Reading Home

February 15

In the News
Augmented Reality: Another (Virtual) Brick in the Wall: http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/05/02/wo/wo_delio021505.asp
Georgia Tech University researchers are working to meld virtual and physical reality together, which will enhance the ways people interact with and perceive the world around them.

Bad grades to hurt economy, study finds: http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/092404/met_16727754.shtml
" The number of Jacksonville (FL) public school students who can't read at grade level would fill half the seats at Alltel Stadium. Same story for the number of students below grade level in math. If Jacksonville does nothing about these students, the city's future economic prospects will suffer."

City should call the shots on schools - A top educator says curriculum change here was a force-play by D.C.: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ideas_opinions/story/158819p-139381c.html
This is an editorial written by Arthur Levine: Joel Klein changed the reading curriculum in 49 of the city's poorest schools this month to qualify for federal funding designated specifically to aid high-poverty schools. This was an exorbitant price for the city to pay.

New teaching technique goes to top of the class: http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/education.cfm?id=162492005
"A NEW method of teaching primary school children to read and write has been hailed as a major success after researchers discovered it enabled pupils to surge years ahead of their contemporaries."

On the Shelf: http://www.noblenet.org/danvers/weblog/blog.htm
A "blog for avid readers" from the Peabody Institute Library, featuring links to reviews, articles, book-related events, author interviews, etc.

opening hooks - a collection of literary beginnings: http://www.openinghooks.us/
Have you ever picked up a book and became hooked as soon as you read the opening lines?
This site is a collection of really good opening lines. Each entry has one or more lines of a book, the book's name and author. You can vote on each one. You can search for specific books by author and genre. Perhaps your favorite writers are listed. If not, you can submit them yourself.

Speaking Out by Gary Stager: The Lying Curriculum - Insincere letters and pointless worksheets: http://www.districtadministration.com/page.cfm?p=653

Using Activity Theory to Design Constructivist Online Learning Environments for Higher Order Thinking: A Retrospective Analysis: http://www.cjlt.ca/content/vol29.3/cjlt29-3_art2.html
Process outcomes such as a high level of collaboration and active peer facilitation as well as demonstration by participants of a variety of holistic thinking skills were observed via a transcript analysis of online interactions.

Volcanoes: The Earth at Work: http://www.efieldtrips.org/volcanoes/
Teachers and students around the world can visit Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park for free on an "electronic field trip."

Basal Readers
Before the 1880's, reading instruction in the United States had the development of patriotism as a primary focus. "Readers" used in schools were also heavily laced with religious references. In the early part of the 1880's, this practice gave way to a concern for cultural development. The previous focus on drill and practice was replaced by a new emphasis on giving children "a taste for good literature" (Smith 1986, 116). Therefore, for a short while, reading educators used quality literature as the basis for instruction.
The advent of the testing movement in the United States profoundly affected reading instruction in ways that are still felt. The introduction of a handwriting scale by Edward L. Thorndike: http://www.indiana.edu/%7Eintell/ethorndike.shtml in 1909 initiated the movement toward also breaking reading down into manageable, testable units. As a result of this new emphasis and the proliferation of tests in all areas of the curriculum, reading educators were forced to design tests of comprehension based on silent reading, thus deemphasizing the more prevalent mode of oral reading instruction. At that point, reading books containing short stories with controlled vocabularies written at graded levels of difficulty were developed by publishers to foster silent reading comprehension (Smith 1986, 163). Selections were created specifically for a series and, especially at the early levels, were composed mainly of high-frequency words. Workbooks were created with exercises to help children practice those skills that would make them better comprehenders. Along with the readers and workbooks were tests which helped teachers determine a child's level of performance in these skills. This was the birth of the basal reader in the United States.
Today's basals are collections of fine children's literature. However, basals offer preselected reading.

