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Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: International Reading Assoc, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 8 of 8
1. Students First? Tech First?

The recent issue of Educational Leadership (March 2013  Vol. 70 No. 6) is chock-full of articles that challenge the way we think about learning and technology. I was especially drawn to Marc Prensky‘s article, Our Brains Extended. He asks,

Is the human brain still the smartest thing on the planet? When enhanced by technology, it is. . . Wise integration of our evolving and powerful technology demands that we rethink our curriculum.

And, I agree with him.  I think the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are a stab in that direction.  Prensky challenges us,

We need to start teaching our kids that technology is, in a great many cases, the best way to learn something, not  just a new way to do old things. Would you maintain an expensive horse in the barn in case your car breaks down?

Ask yourself: Are students engaged? Marzano‘s research tells us that student engagement is strongly influenced by what teachers do in class.  I’m not talking gadgets,  but 21st century education. So, here we go:

Related blogs:

Graphic from Flickr Creative Commons by Henriksent


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2. Students First? Tech First?

The recent issue of Educational Leadership (March 2013  Vol. 70 No. 6) is chock-full of articles that challenge the way we think about learning and technology. I was especially drawn to Marc Prensky‘s article, Our Brains Extended. He asks,

Is the human brain still the smartest thing on the planet? When enhanced by technology, it is. . . Wise integration of our evolving and powerful technology demands that we rethink our curriculum.

And, I agree with him.  I think the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are a stab in that direction.  Prensky challenges us,

We need to start teaching our kids that technology is, in a great many cases, the best way to learn something, not  just a new way to do old things. Would you maintain an expensive horse in the barn in case your car breaks down?

Ask yourself: Are students engaged? Marzano‘s research tells us that student engagement is strongly influenced by what teachers do in class.  I’m not talking gadgets,  but 21st century education. So, here we go:

Related blogs:

Graphic from Flickr Creative Commons by Henriksent


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3. Close Reading–effective way to achieve deep comprehension

This week, another look at the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).  Dr. Nancy N. Boyles in the Educational Leadership article, Closing in on Close Reading, Vol. 7 No. 4, states,

We can’t wait until middle school to teach students to read closely.  Three practices bring close reading to the lower grades. . . 1) use short texts, 2) aim for independence, 3) focus on observing and analyzing.

When I read Dr. Boyle’s article, I realized that close reading wasn’t new, but a re-newel of analytic reading, “Close reading means reading to uncover layers of meaning that lead to deep comprehension,”  this uncovering of layers allows the reader to  examine the meaning of the parts and relate the reading selection to other texts.

Close, analytic reading stresses engaging with a text of sufficient complexity directly and examining meaning thoroughly and methodically, encouraging students to read and reread deliberately. (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, 2011, p. 7)

Some believe that reading instruction for the past ten years has focused too heavily on strategies rather than the text. Here are Dr. Boyle’s three recommendations to engage elementary students in close reading.

  1. Use Short Texts–not to abandon longer texts, but studying shorts texts is helpful if we want to enable students with a wide range of reading levels to practice closely reading demanding texts.  Traditional literature lends itself to close reading, such as folktales, legends,, myths, fables, short stories, poetry, and scenes from plays. Children’s listening comprehension outpaces their reading comprehension in the early grades, so being read to as well as independent reading can build knowledge.
  2. Aim for Independence–go beyond ho-hum questions and ask a sequence of questions that will lead students more deeply into a text. Teach students to ask the questions so that students can take what they learn from the study of one text and apply it to the next text they read.
  3. Focus on Observing and Analyzing–see whether students have noticed the details of a passage and can recount those details. If students can’t paraphrase the basic content of a passage, how can they dig for its deeper meaning?

Related articles:

Graphic from stunningbooks.wordpress.com


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4. Beat the Summer Slide

Beat the Summer Slide with ReadWriteThink, a partnership of the International Reading Association,  National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE),and Verizon Thinkfinity. Summer slide is the term used to describe the academic loss that kids suffer as they take a break from school during the summer months. Check out the Bright Ideas for Summer campaign for more information, to see the activities, and to print out an informational sheet.

Here’s a preview of the activities:

  • Poetry writing: Using the popular poetry interactives–Acrostic Poems, Diamante Poems, and Theme Poems–write a poem about a summer topic.
  • Prewriting: Use Cube Creator to organize a super story about a hero with summer-specific powers.
  • Character writing: Explore the qualities of characters from your favorite summer books and create Trading Cards to share with your friends.
  • Persuasive writing: Craft a convincing argument for a summertime treat or special privilege using the online Persuasion Map.

Check it out, you’ll have some fun, and might even beat the slide!

Graphic from Santa Clara City Library


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5. Literacy Spring Cleaning

Recently I wrote about Vocabulary Instruction and Word Walls, with tips from Katherine Hilden and Jennifer Jones (Reading Today, Vol 29 No 4).  This week, Hilden and Jones have suggestions for “Sweeping Round Robin Reading Out of Your Classroom” (Reading Today, Vol 29, No 5).

The classroom is quiet.   All the student have the same book open on their desks. One student is reading aloud. Other students are counting ahead or gazing out into space. The student who just finished reading sighs with relief when her turn is over.

