Writing to Learn

                The effect of writing on content learning seems to be obvious, but I had never considered there are so many different ways to introduce writing into concept learning.  I also had not thought about it in terms of the PAR framework. We know that writing requires us to organize thoughts and words in a coherent manner in order to put those words and ideas down on paper.  I had not previously considered those thoughts and ideas to be part of the preparation phase of writing. Writing seemed to be more of an assistance and reflective activity. It makes sense though to use writing to prepare for a lesson. Thinking about and discussing what you already know will help, but actually writing it down requires a different level of commitment to organization and formation of thought. By writing our prior knowledge and what we anticipate learning, we are forced to form clear thoughts and ideas. There are not pause words or mid-stream changes in writing. Every sentence is one clear thought from start to finish. I cannot see a better way to get into the frame of mind for a lesson than this. 

                The many different strategies used for assistance and reflection surprise and intrigue me. I’ve noticed poetry mentioned many times in this book. I don’t know if it’s because I am not especially creative or some other reason, but I always struggled with poetry. I didn’t have any great proclivity for seeing beyond the words on the page to the deeper meaning and I hated being asked to write poetry because I just felt inadequate. Does anybody have any ideas for helping students to decide what to put in their poems? How do you teach someone that isn’t artistic to write in our most artistic form?

                In the reflection phase, I really like the RAFT strategy. It is such a good way to get students excited about a topic that requires writing about content. Usually, content writing consists of research papers. Students do not like writing research papers because the form and structure is a lot of work and the form and language used is not the way we speak and communicate in our daily lives. We have to think about how to change our language when we write in an academic fashion and it is painful for young students. The RAFT strategy allows students to take on another role, where they are not simply a student writing a paper, but they get to be a part of the content. It is more fun. It enables the use of imagination. And finally, it can be used in absolutely any subject area. I plan to use this strategy quite a bit when I have my own class.  

Diverse Learners

            I feel fortunate that half way into writing my I-Search paper, the class presented me with more information about how to help struggling readers, which is exactly what I am trying to establish with my topic. It seems odd to me, however, that we define diverse learners as, “those who might be at risk for academic failure and who need special understanding and attention (Richardson, Morgan, and Fleener, 2012).” The dictionary defines diverse as, “of various kinds or forms; multiform (www.dictionary.com, 2014).” It seems to me that diverse would simply be a reference to all students, as no two students are alike in skill, aptitude, likes, dislike, cultural background, etc. Do we term them diverse learners in order to be a palatable term?

            This chapter and the associated article do much more than simply present strategies to help with struggling readers, but they also describe some categories of students who frequently fall under that broad umbrella of “diverse learners.” Students with special needs are frequently who I think of first when I think about struggling learners. As inclusion becomes the norm across the country we are finding more and more ways to help these students learn to the best of their ability. Differentiation of instruction and small group work has proven to be very helpful in teaching not only these students, but students without special needs as well. Inclusion classrooms are proving that even students without special needs are benefiting from classes with students with special needs. The categories of students that are not as commonly thought of when we speak broadly of struggling or diverse learners are those from families of low socioeconomic status (SES) and English Language Learners (ELL).

            Watkins and Lindahl (2010) gave some excellent points to consider and strategies to use when teaching ELLs. They also presented a framework for constructing lessons that is identical to PAR. In particular, Watkins and Lindahl (2010) talked about using targeted instruction: keeping both receptive and expressive language skills in mind in content area literacy development. In order to accomplish targeted instruction, literacy strategies are included prior to the lesson, as part of the lesson, and after the lesson.

            The category of students that seems potentially the most difficult to teach are those suffering the consequences of families of low SES. This may be because their difficulties result from a lack of support at home, a place that teachers have very little influence. These students are a perfect example of Maslow’s hierarchy at work. They cannot focus on, or be happy with, academic achievement when they are unsure of when their next meal will be or if they will have heat when they get home. Basic needs trump the desire to learn. Beyond that, from a physiological standpoint, the brain cannot function at its best when the student has many other pressing issues to contend with, especially when physical discomfort is one of them. The text gives some ideas and things to be aware of, but I fear the teacher cannot do enough to make a real difference. Does anybody have other ideas of how to get through to students whose low SES may lead them to failure? 