Whole Language Movement
In the 1970's Don Holdaway, who lived and taught in New Zealand, wrote The Foundations of Literacy chronicling his personal experiences as a reading teacher and the journey he took into the world of the young child learning to read. Holdaway did not devise a new method of teaching reading. Rather, he studied how children advanced into literacy and he suggested that literacy development is a matter of language development. It has many human dimensions, it is incremental, it is learned, and it is a cultural matter. He further suggested that reading acquisition, like spoken language acquisition, is a developmental process which has the following characteristics:
1. Immersion
2. Emulation
3. Reinforcement
4. Approximations
5. Practice
6. Secure Environment
7. Development proceeds differently

Many teachers opt to use children's books to teach reading by using children's literature books alone or along with a basal. In this way, the teacher and students select the books that seem most suitable and appealing to them.

Using Children's Literature and Basals
Children's books can provide additional reading experience when a basal is used in the classroom. The selection in basals may not offer enough practice. Children's books can be used to provide the additional experience that these children need. Nonfiction is often neglected in basals. In this case, informational children's books can supplement the materials offered in basals readers. A basal selection may not be appealing to the students. That selection can be skipped and a children's book can be used instead.

Replacing basal with children's literature
1. Choose books that will be used. Consider choosing books that are a grade level below and above the one being taught. Select books that will be appealing to the students.
2. List books in the order of difficulty and according to themes that will be covered in the curriculum. Present the easiest and shortest books first. Decide what word recognition and comprehension skills and strategies are needed to read each book. Teach those skills as the students read the books. Refer to the school districts curriculum, state standards, or a manual for a basal series for lists of skills to be taught.
Some books naturally lend themselves to the application of a particular skill. For instance, Surprise and Ducks Disappearing are excellent for making predictions. Ask Me Anything about Dinosaurs and Why Does Popcorn Pop? And Other Kitchen Questions are excellent books for modeling the process of asking questions before reading.
3. Introduce books by using Text Walk and Guided Reading.
Text walk provides extensive preparation and is primarily used with beginning readers. When students are struggling with their reading of a very low level, text walk provides an intensive form of preparation for reading. Having previewed the book in terms of the student's background and capabilities, the teacher "walks" through the book with the students, pointing out the title and author, and using illustrations to provide an overview of the text. The teacher may introduce from the text unfamiliar words, expressions, or sentence structures. The teacher may point these out in the text and the student might be asked to point to them and repeat them (Clay, 1991). The purpose of the overview is to prepare the student for a successful reading of the text.
Sample Text-Walk
Step 1: Analyze the text. Note concepts, background information, words, or language structures that might be barriers for the reader. In the book, The Turnip by Ziefert, the word turnip might be unfamiliar. To understand the story, the reader would need to know that a turnip is a vegetable that grows in the ground.
Step 2: Introduce the title and topic of the text to students. Help the students relate the topic to their own background of experience. Do not dwell on the identity of the author or illustrator, or spend too much time in discussion, as this will detract from the main purpose, which is a successful reading of the text. When introducing The Turnip, read the title to the students and ask them to point to the turnip on the cover. Discuss what a turnip is and how it grows. If possible, bring a turnip and show it to the students. Ask the students if they have ever eaten a turnip. A more extensive discussion of the author and/or illustrator might be appropriate after the book is read.
Step 3: Highlighting the Story. Walk the students through the story page by page, so that they acquire an overview of the tale. Having an overview of the story, the students will be better able to use contextual and other clues to read the selection successfully. As the students are walked through the story, preview words, concepts, and language structures that they might have difficulty understanding. Paraphrase key portions of the text that contain difficult items. Then help the students point out these items. For instance, after paraphrasing the first two pages in which the words planted, grow, and sweet appear, mention these words and have the students point to them. These are words that would be in their listening-speaking vocabulary, but which they might have difficulty reading. Although students will know most of the story before they read the book, if possible save the last page or two so they have the enjoyment of finding out how the story ends.
Step 4: Reading the Story. Usually the first reading of a story is silent, but it may be oral in the very beginning stages of learning to read. Encourage the students to read the story on their own, but provide guidance as needed. If the students do read the story orally use the oral reading to assess the students' reading. If the students read silently, have them read a favorite part orally. As the students read orally, note whether the selection seems to be on the appropriate level. Analyze the students' performance to see what strategies they might need to work on. Do the students use context, picture clues, and sounding out to decipher difficult words? Are these strategies used in an integrated fashion?
Step 5: Discuss the Story. Start with the students' purpose for reading.
Step 6: Skill/Strategy Instruction. Praise the students for their use of specific strategies.
*To expose students to a specific sound in context at the first and second grade level, the teacher might use a Big Book, poem or chant printed on a piece of large chart paper. For example, the Big Book Mrs. Washy might be used. As the children read the text, they hear the sound of the "was they see it in the story. The teacher calls attention to the sound, asks them for a word in the story that has the same beginning sound, asks them to come up to the text and frame the "w" with their hands and to say the word out loud. The children then name words from their own vocabulary that start with the "w" sound. The children then might be asked to find or draw pictures of something that begins with that sound.
*A piece of cardboard which has a window cut in the center, along with another piece of cardboard positioned behind it in such a way that it can be drawn back and forth to expose parts of words or the whole word might be used. This type of mask can also be used to reveal whole phrases. Once the entire text is read out loud by the group, the work containing the sound being addressed that day is highlighted. These methods tend to be more dramatic that pointing to the word.
*Books like The Gingerbread Boy can be used to teach sequencing.
Step 7: Rereading. Encourage students to reread the story, perhaps for a different purpose. The students might also read the story to a student in a lower grade, or a younger brother or sister.
Guided reading is the type of lesson traditionally offered in basal reader manuals and can be used with readers of all ages. It is similar to textwalk, but less intensive. Guided reading is designed for students who have acquired some basic reading skills, but may need help with unfamiliar concepts, vocabulary, background, or language expressions in a selection. This help can be provided in a brief preliminary discussion and doesn't involve going through the whole selection, as in a text walk. During the preliminary discussion, the teacher tries to pique students' interest in the selection. At the end of the discussion, students are directed to read the selection silently to answer the purpose question, or check predictions they have made. After students have read the selection, they discuss it. Generally, the discussion begins with the purpose question or prediction. As the discussion proceeds, understandings are deepened and confusions are clarified. Passages from the selection might be read orally to verify or clarify a point. Students are also invited to respond to anything in the selection that may have puzzled, surprised, or bothered them and to relate the selection to their lives. They might be asked, for instance, if they know anyone like the main character, or if they have ever felt the way the main character did.
Later, the selection might be reread for a new purpose. The selection might be reread orally, for instance, in order to dramatize the dialogue or to locate humorous uses of words. There might also be an extension activity. Going with the Flow by Blatchford might be used, for example.
The steps involved are:
Step 1: Analyzing the Text
Step 2: Introducing the Selection
Step 3: Reading the Selection
Step 4: Discussing the Selection
Step 5: Rereading the Selection
Step 6: Extension

