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Strategy Share

When I was teaching I was constantly on the look-out for ways to engage and reach each of my students.  (It goes without saying that if students are not engaged it is difficult, if not impossible, to really “reach” them.)  We all know that the more students read the better readers they will become.  So, how can we get them to love reading?  

About a year ago I read a book (Reading Essentials: The Specifics You Need to Teach Reading Well, 2003) by Regie Routman.  I found her “no nonsense” approaches to teaching reading practical and quite refreshing.  She offered countless useful ideas and suggestions about ways to teach reading.  Since last year, as I have planned for my students, I have kept in mind three quotes from her book:

·        “It really doesn’t matter much what kids read as long as they read and enjoy what they’re reading.”

·        “Honoring students’ choices is not just about considering their wishes; students read more when the materials they are interested in are readily available.”

·        “Reading competence is closely tied to the amount of time children spend reading on their own, and students read more when they can choose their reading materials.”

Recently when creating a Text Set for a group of second graders Routman’s thoughts were at the forefront of my mind, in addition to the following key points from “The Power of Text Sets” (achievethe core.org).

·        Provide students with a variety of texts to help all learners build knowledge and vocabulary.

·        Allow students voice and choice for independent reading.

·        Support disciplinary content through reading.

·        Encourage and expect authentic writing and research.

I wanted to develop an interdisciplinary unit that could be used to cover some ELA, Social Studies and Math standards. I chose “Incredible Journeys in Our Country’s Past” as my topic of study.  In order to address the interests, needs and reading levels of all of my students I included many types of books (e.g. biographies, graphic novels, picture books, chapter books, historical fiction, poetry, etc.) as well as some YouTube videos and a movie.  I wanted to “reach” each of my students; my text set contained over 40 resources.  The reading level of resources was varied so that every student could be actively engaged in this topic of study.  Not every resource within the text set was chosen to appeal to every student; however, every student would find within the text set a number of resources of interest to him/her.

When I began to plan lessons around the text set I was truly amazed at the wide assortment of teaching strategies and multitude of activities that could be utilized within this one unit (e.g. reciprocal teaching, peer tutoring, project based learning, small group book studies, small group topic studies, etc.).  Many of the activities provided opportunities for formative assessment (e.g. completing graphic organizers, creating timelines, designing maps, etc.) during the unit as well as summative assessments at the conclusion of the unit.   In addition, ELA, Social Studies (i.e. History and Geography) and Math skills and standards were addressed.

I cannot take credit for the quotes from Routman or the key points to keep in mind when designing a text set.  However, when I considered them together and actually put them into practice I was able to design a unit of study that was not only engaging for my students on many levels but also covered a number of standards.  So, if you have not yet given text sets a try, I highly recommend that you do.  If you have, I would be interested in hearing about your experience.  Did your text set address different disciplines?  If so, what was your topic of study? 

Martha Christopher Blog Post

Classroom Spotlight

Blog Project

June 19, 2020

Do you remember last February, before illness, social unrest, and the political season had taken over our lives? Back in the seemingly good ol’ days when we were planning Valentine’s Day parties, beginning to worry about upcoming MAP Testing, and wondering if we would make it to that far away mystical place called Spring Break? 

On one of those long ago February days we had a surprise snowstorm. It started as a rain, then changed to hard, little balls of ice, and then finally big, fluffy snowflakes.  By that time, my students could stand being inside no longer (and neither could I) so we put our work away, put on our coats and mittens, and went outside to play in the swirling white snow.  Amid the shouts of joy and shrieks of glee my students became wet, muddy little people.  So, long before we were ready, we headed inside to get warm and dry.

In order to regain a sense of normalcy and a little bit of quiet in the room while I helped students dry off or change clothes, I put on the movie The Snowman. The Snowman  If you are not familiar with this video it is based on a wordless book by Raymond Briggs. The Snowman, R. Briggs As students began to settle down, I started hearing snippets of conversation:

“Hey, this movie doesn’t have any talking. It’s like a wordless book.”

“Shh, I can’t pay attention to what’s going on if you talk.”