Helping Struggling Readers

                As I go through my classes in preparation to be a teacher, one theme stands out in proven research-based methodology: the social aspect of learning. When I was young and in school, I rarely worked as part of a group; especially in the early grades. In fact, I don’t recall doing any pair or group work before the fifth grade. As I started taking classes in education, I was consistently presented with the argument that group work and collaborative thinking exercises prepare our children for life in a world that demands the ability to work well with others. While this is certainly true and a good reason to support collaboration in education,  the better argument is evidence that shows the incredible learning impacts of working with other students. Working together does not simply teach students to work with others, but increases comprehension, improves critical thinking skills, and enables students to learn more as they discuss.

                Leigh Hall (2012) discusses a study that was done to increase students’ comprehension strategies after reading.  Students were grouped in such a way as to promote group discussion and to make each student feel as if they could make valuable contributions to the group. During the first several discussions, the struggling readers were largely silent, observing their classmates comments and interactions. By the end, 10 of the 12 groups in the study were led by struggling readers. They were able to learn from their peers and once they were comfortable speaking in the group, they felt comfortable asking other students to explain their responses and even defend their own. Hall (2014) talks about making struggle and difficulty part of the conversation. All students struggle with some things. If they discuss what they have difficulty with instead of always looking for the perfect answer, the struggling students will feel more comfortable and valuable as part of the discussion.  In addition, when they all discuss the things giving them a hard time, they are able to learn from peers when other students respond.

                Barbara Walker (2003) talks about a pairing exercise that could be expanded and adjusted to be used for multiple students.  She was working with two second grade students, reading at or below the kindergarten level. One had trouble writing words, but had good thought processes. The other could write and spell but had difficulty thinking past the word he was trying to write and summarizing large ideas. Ms. Walker designed exercises to get the students to work together and capitalize on the strengths of both. In this way, both students were able to improve by learning from the other.  Both students saw success from the collaboration. One of the students was even reading above grade level by the end of the following school year.

                All students bring different strengths and ideas to the table. When these ideas are fostered, cultivated, and encouraged, all students benefit. Two heads thinking about a topic will always yield more. When we use each students’ strengths to build on others, incredible growth is possible. I may have been looking at the way to help struggling students in the wrong way. Maybe I just need ot find a way to get them to help each other.

References:

Leigh A. Hall (2012) Moving Out of Silence: Helping Struggling Readers Find Their Voices in Text-Based Discussions, Reading & Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties, 28:4, 307-332, DOI: 10.1080/10573569.2012.702037

Walker, B. J. (2003). Struggling Readers: Instruction for Struggling Readers Contains Multiple Features. The Reading Teacher, (2), 206. doi:10.2307/20205341

I-Search Proposal

Topic:  Helping Struggling Readers

Possible Questions: 

How do you, as a teacher, help struggling readers close the knowledge gap without jeopardizing  the success and academic growth of the rest of the class.

Are there particular strategies or resources that seem exceptionally effective?

What do you do when you know you need to move on for the whole class, but there are a few students who just haven’t gotten the hang of the present material yet?

How do you keep that gap from widening?

Do you ask parents of struggling readers to help? How do you approach that situation?

People to Interview: 

The first three people listed below work at Malibu Elementary School, where I did my practicum. I hope these teachers will be able to offer their solutions from their experiences in the classroom. The fourth person listed is a long-time family friend and special ed teacher. She may be able to provide some ideas that a general ed teacher would not typically consider.

