Columbia Teachers’ College Reading and Writing Project
Summer Institute on the Teaching of Reading
7/28/14 Jane Cook’s Day 1 Notes
Alexandra Roman
Columbia Teachers’ College Reading and Writing Project
http://readingandwritingproject.com/
Introductions
Who are you as a reader?
We worked with a partner to introduce ourselves and talk about who we are as readers.
What Are Essentials of Good Reading Instruction?
· Building a Reading Community Where Reading Matters
o Talk about their relationship with reading
§ Timelines of their life as a reader
§ Sketch a time when reading worked or didn’t
§ Make a list of their favorite books and why
§ Provide time to have conversation about themselves as readers
§ Give students time to reflect on themselves as readers at the end of a unit and set goals for themselves
o Other Ideas to Build a Reading Community
§ Tell anecdotes of yourself in a mini lesson that reveal who you are as a reader
§ Mention the books you’re reading
§ Give book buzz to your class selling books to them
§ Have students give book buzzes to each other
§ Create a classroom community that celebrates a love for reading
· Book bins like beloved books, sports, funny, etc.
· Setup a reading center with tools
o Partner Share – Discuss Ideas for Engaging Students in Reading
§ Book buzzes using technology, e.g., Voikis playing a character in a book, Book trailers, etc.
§ Create a Wiki for posting the book buzzes and a place for book reviews
§ Put pictures on the bins in the classroom library to represent genre or topic
o Bottom Lines or Common Understandings of a Reading Workshop
§ TCRWP Community has developed a few bottom lines:
· Leaners need opportunities to read high interest accessible books
o Kids need to be matched to texts – 96% accuracy with fluency and comprehension
o Given time to shop for books
§ Book baggies/bins reading same books at home and school
§ Clearly organized and labeled book bins/baskets
· 1/3 of library is leveled
· Alphabetized sections
§ Units of study will change the library across the year
· In setting up high interest libraries, you might consider
o Small library out in September
§ Books you’ve read
§ Series
§ Familiar authors
§ Books you conferred a lot last year
o Clearly labeled and organized library
o Leveled library matching range of readers in class
o Leveled library and favorite author bins
o Leveled baskets
o Leveled character book bins
o Section of a classroom library with beloved books with labels
· Web site for leveling books
o Scholastic
§ Book Wizard: http://www.scholastic.com/bookwizard/
§ Scholastic Guided Reading Leveling Chart: http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/guidedreading/leveling_chart.htm
§ Scholastic Articles About Leveled Books: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/collection/leveled-books
o Lexile: https://lexile.com/
§ Learners need long stretches of time to read
· At least 30 minutes to read in school and home every day
· Time to have repeated practice
· Reading logs make time spent reading visible for both the reader and the teacher
o Stamina
o Volume
o Interest
o Set reading goals
· Time to read
o Are students really focused on reading?
§ Learners need opportunities to talk in response to texts
· Time to talk with a partner daily about their books
· Teachers read aloud and give students opportunities to talk about books with a partner
· Class engages in a whole class conversation off a read aloud at least two times a week
§ Learners need explicit instruction in process and skills of proficient reading
· Each and every day, students are given direct explicit instruction in reading skills and strategies
· Readers are given explicit feedback and support on their strengths and areas of growth
· Conferences and small groups provide individualized instruction
· Explicit instruction using exemplars of mentor post-its
§ Let’s take a minute to look over some of the bottom lines for 3-8
§ In your packet, pages 73-76
· What are some things that are expected in a reading workshop?
· What are the implications of these bottom lines for your teaching? Your school?
· For coaches and admins – Where are we as a building with regard to these bottom lines? What do we need to do to ensure that these bottom lines are in place?
§ Reflect on you own teaching this year…
· What are some of the things from the bottom lines document you already are doing well in your own classroom?
· Set a goal of a few things you still need to make better this coming year?
· What are the implications of these bottom lines for your school/grade level?