“Look at the pictures, it’s like the illustrator just used colored pencils and textures.” 

“This is a fiction story.”

“The setting is a long time ago.”

“It’s mostly about that little boy and a snowman, they’re the main characters.” 

“Wordless books make you use your imagination.”

These snippets of conversation made my little teacher's heart swell. On their own, my class had started analyzing a movie, discovered it was from a book and used literary terms and ideas that we had talked about over and over in class to carry on a conversation between themselves without any prompting from me. 

In the book, Engaging Students in Disciplinary Literacy, K-6: Reading, Writing, and Teaching Tools for the Classroom, Brock, Goatley, Raphael, Trosty-Shahata, and Weber, Teachers College Press, NY, NY. 2014. Engaging Students Book Link the authors aptly point out that, “When teachers engage students in meaningful conversation and encourage students to talk with each other, they set a context for deep conceptual learning.”  (p.79) The above conversion between my students took place after many weeks of discussing books, books parts, the role of authors and illustrators, and different parts of book structure. I had also allowed my students to participate in “turn and talk” activities as we discussed the ideas in the books we read together as a class.

The authors point out that according to CCSS, “productive talk prepares students to participate effectively in a  “range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own (ideas) clearly and persuasively.” (p 81)  

While the authors present their material in their familiar “Core Design Principles..” format, I think it is important to focus on Component Three: Norms for Talk Vary by Culture and Discipline. As adults we are easily able to shift our talking styles between colleagues, friends, and family. We speak differently to our students than we do to our own children. We can speak professionally about concerns within our district to our superintendent and just as easily discuss the latest college football game with him, sometimes in the same conversation. Teachers need to teach their students how to carry on conversations as well. 

Teachers need to remember that student’s cultural backgrounds can influence how they interact with other students and adults. While it’s important to not discount a student’s cultural heritage, it is important to teach students that there are different places for different styles of speaking. Just as we teach students the difference between “inside voices-shh” and “outside voices.” In some cultures children are typically not comfortable speaking out with adults. Teachers need to take the time to encourage these students to participate in class discussions and that talking out or speaking your mind isn’t discourteous or disrespectful, it’s how you participate in classroom discussions. Another example is the use of certain words or phrases, --you know which one’s I mean, the words that make middle-age women’s hair stand on end--may be perfectly normal in a home conversation or a conversation with friends, but, students need to be taught that use of those words is not acceptable in a school setting.

⇨Just as important as teaching children how to talk to teachers, teachers are especially tasked with learning their students, their cultures, and how to communicate best with the students so that the students can achieve their highest potential in the classroom. (82) The authors give an example of white teachers and a classroom of Native American students.  When the teachers “recognized the differences (in communication) and sought to build a bridge between communication norms,” the Native American students became more successful in school.(p. 82) 

Teaching children how and when to talk in a classroom is a never ending process for K5 teachers. There are rules to be followed. Don’t talk when the teacher is talking. Don’t talk over your classmate who “has the floor.” Speak respectfully when disagreeing with your teacher or classmate. Use an inside voice when speaking to your class group or table partners. Listen respectfully so others will respect you when you are speaking.  

Learning to speak is a Common Core standard that needs to be taught, modeled, practiced, and assimilated into the classroom. And, as you practice these skills with your students, maybe, you too, will be privileged to listen to a conversation similar to the one above where your students reward you with a little insight that they are learning what you are trying to teach them. 

The "Write" Way in Math

“When it comes to writing in the content areas, math seems to be the content ‘outlier’. However, math also has a story to tell.”     Heather Gawron, Educator

What’s a math teacher to do when she/he wants to know what her students’ REALLY know? Like “know” as in they can use words to explain a concept or teach someone else the concept. She/He asks them to write about it! I have recently integrated writing in my math classroom and I would like to share what I have learned and a strategy with you.

“A-ha” Discoveries of incorporating writing in the math classroom:

• Writing will look different in math class.      

• There is more to writing in math than mere justifications and error analyses. 

• Writing about mathematical concepts and ideas naturally integrates the SCCCR Mathematical Process Standards with the SCCCR Content Standards for Mathematics to develop students’ mathematical literacy.                         