Fourth Grade General Ed teacher: Ashley Sweatt, Virginia Beach, VA

                                                                                                     

Elementary School Reading Specialist: Beth Estill, Virginia Beach, VA

First Grade General E Teacher: Kristina Price, Virginia Beach, VA

Special Ed teacher: Marcia Brumfield, Columbus, Ohio

Titles of Articles You Plan to Use: 

A Diagnostic Teaching Intervention for Classroom Teachers: Helping Struggling Readers in Early Elementary School. By Lynne Vernon-Feagans, Kathleen Gallagher, Marnie C. Ginsberg, Steve Amendum, Kirsten Kains, Jason Rose, and Margaret Burchinal.

Understanding the Silence: Struggling Readers Discuss Decisions About Reading Expository Text. By Leigh A. Hall.

Moving Out of Silence: Helping Struggling Readers Find Their Voices in Text-Based Discussions. By Leigh A. Hall.

Instruction for Struggling Readers Contains Multiple Features. By Barbara J. Walker

Vocabulary

Vocabulary Instruction

                When I was a kid in elementary and high school, vocabulary was taught in one way as far as I can remember. We had vocab books and those books gave us 10 words and their definitions for every week. At the end of every week we had a test on those ten words. In the younger grades, it was commonly a matching activity. We had a word bank and had to match the word with the correct definition. In the older grades, we had to write the definition of selected words and show which syllable the accent fell on. It never occurred to me that there could be so many, and such interesting, fun ways to learn vocabulary.

                While I understand teaching and introducing words in the preparation and assistance phases, it surprises me to find that word introduction and instruction after a reading has been completed is so effective. I imagine as long as most words in the selection are familiar to students, a few foreign words should not prevent the student from understanding the reading. I think the Directed Reading-Thinking Activity for vocabulary makes the most sense for me as far as teaching words in the reflection phase. If students are asked to jot down words that they do not understand from a reading, it is likely that other students will not understand the same word or words. Using these student-generated suggestions gives the benefit of the students designing their own learning. In addition, these vocabulary terms are not like the terms I was given as a kid: straight from a list with not context. The student has already seen these terms in a sentence and, therefore, may be able to guess at its meaning even before it is defined.

                Most of the words we talk about are very concrete. The vocabulary illustrations activity is a great idea and it makes sense that it would be effective, as is the keyword idea. But these activities are commonly used with very concrete words that are easy to picture. Are there any ideas on strategies for teaching more abstract words, especially in elementary school? Words like classic, sympathy, and progress are difficult to picture. What are some good ways to teach students words that they can’t see to understand?

Mulitmodal Learning and Readability

Multimodal Learning and Readability     

                In twenty-first century America, students are overstimulated all day long with visuals and sounds coming at them from all directions and access to information (perhaps incorrect information) at the touch of a button. That is, all day except for when they are in school. Traditional textbooks play an important role in the classroom, but using any textbook alone for a class is limiting for the students and unreasonable in a technology centered world. Textbooks should be supplemented by many different sources and with the vast amounts of information available at any time, it is not difficult to do. This is not to say that web sources should be the only type of other sources used to supplement the book. Web sources, journals, newspapers and, especially, trade books should all be used in conjunction with the text book to not only teach the basic concepts, but to teach students how those concepts are applicable in their lives. In addition to reading to enhance understanding, the auditory sense should be involved. Read alouds and read alongs can help teachers to build interest and demonstrate how the text should be read. Richardson, Morgan and Fleener (2012, p. 140) state that Read alouds are occasionally a better choice than read alongs because, “the teacher can stimulate interest and observe how much attention is given to the excerpt (Richardson et. al, 2012, p. 140).” This seems a little bit backwards to me. It seems that  when using read alongs, the teacher would be better able to gauge interest as her attention would not be entirely on reading, but she could walk around as students read in groups. Additionally, with students reading in small groups, students would be able to help each other out with tricky words or syntax. I understand why read alouds are good, but I just don’t necessarily see them being better. Is there any other reasoning I’m missing here?