Creating Discussion Groups
Literature discussion groups can be created in which students take much of the responsibility for responding to their reading. Discussion groups come in a variety of forms and have been given diverse names, such as literature circles, literature study groups, conversational discussion groups, and book clubs. Discussion groups are an attempt to get away from the quiz-type formats that are typical of many traditional discussions. In traditional discussions, the teacher's questions are frequently a kind of oral evaluation to determine whether students have read the text, and to assess how well they understood it. Literature discussion groups are a thoughtful, active consideration of issues and emotions elicited by reading the selection. Like talks adults have with peers about books that they have read, the discussions are conversational in nature, with a natural give-and-take and a freedom to offer one's interpretation with the expectation that it will be respected.
In book discussion groups, students generally talk over a book that they have all read. However, other formats are possible. Students might have read different books by the same author. In their discussion, they might compare and contrast books. Or students might be discussing books that incorporate a similar theme, such as moving, making friends, or survival. In preparation for meeting with their discussion group, students read the text and might complete a response log in which they react to the text in some way.
One possible problem with discussion groups is that some students might end up with a book that is too difficult for them to read and understand. One solution is to provide taped copies of the text or give extra help to students who are struggling with the selection. A second solution is to arrange groups and select books in such a way that struggling readers are given books that are on their level.
A third solution, and the one I use, is for the teacher to give a book talk about a six to eight books, with a variety of interests and a range of difficulty represented. The books are introduced and students privately choose the three books they most want to read. The groups are then made according to which books the students choose, trying to give each student their first preference.