• Writing is, indeed, part of the mathematical equation!

Benefits of Writing in Math:

• Writing has fostered community in my “upper/middle grade” classroom.

• Writing about mathematical concepts develops mathematical reasoning and problem solving skills.                                                    

• Writing about mathematical concepts aids in the acquisition of mathematical vocabulary which in turns aids in understanding mathematical processes. 

• Writing in math gives me a window into my students’ thoughts that I don’t normally get when they just compute problems. It shows me their roadblocks, and it gives me, as a teacher, a road map.

Writing in Math Strategy: Math Talks

Math Talks?…. Wait, you might be thinking, “talking is not writing”. However, how many of us write down our thoughts about something before we talk about it? Oh yeah.... Students are given a topic to talk about-but first we write. 

How does Math Talk look in my classroom?

• Math Talk is designated for every other Monday in our classroom. My students and I call it “Monday Math Talk”. To be most effective, researchers suggest that Math Talk be held 2-3 times a week. #goals

• Students glue the discussion prompt in their math notebook and record their own thinking before talking about it with each other. Writing their own thinking down helps them get a more concrete handle on the logic of their ideas. It is also great for accountability purposes!

• After our Math Talk, students return to their writing to add new thinking and clarify any misconceptions if necessary. 

Benefits of Math Talk: 

• Math Talk engages students and takes them from being passive listeners to active listeners who are eager to ask questions and provide personal explanations (Scholastic’s Top Teaching Blog, Genia Connell’s Math Talk 101).   

     

• Math Talk fosters classroom community.

• Math Talk uses deeper mathematical thinking and reasoning skills (rather than just memorizing procedures).     

• Math Talk helps students develop their social skills.

Does this sound “write” up your alley and you want to give it a go? Here are some tips that may be helpful to you.

Tips for Implementing Math Talk:

• An anchor chart with sentence stems/starters is especially helpful when first introducing Math Talk. I searched Pinterest (what would we do without Pinterest or Instagram?) for a “Math Talk” anchor chart idea which led me to Zearn.com. Here is a picture of the anchor chart I displayed.

• Start Math Talk in small groups; this allows for differentiation of topics and allows for students to feel more comfortable talking.

• Start with an open-ended question with several possible answers like the one listed below: Which number doesn’t belong?     9    16    25     43

       (Credits: Scholastic's Top Teaching Blog)

• Consider having students “circle up” in chairs or on a carpet. 

• Don’t get discouraged if there isn’t much “talk” the first couple of times. As you know, students will “warm up”.

• Jennifer Serravallo dedicates a whole chapter of strategies for supporting students’ conversations in her book The Reading Strategies Book. Although she is referring to supporting conversations in book clubs, many of the strategies shared can be applied to Math Talk. Like book clubs, Math Talk addresses speaking, listening, and deep comprehension skills.

I was nervous about incorporating writing in my math classroom but if I want my students to take risks with their learning, I should too!  So, I encourage you to make writing in math part of your classroom story! It’s the “write” thing to do for our students! 

Source: Scholastic’s Top Teaching Blog, Genia Connell’s Math Talk 101

R2S Teaching of Reading and Writing in the Content Areas

The Struggles are Real

Blog post by Dianna Bembenek

How do I fit it all in? Although I am a very organized and structured second grade teacher, I can't seem to fit it all in, especially inquiry based lessons. Like many teachers I know, I leave everything ready for the next day's lesson ready so I can hopefully teach a lesson and make learning fun without any major problems. That being said, how the lesson unfolded in my mind and how it actually happened with 19 seven year olds are two very different scenarios! 

Up to this point, science and social studies have mostly been something we do on Fridays. I realize this is not integrating the content with other disciplines but even when I have, time has not been on my side. The kids loved the inquiry based lessons but they always ended up taking longer than I anticipated so that means something else got shortened or cut altogether. 