Typical Structure of Reading Workshop
· Structures/Methods of teaching need to be consistent
o Set clear expectations
o Build routines and predictable structure
o Support repeated practice and lots of time to practice for our readers
o Clear methods of instruction to meet needs of learner
· Components of a Reading Workshop
o Mini-lesson (10 minutes)
o Independent Time for reading and/or writing
§ One-on-one conferring
§ Small Groups
§ Guided Reading
o Mid-Workshop – Observed or planned
o Teaching Share (5 minutes)
· Consistent Structures of a Reading Workshop
o Each day students are involved in a 45-60 minute workshop
§ Mini-lesson – Explicit strategy taught to whole class
§ Independent reading – Read just-right levels and talk with partners and jot ideas
· Teacher works with students in different configurations
o One-on-one conferences
o Pulls a group for guided reading
o Pulls a group for a strategy lesson
o Works with partners
· Mid-Workshop – Halfway through independent time; usually no more than 2-5 minutes
o Teaching point stated
o Example given
o Link to try it
· Teaching share – gather whole class on rug
· Possible Reading Workshop Schedule
o 9:00-9:10 Mini-lesson
o 9:10-9:40 Independent Reading Time
o Strategy lessons, Conferences, Guided Reading
o 9:40-9:45 Teaching Share
o Be sure to weave in mid-workshop teaching points to support: partner talk, management transitions, or writing about reading and jotting ideas
Component Work That Supports Reading Workshop: Read Aloud
· Read Aloud
o Happens at a different time of the day, not during the reading workshop
o Supports modeling the work proficient readers do as they read
o Explicitly planned with a focus
§ What reading behaviors/habits do my readers need?
§ What reading skills do my readers need?
o Can focus on more than one behavior, habit, or skill
o 15-20 minutes daily
A Balanced Strong Approach to the Teaching of Reading/Language Arts means you set up…
· Reading Workshop – 45-60 minutes
· Read Aloud – 15-20 minutes
o Whole class conversation two times a week (5-10 minutes)
· Word Study – 15-20 minutes
· Balanced Approach Explained
o Read Aloud – 15-20 minutes
§ Whole class conversation two times a week (5-10 minutes)
o Reading Workshop 45-60 minutes
§ Mini-lesson – 10 minutes
§ Independent reading – 30-45 minutes
§ Mid-Workshop Interruption
§ Partner Talk – 5 minutes
§ Share – 2 minutes
o Word Study – 15-20 minutes (in addition to Reading Workshop time)
Take a minute to reflect on your own teaching of reading workshop this year…
· What are some of the challenges you faced this year?
· What do you need to work on in your daily schedule to fit all bottom lines, components, and typical structure of a reading workshop?
· Make a list of a few things you need to remember this coming year?
Assessments Matter
· Informal Assessments
o Reading Surveys
§ What are their interests and passions?
§ Who are they as readers?
§ These surveys will help you know what kinds of books your students will be interested in reading
o Observations as they read/talk – Carry a clipboard to jot notes to observe:
§ Book choices
§ Behaviors/strategies they use
§ Reading Rate (Read sentence, paragraph, chapter)
§ Comprehension
o Selection of just-right books
TCRWP Reading Level Benchmark Assessments
See p. 41 in handout for benchmark reading levels by month and grade level. This document is available online at: http://readingandwritingproject.com/public/themes/rwproject/resources/assessments/benchmarks/Independent_Reading_Level_Benchmarks_2012.pdf.
Running Records
“The purpose of running records is to determine what the reader already knows so we can provide the learner with a useful context within which to embed new learning.”
Becoming Literate, Marie Clay, 1991
· What are Running Records?
o Records are taken to guide teaching
o Records are taken to assess text difficulty
o Records are taken to capture progress
· TCRWP Running Records
o Assessment Tools is available on Web site: http://rwproject.tc.columbia.edu
§ The Reading Assessments page is available at http://readingandwritingproject.com/resources/assessments/reading-assessments
§ For Running Records from Levels A-Z, go to: http://readingandwritingproject.com/resources/assessments/reading-assessments/browse-fiction-reading-assessments-by-level.html
§ For a Retelling Rubric for Levels A-K, go to: http://readingandwritingproject.com/public/themes/rwproject/resources/assessments/reading/leveled_assessment_support_materials/a-k_retell_rubric.pdf
§ For a Retelling Rubric for Levels L-Z, go to: http://readingandwritingproject.com/public/themes/rwproject/resources/assessments/reading/leveled_assessment_support_materials/l-z_retell_rubric.pdf
o Benchmark (running record( at least 96% accuracy (no more than 4 errors out of 100 words)
o Read and retell
o Answer comprehension questions (literal and inferential)
o Who are they as readers? What are their interests and passions?