That’s Round Robin Reading (RRR).  Over half of K-8 teachers report using RRR or some variation–Popcorn Reading, Combat Reading, Popsicle Reading.  RRR and its variations all involve oral reading without prior practice with the text. No research evidence supports the claim that RRR actually contributes to students becoming better readers. Drawbacks, according to Hilden and Jones include:

  • Slower reading rates
  • Lower quantity of reading
  • Off-task behaviors
  • Models of dysfluent reading
  • Problems with comprehension
  • Problems with self-efficacy and motivation

Instead of RRR, why not provide students with motivating and authentic opportunities for repeated readings.  Students who participate in repeated reading demonstrate better word identification, accuracy, and speed when reading as reported in the National Reading Panel (2000). Check out these resources:

Graphic from Flickr Creative Commons License Zappowbang

Related posts on SSPP Reads:


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6. Vocabulary Instruction and Word Walls

Let’s look at  Word Walls for interactive learning developing comprehension both in language arts and in curricular content. Robert J. Marzano in his book, Building Background Knowledge for Academic Achievement, offers six steps to effective vocabulary instruction:

  1. The teacher explains a new word, going beyond reciting its definition
  2. Students restate or explain the new word in their own words
  3. Students create a nonlinguistic representation of the word
  4. Students engage in activities to deepen their knowledge of the new word
  5. Students discuss the new word
  6. Students play games to review new vocabulary

This works!  Check out Georgia Scurletis Wordshop on ThinkMap. And, you can use it with the Step Up To Writing program and with your classroom Word Walls. Certainly the primary grades make good use of Word Walls for developing sight words and patterns in word families. But, is it time your Word Wall becomes a tool, not just a decoration?  The Word Wall though can be effectively used for content vocabulary. In the International Reading Association‘s bimonthly membership magazine Reading Today (Vol. 29. No. 4) Katherine Hilden Clouse and Jennifer Jones Powell of Radford University  advocate using the Word Wall “strategically and effectively.”  Here are their suggestions:

Primary Classrooms:

  • When organizing the Word Wall based on sight words word families, beside each sight word placed a red dot indicating to students that it is an important word used in reading and writing but can’t be “sounded out”
  • Start with high utility word families which equip students with patterns that can be applied to new words
  • Here’s some Word Wall Activities from Teaching First and Scholastic
  • And, interactive word wall ideas

Upper Elementary:

  • Focus on content words
  • Categorize  words might be color coded based on the content area in which the words are predominantly found
  • Here’s some content word walls (math, social studies, science)

Use and model the displayed words:

  • Teacher instruction, to be effective, must be direct and systematic
  • Use the word wall during classroom down time
  • Use the word wall during reading and writing instructions
  • Play with words rather than drill and kill students with word lists
  • Try word banks

Build a conceptual base 

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7. Wordle Makes Vocabulary Fun

Bridget Dalton and Dana L. Grisham wrote a fantastic article in the February 2011 issue of The Reading Teacher, a journal of research-based classroom practice, published by the International Reading Association.  The article, eVoc  Strategies: 10 Ways to Use Technology to Build Vocabulary, “highlights ten strategies that hold promise for improving vocabulary learning in intermediate grades.”Here they are:

  1. Learn from visual displays of word relationships as pictured above (check out Wordle)
  2. Take a digital vocabulary field trip (check out TrackStar)
  3. Connect fun and learning with online vocabulary games (see Vocabulary.co.il and Vocabulary.com
  4. Have students use media to express vocabulary knowledge (haul out PowerPoint and use it for creative expression)
  5. Take advantage of online word reference tools (Visual Thesaurus and Dictionary.com)
  6. Support reading and word learning with just-in-time vocabulary reference support (see Word Central and Yahoo! Kids and specialized picture glossaries like NASA’s Picture Dictionary)
  7. Use language translators to provide just-in-time help for English Learners (see BabelfishGoogle Translator, and Bing Translator)
  8. Increase reading volume by reading digital text (Time For KidsWeekly ReaderNational Geographic Kids are a few)
  9. Increase reading volume by listening to digital text with a text-to-speech tool and audio books (free TTS tools are CLiCk, Speak , NaturalReaderBalabolka, and Microsoft Reader)
  10. Combine vocabulary learning and social service such as the free online vocabulary game Free Rice.  The United Nations  World Food Programme donates 10 grains of rice to countries in need for each correct answer.

Lots of possibilities!  This post first appeared on SSPP Reads on 02/23/2011.


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8. Reading With Our Children

Parents often ask, how old do my kids need to be before I can stop reading aloud with them?  Looks like they are never too old! The Forum on Child and Family Statistics recently published America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2011 a summary of national indicators of children’s well-being and monitors changes in those indicators. One key indicator is the family reading to young children at home.  It is linked to reading development and later on,  achievement in reading comprehension and overall success in school. This study was a feature article in the recent issue of Reading Today, the International Reading Association’s bimonthly newspaper.The Florida Center for Reading Research lends support to this indicator and has made available to families recommendations to help families promote literacy development at home. Here at Sts. Peter and Paul Salesian School, our K-5 reading program– Houghton Mifflin’s The Nation’s Choice, recently upgraded to the Medallion Edition, provides recommended leveled reading lists for students (easy, on level, challenge), independent readers, and for read alouds for students in K-5.  You might want to check the lists out here, and then get the books at the public library.  Nothing like a good story to get the imagination running, dendrites clicking, and getting ready for school!

Graphic courtesy of The Eagle’s Eye


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