In recent years, my district has provided frameworks for ELA and Math to guide teaching the standards. The ELA units integrate various writing structures that lend themselves to writing across the disciplines. One of the units is titled Investigation which is basically research. We use nonfiction texts, usually by Gail Gibbons, to model writing to inform and allow for interdisciplinary content all while covering ELA standards and skills. This unit lends itself well to inquiry and students are encouraged to observe, explore and question. What ends up happening is I spend most of the time trying to help my kids understand researching is not copying what is already written in a book. I use mini lessons to prepare my kids for gathering information and we use sticky notes to read, stop, think, jot. I model reading a section, stop, then think aloud about what I thought was most important and jot this information down on a sticky note. The kids practice this with a partner many times but this is where it feels like the cart has been put before the horse because I spend a great deal of time teaching what it means to read information, summarize it and then write about it. 

A helpful site I have used is Storyline Online (https://www.storylineonline.net/). There are read alouds and lesson plans with activities that detail how to include math, science, social studies and writing. Without this site, I feel like I don't have much else to use for inquiry rich lessons that don't eat up my instructional day.  

The Many Levels of Inquiry by Banchi and Bell details the levels of inquiry and I consider myself at a level 2 which is structured inquiry. The authors state "elementary teachers often struggle with how to design and implement inquiry instruction with their students." That's me! I was excited to also read in this article about the dancing raisins activity because I did this last year with my students and they loved it. However, after reading this article, I realize I missed lots of opportunities for inquiry. 

Are there any teachers of 2nd grade or elementary aged students who have a success story or tips for designing and implementing inquiry instruction? I want this to work in my classroom but need guidance on how to help students adapt to this style of learning as I adapt to it as well. How did you prepare yourself and your students for this? What advice do you have for transitioning from one level of inquiry to another? 

Source:

Banchi, H., Bell, R. 2008. The Many Levels of Inquiry. Science and Children: 26-29.

http://www.gstboces.org/stem/docs/2019STEMArticle-Many-Levels-of-Inquiry.pdf

How can Progress Monitoring Assessment tell us what our students know and don't know?

Blog- Jennifer Harrison   

R2S Reading and Writing in the Content Areas Course

Source: "Linking Progress Monitoring Results to Interventions"

by Jennifer N. Mahdavi and Diane Haager

http://rtinetwork.org/essential/assessment/progress/linking-monitoring-to-intervention

My blog is based on two of the following themes:

1)      Resource Recommendation

2)      Assessment: How do we know what our students know?

Being a reading interventionist at my elementary school means that I do a lot of assessments to see how and what students are able to do.  I don’t assess students just to assess, there is a purpose.  I want to know what my students truly know and what they need additional help with. 

The article that I read and would recommend if you want to learn more about assessment is called:

“Linking Progress Monitoring Results to Interventions” by Jennifer N. Mahdavi and Diane Haager.

This article addresses the importance of assessment of students.  If we aren’t assessing students before and during learning, then how do we know what they are learning and/or what approaches/skills are working or not working?

Assessment of students can help teachers determine the next steps for individual students.  Teachers can determine if students have mastered a skill, if instruction should be adjusted, if the student just needs additional practice, and/or if the student needs one on one support from the teacher. 

Progress Monitoring is a great way for teachers to assess along the way by tracking data to monitor student growth over a period of time.  In order for progress monitoring to be successful, the teacher must continually assess and monitor student data.  The data can then be used to plan the direction of instruction to meet the individual needs of students. 

What can data from progress monitoring tell us?

Progress monitoring is two-fold:

1) It assesses student academic progress

 2) It evaluates the effectiveness of intervention

Data from progress monitoring can help teachers identify reading levels to create small groups with like needs and then compare the growth of students with like needs and goals and determine what steps are next in instruction.  Progress monitoring is most successful and useful when it is done in a timely manner, meaning students are assessed weekly or in a scheduled manner.  Data can then help teachers adjust instruction, make changes, create new goals, and/or implement new strategies to meet the needs of students.

This article also featured a case study of two students and how progress monitoring and assessments were helpful and led to changes in student instructional plans.  It’s definitely worth the read and offered a lot of great ideas in terms of the importance of assessment.

 Thanks for reading my BLOG..... Have a great day! :)