Book Club
Step 1: Books are selected. The class might read the same book or they may choose from a selection of three or four books related to a common theme.
Step 2: Students are organized into groups of four or five. Keeping the groups small allows for greater participation.
Step 3: Book club procedures are explained and modeled in whole-group meetings.
Step 4: Students are taught how to respond to their readings. After reading a segment of text, students complete a Response Log. This response might be triggered by a teacher prompt or might be unprompted, in which case students simply write their reaction to what they read. Student response might be in the form of a sentence or a paragraph, a diagram of the plot, a web of character interactions, or a drawing of the setting.
Step 5: Book club discussions are held. The teacher might start the discussion by asking students to share their responses within their group, or the teacher might ask a general question for the groups to discuss. It is important to create the kind of setting and ask the kinds of questions that stimulate students to respond to books in much the same way that adults respond when discussing a well-liked book.

Literature Circles
Literature circles incorporate the principles of cooperative learning to provide more structure. Each group is composed of five or six students who have chosen to read the same book.
The groups meet and decide which role each member will fulfill. The discussion leader creates questions for the group and leads the discussion. The summarizer sums up the selection. The literacy reporter searches out passages that are memorable because they evoke strong emotion, portray major events, or incorporate interesting language. The illustrator represents a key part of the selection with a drawing or graphic organizer. At the circle meeting, the illustrator explains and discusses his illustration. The word chief identifies difficult words or expressions in the selection, looks them up in the dictionary or glossary, and writes down their definitions. At the circle meeting, the word chief discusses the words with the group. Members of the group may also suggest words or expressions that they found to be difficult. The connector makes connections between the book and other books the group has read or with real-life experiences. The connector describes the link and discusses it with group. Although each student has a defined role to fulfill in the group, any member of the circle may bring up an issue for discussion, a passage that is confusing, an unusual expression, or a possible connection.
Roles are flexible and may be added or deleted. However, the roles should reflect the kinds of things that students should be doing as they read a text. They should be creating questions in their minds, making links between what they are reading and past reading or past experiences, creating images, organizing and summarizing, noting key ideas or scenes, deriving meaning form difficult words and confusing passages, and appreciating the author's language. Students swap roles so that each member of the group eventually fulfills all the roles.
Job sheets may help students understand exactly what is expected for each role. The teacher should discuss and model each of the roles, using the sheets. The class practices each role by trying them out with a brief, relatively easy selection. The teacher stresses creating and asking questions that lead to in-depth sharing.
In general, students take two or three weeks to complete a book. The group meets and decides on a schedule for completing the book or the teacher can divide the books into sections for each group so that all groups complete their book at approximately the same time. Each student responds to the daily selection in a journal. The teacher can provide a generic prompt or a specific one for each section and/or group. Students also complete their job sheets. The teacher visits each group, and in the early stages, plays a very active role by modeling the creation of questions or probing responses. As students grow more proficient, the teacher becomes more of an observer.
At the end of the discussion time, the class meets as a whole. Each group shares. A mini-lesson on a needed skill or discussion procedure might be explained or the teacher might read aloud a pertinent selection.
After the groups have completed their books, they share with the whole class. The end-of-book sharing might take the form of a reader's theater presentation, interview, panel discussion, TV ad, debate, skit, or demonstration.

References
Clay, M. M. (1991). Introducing a new story book to young readers. The Reading Teacher, 45, 264-272.
Gunning, T.G. (2000). Best Books for Building Literacy for Elementary School Children. Allyn and Bacon: Boston.
Smith, Nila Ganton. (1986) American Reading Instruction. Newark, Del.: International Reading Association.
Yesner, B. L. & Murray, M. M. (1993) Developing Literature-Based Reading Programs: A How-To-Do-It Manual for School and Public Libraries. Neal-Schuman Publishers: New York.

This site began in March 1998 by Janet Luch.
Email comments and questions to studyplans@yahoo.com