· Administering – Packet and RR
o Coding
o Retell
o Comprehension Questions
o Fluency
o Retell Rubric – Print these tools out to use when administering running records
· Scoring Accuracy
o 96-100% - Independent Level
o 90-95% - Instructional Level
o Below 90% - TOO DIFFICULT – Frustration Level
o Other researchers give different levels
§ Betts (1946) suggests 98% or higher for Independent Level, 95-97% for Scaffolded Instruction, and 94% or lower for Frustration Level
· Analyzing and Patterns
o Monitoring
o Searching
o Cross-checking
o Self-correcting
o Reading Behaviors, e.g., re-running/repeating text, sounding out, chunking, etc.
· Running Records Gather Data of a Student’s Orchestration of all Reading Sources of Information
o Semantic Cueing System – Prior Knowledge/Schema, Story Sense, Illustrations,
o Syntactic Cueing System – Knowledge of book language, Grammatical Patterns, Sentence Structure
o Graphophonic Cueing System – Sound/symbol relationships (Phonics) and Visual Spatial Relationships
o The intersection of these three cuing systems lead to meaning
· Error Analysis
o Did the error make sense? (Semantic/Meaning)
o Did the error sound like language? (Syntactic)
o Did the error look right? (Visual/Graphophonic
Reading Process – The goal is to create self-monitoring and self-correcting readers
· Monitoring
o Stopping
o Repeating a word
o Repeating a line
o Pausing
o Appealing for help
o Self-correction
· Searching
· Cross-checking
· Self-correcting
Professional Resources
· Guided Reading by Fountas and Pinnell
· Running Records by Marie Clay
· Guiding Readers and Writers by Fountas and Pinnell
· Miscue Analysis by Marie Clay
· Observation Survey by Marie Clay
7/29/14 Jane Cook’s Day 2 Notes
Welcome Activity
With your partner, take a tour of your post-its and talk about your reading last night.
· What strategies have you been using?
· What might you need to work on as you read?
We talked about the reading from last night. Erin read some of Jerry Spinnelli’s Eggs and Dan read some of The Deadly Dungeon by Ron Roy. We discussed Lexile level vs. Fountas and Pinnell Level. There’s a Reading Level Correlation Chart that includes Lexile, Fountas and Pinnell, DRA, Reading Recovery, and Basal Equivalents at: http://www.sos.wa.gov/_assets/library/libraries/firsttuesdays/ReadingChart.pdf.
Alexandra suggested that teachers start the day when students are unpacking and getting ready for the day by having them sit with their partner and talk about their reading. The reading, the post-it work, and the partner conversations are critical assessment data.
A concern was raised about not knowing all of the books that all of the students are reading in Reading Workshop. Alexandra reminded the group that Reading Workshop is about teaching the reader, not the book. If you haven’t read the book, skim across the pages that a child is reading and read the back of the book cover. What does the level expect the reader to do? For example, at R, S, and T, symbolism is key so check to see if your students are finding the symbolism in those level books.
“Reading is a meaning-making problem-solving activity that increases in power and flexibility the more it is practiced.”
- Marie Clay
Reading requires our readers to think as they read…
Comprehension breaks down for readers…
· Reading the words on a page (decoding) and holding onto meaning
· Fluency is inconsistent
· Not questioning and reacting to the text
To improve comprehension, we need to teach…
· Monitoring (meaning, structure, visual), cross-checking, and self-correcting
· Specifically teach strategies to build their reading skills, for example:
o Going back to find where you got lost
o Re-reading
o Sounding out to see if this is a known word orally
· Thinking – to get a better understanding of what is being read
Darcy reminded the group that NPS is using the Continuum of Literacy Learning and all of the coaches have them in each school. There is a Study Guide for using this book on the Heinemann Web site at http://www.heinemann.com/shared/studyguides/e02880/studyguide.pdf. Alexandra referred the group to Building a Reading Life on pages 54-59. It’s made up as “If you see this…” then “Teach this…” and it includes Red Flag Situations, Orange Flag Situations, Yellow Flag Situations, Green Flag Situations, and Blue Flag Situations. Alexandra showed a folder that she created for her teachers related to the levels that their students are working at.
Proficient Readers Use a Variety of Reading Skills as They Read:
· Monitor for sense/meaning
· Envision
· Infer
· Accumulate text
· Predicting
· Synthesize
· Critique/Questioning
· Determine Importance
· Interpretation
· Empathize
Resources for Comprehension
· Mosaic of Thought by Ellin Oliver Keene and Susan Zimmerman