses 49 teaching techniques to put students on the path to college. 

TECHNIQUE 4: FORMAT MATTERS

Use Format Matters to prepare your students to succeed by requiring complete and proficient grammar every chance you get. Texting has become one of societies most popular way to communicate and words have shortened into acronyms, for example,  TTYL, OMG, WAYD, etc. Students are writing how they are texting and they need to know that proper grammatical format is important in their written communication.  Yes, you should correct slang, syntax, usage and grammar in the classroom.

KEY IDEA: It's not just what students say that matters but how they communicate it. To succeed, students must take their knowledge and express it in the language of opportunity. 

TECHNIQUE 5:  WITHOUT APOLOGY

Many of us have made this statement or something similar,  " Guys I know this is kind of dull. Let's just try to get through it." Without Apology means do not assume something will be boring to the students. A belief that content is boring is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Also "Blaming It" meaning blaming an outside entity that the lesson or assignment has to be taught because it's on the test or the state is making me teach this material is another way we apologize for the lesson to be taught. 

KEY IDEA: Assuming something is too hard or technical for some students is a dangerous trap. Use some of these alternative comments: "This is really tricky. But I haven't seen much you couldn't do if you put your minds to it." and " This material is great because it's really challenging!" 

I believe the next technique is not new to many of us. We have heard it used consistently since the common core has come around. 

TECHNIQUE 6: BEGIN WITH THE END

To sum, Begin with the End means:

1. Progressing from unit planning to lesson planning
2. Using a well-framed objective to define the goal of each lesson
3. Determining how you'll assess your effectiveness in reaching your goal 
4. Deciding on your activity 

KEY IDEA: Your first job is to choose the rationale that is most productive: Why are you teaching the material you're teaching? What's the outcome you desire? How does this outcome relate to what you'll teach tomorrow and to what your students need to have learned to be ready for the fourth, or eighth or tenth grade?

The greatest sign of success for a teacher...is to be able to say, "The children are now working as if I did not exist."       -M. Montessori 

The Power Of Extreme Writing

Are your students "in shape" when it comes to writing? As time draws nearer to standardized state and national testing, teachers need to ask themselves if they have prepared students for the writing process necessary for academic success.  In the book, The Power of Extreme Writing, author Diana Cruchley stresses the importance of producing fluent writers. She believes students must possess three skills to be successful writers: code, comprehensibility, and fluency. She compares the skill of becoming a fluent writer to that of a runner preparing to run a marathon.  The runner will not be able to complete the marathon if he has not built endurance.
Extreme writing focuses on a ten day program in which the teacher provides students to choose from three different writing prompts each day to write for 10-15 minutes depending on grade level.  A goal of number of words expected is calculated by the teacher using the "rapid write" process. Students write on a given topic for one minute.  The students repeat the process for another minute with new prompt.  The teacher collects papers from the second writing and arranges the samples from lowest to highest word count to find the median.  The teacher multiplies the median count to the number of minutes the students will write.  Cruchley recommends teachers implement the ten day program at least eight times throughout the year.
The author refers to "Inspirations" as prompts to capture attention and get students thinking. Prompts are topics that call up a memory and within the student's experience. She provides twelve inspirations with ideas for writing topics.   Cruchley's number one Inspiration is to "Start With a Picture".  She describes how images can illicit great writing.  She shares photos and writing prompt ideas on her Pinterest page for teachers at: www.pinterest.com/diana32/photos-extreme-writing-journal/
Example of photo and prompts from website:

Danny Mayer Skateboard Vertical

1. Any adventure involving things "with wheels". 2. My opinion of which sports are too dangerous, and which are OK.                        3. Skateboarding should only...

If you are looking for a writing resource and ideas for creating fluent writers, this book is for you. The entire book is only 43 pages long and is available from the ASCD website.

Key Points Chapter 5

A Principal’s Guide to Special Education

David F. Batemen and C. Fred Bateman

 

It is important for principals to remember their role at the IEP meeting when making placement decisions for students who have been determined to be eligible for special education services, including when and how those decision are made.  Understanding that Least Restrictive Environment and Inclusion are not synonymous is paramount in placement decisions. The following are a few key points from David and Fred Bateman's book for principals regarding placement. If you are following the book, please take the time to review these key quotes from Chapter 5. 

Chapter 5: What Does a Principal Need to Know About Placement?

P. 90 Federal Law

“The Law intends the degree of inclusion for an individual student with special education needs be determined at least annually; be based on the IEP of the child.”

“This does not mean that every child with a disability has to be included in the general education classroom all the time.”

“Continuum is an important term to keep in mind when discussing inclusion.

“The important point is the need for inclusion of students with disabilities in all aspects of the school, both academic and non-academic settings, while still meeting the individual needs of all students.”

P. 93

Take a look at p. 93, Oberti v. Board of Education (1993) guiding standards for considering LRE. Think about these points as IEP teams make decisions.

Great Content Rich Websites for Students and Teachers

Here are some wonderful websites that are aligned with the common core that are user friendly and can help integrate technology and various forms of media into your lesson plans!

Gooru

Gooru is a free, educational search engine for online resources and lesson plans in science, math, social studies and language arts. Teachers and students can search for and curate collections of multimedia resources, digital textbooks, videos, handouts, games, and quizzes. Collect and gather information into “My Collections” and “My Classes” categories. Grades: K-12. You can "remix" the lessons and put your own "spin" on the existing assignments.

Tip: You and your students can customize an existing collection or create your own “playlist of learning resources.

What Was There 

This innovative site adds the history to the place. Using Google Maps, this site explores the way places used to look. Students can search and explore their own personal history, that of relatives, or of an important place in class. What was There allows registered users to upload images of buildings and landmarks and have them displayed in the location where they were taken. Grades K-12 

Tip: Students can explore a historic place featured in literature or a class reading assignment. 

PhET 

PhET is a collection of science and math interactive computer simulations. With over 200 million simulations delivered to date, students learn through exploration in an animated, game-like environment. PhET simulations encourage inquiry, use real-world connections and can be used in a variety of educational settings. Play with existing simulations or run simulations on this engaging, interactive site. Grades: 2-12.

Tip: Have your elementary students learn the principles of fractions with the “Fractions Intro” and 4 related simulations

BioDigital Human 

BioDigital Human moves learning beyond textbook diagrams and the life-sized skeleton in the corner of the science classroom! This tool is an interactive 3D environment providing a stunningly realistic way to examine the human body. Students can explore and manipulate the 3D images as they zoom in and out of the various layers of anatomical animations. Descriptions of health conditions related to each system of the human body are included. Grades: 7–12 

Tip: Use BioDigital in Science and Health and Wellness classes to discuss various health conditions related to students’ daily health choices

(Source: http://www.ala.org/aasl/standards-guidelines/best-websites/2015)