                As we decide what sources to use to supplement content in the classroom, readability becomes  important. Several different methods were referenced to use to determine readability. I liked the rule of thumb listed for students to evaluate their own reading. For younger students, they would open a book to the middle and read a page put a finger down on the table for every word they do not know. If they get 5 or more, it is likely that the book may be too advanced. For teachers to determine readability the Lexile, Fry and SMOG framework are all presented.  We see some indicators of when they might be used and some of their merits. What I do not understand is how they are implemented in schools. Are these just formulas for teachers to use? I get the impression that is not the case because the text, while introducing the Lexile framework, reads: “In recent years, many school systems have adopted the use of the Lexile framework (Richardson et. al, 2012, p. 153.” Does the school system direct teachers to use one framework or another when choosing reading material. How exactly does the school system adopt this framework?

Reflection

                Educators all seem to agree that critical thinking skills are important for students to learn, but how to do that is rarely ever clarified. I have often wondered exactly how they are expected to be taught. As I read the first couple pages of Richardson, Morgan, and Fleener’s (2012) chapter on the reflection phase of the PAR process, I found myself also wondering exactly how critical thinking skills are defined. Deciding how to teach a topic is difficult when it has never really been defined. I know that I used critical thinking skills every day in my former job in the navy. I know they are crucial for functioning in an adult world. I know that they demonstrate higher order thinking skills. None of these things, however, help to define what critical thinking skills actually are. Richardson et. al (2012) finally defined critical thinking skills. They define them as, “thinking for an extended period by linking recent experiences to earlier ones in order to promote a more complex and interrelated mental schema (Richardson et. al, 2012, p. 111).”

                This definition helps some. It now tells me what I’m trying to do and that I need to link topics to students’ past experiences in order to promote critical thinking. How to do that still remains a bit gray.  But these fantastic authors do not stop at a mere definition. They give some general guidance on how to do this, followed by pages and pages of strategies that may be used for this purpose. Generally, critical thinking can be taught by introducing students to multiple texts and, when possible, text that represent opposing viewpoints. Also, problem solving and decision making techniques can be taught in order to foster and build critical thinking skills. This involves giving students a problem that does not have one clear cut answer, but could be solved in a number of ways and teaching them how to work through it. they first need to identify the problem, come up with possible solutions, compare the positive and negative outcomes, and finally settling on a solution. Working through open ended problems helps students to think outside the box and get creative.

                Many of the critical thinking strategies involve cooperative learning. Working with others is especially important in today’s world. Most jobs do not employ people to work independently, but rely on their ability to work together as a team. In this way, the team sinks or swims together and each person is independently in charge of some part of the project. It works well because the old adage, “two heads are better than one,” almost always proves true. No two people think exactly alike and more possible solutions and strategies to accomplish those solutions can be dreamed up with more people involved in the process.

                One of these strategies is called, “numbered heads together.” This is a common review strategy that most people today have probably taken part in, even if it was called something else. The class is divided into groups. The teacher gives a question and each group consults before the selected individual gives an answer. The rallytable is a unique pair activity that is great for critical thinking and problem solving. An open ended question is posed and pairs of students pass a piece of paper back and forth writing down answers. Each time the paper is passed, the student writes down an answer until time is called. Pairs then share answers. Group summarizations serve to help readers to reinforce main ideas as well as look back over the text, giving the benefit of multiple encounters. There are many, many other strategies used for the reflection phase of learning. The common themes that show best results are typically group work, repeated reading of the content, and making students summarize main ideas in some way.

                Some students tend to resist group work. Commonly, this is because interdependence is not stressed and it seems that every group has one “freeloader” who just doesn’t do their share of the work. I want to look at it from the freeloader’s perspective. I have never heard anyone say that they love group work because they don’t have to do anything; they just let the group do its thing and they sit back and enjoy the ride. It may be that the “freeloader” really just does not know how to think outside of the box. They do not feel like they can contribute constructively to the group. How does the teacher help this student to become more involved in group work and how do we get those unsure students to have enough confidence in their ideas to share them with the group? Group work is more enjoyable for everyone when all parts feel like they are contributing, including those who are not pulling their weight.