TEMS520

Hedin, L.R. & Conderman, G. (2010). Teaching students to comprehend informational text through rereading. The Reading Teacher, 63(7), 556-565. Doi: 10.1598/RT.63.7.3 "Striving readers may view the purpose of reading as decoding an assigned section rather than building knowledge." When I read this quote, I knew that this article would be of interest to me. As my building continues to examine the ramifications of the Common Core, informational text is something of concern. Should other content teachers be required to teach reading strategies using informational text? (Here, I am hoping, my readers reply with a resounding "YES!") This article gives specific strategies to use with students, with a focus on encouraging rereading. Below is an email that was sent to my colleagues:  Subject: The Secret to Informational Text  Perhaps my subject line was a bit misleading... Attached may not be "The Secret" to our informational text woes, but the article details strategies we can use in our classrooms now that will help our students with comprehension. After reviewing our NWEA scores, we have all seen the difficulties our students have with informational text and comprehension. The Common Core has a significant focus on informational reading and writing. In order to prepare for this shift in instruction and curriculum, I have found this very useful article. "Teaching Students to Comprehend Informational Text Through Rereading," details key ideas like helping our striving readers set the purpose for reading, identify text features, and strategies we can use in our daily instruction to strengthen their comprehension of texts. It questions whether our students are simply great "decoders" (they can read the words because they understand sound/letter relationships) or are they truly constructing meaning. The role content teachers play in the development of successful readers is HUGE! Many of these strategies seem basic, but because of that, they will be simple t

The ability to read well is the most important skill children can acquire. Reading ability and the desire to read vary significantly among groups of children, however. This article discusses the results of a study taken in 98-99 of kindergarteners. It provides information on how schools and families can improve the reading skills of native English speaking children, particularly poor elementary school level boys of color. It states that boys typically learn to read at an older age than girls, take longer to learn, and comprehend less easily than girls. It talks about reading genres that boys prefer, such as adventure, science fiction and fantasy and books that have characters like themselves. They discuss the value of reading aloud to students and in providing silent reading time along with a wide variety of books for boys to choose from. Lastly, it gives suggestions for parents and communities to provide opportunities for young people to help engage them in regular reading.

Based on reading this article, what strategies might you incorporate in your classroom/school? Have you previously engaged in any practices to increase boys' reading?

I always try to do a survey with students for likes/dislikes, strengths/weaknesses. I use this information to help students find reading material they are interested in and give them a choice when reading. I also purchased books like Guiness Book of World Records, Ripley's Believe It Or Not, and MythBusters to put on my informational book shelf. Boys seemed to have liked these books very much.

Vocabulary building is valuable, not only for second-language learners but also for many clients we serve, from young children with developmental delays to older stroke survivors and every age between. Check out these free online pictures of vocabulary words, picture dictionaries, flashcards, games and activities, and more. Kuster, J. M. (2011, November 1). Building vocabulary with online tools. A S H A Leader, 16(13), 2. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA272738779&v=2.1&u=lom_saginawvsu&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w

Ross, A. & Fisher, D. (2009). Talking in class builds English learners' proficiency. California English, 14(4), 10-12. This week in class we touched on the importance of "talk" in the classroom and so when I found this article I thought it was a great connection to what we discussed in class. The article talks about the importance of purposeful talk in the classroom and how it allows students to be actively involved in the learning process. Two of the key components that must first be done by the teacher are to set a purpose and model the academic language and thinking that is needed to complete the task. After the purpose is set and the modeling is finished, student must have time to work with their peers. It is during this work time that students talk with one another using academic language and create meaning by being active learners. For me this article reminds us that "talk" in the classroom is a necessary part of the learning process for all students, not just English language learners. My classroom was always a place of active learning, a place where students were encouraged to talk about what they were learning and I found that when students could talk with their peers, they could explain the subject in a way that was meaningful and peer friendly. I also like that this article discusses ways that teachers can facilitate student talk such as, reciprocal teaching, collaborative posters ( I have never heard of this technique, but love it), and learning stations. I think that this article would be a great one to share with staff and school leaders, especially those that frown on "talk" in the classroom because there is too much learning to be done and not enough time.

I came across this article and thought I would share it with everyone. It's a short article about the importance of guided learning in every classroom.

This was a great read that I came across in the SVSU library.  Just a note, to see it you may have to enter your username and password which is the same as your svsu email and password. This article is uplifting, encouraging, and seems like teachers could attempt just a few of these for maximum success in engaging those hard to engage readers.

Gina, I just had to comment--The title 13 for thirteen...and when I saw it "shared by...13 minutes ago." What are the chances!

Journal #1 I really like this article because it spoke to my content area, social studies. I think it is important that students understand how they read a novel for English will be different than reading a history textbook or a newspaper article, and therefore require a different strategy. I use primary and secondary documents, as well as text books, and so students sometimes struggle with comprehension of these different materials. I also use Supreme Court case documents and students have difficulty with those especially. Part of it is vocabulary, but part of it they really don't have a strategy for figuring it out. I think providing them with a strategy of how newspaper articles are structured vs. text books would be very helpful for those learners who have difficulty understanding what they are reading. I was also happy to find out that there is a website that I can access that may assist me with helping teach literacy for social studies. Yea!

This article also provides concrete examples of students reading history like historians, which is really important. And text structure and features defintely plays into this as well. I am so glad you found something meaningful for you as a teacher and learner! Nice use of tags! (Is this for your Journal #1?)

LeAnn, I also think it is very important that students read a textbook differently from the way they would read a novel. Having students take on the persona of a Historian I believe would help them better understand history and how it went about developing our country and our pasts as well. That is wonderful that you are searching for ways to make a more meaningful connection between the students and history textbooks.

Resources for teachers from Scholastic

For my first journal article I read an article about helping struggling readers in the middle school age range. The reason that I found this article interesting was because there are so many students that I encounter at the high school level that have a very difficult time reading. Sometimes I wonder how they are even able to complete assignments with a lack of reading skill. If students were able to improve their reading level before they got to the high school level it would be far easier for these students to learn. I learned through this article that the San Diego area has a program called the Accelerated Literacy program to help struggling readers. This program has teachers specifically assigned to improving struggling students' literacy. They work with the students in a more direct fashion to help them improve their reading. I like the idea of focusing on improving this skill with the students because it is such a big part of what the students will need for the rest of their lives. Also, these teachers in the Accelerated Literacy program came up with themed booklists to incorporate the curriculum as well as finding books that students would find interesting. This, to me, is a very important piece. If a teacher is able to spark an interest in reading these students will probably be a lot more likely to be successful at it. Also, if the books are tied to the curriculum, these students will also be learning pertinent information. I know lots of school districts have programs like this, but I really liked the idea of coming up with booklists that might spark interest with students. Improving reading ability in students impacts how they will be able to learn for the rest of their lives.

Brett, I liked this site and the information it provided. As having been a "second dose" reading teacher for ms students, it is always great to have leveled books that are motivating for students. Thank you for sharing!

Brett, I think the idea of themes for students to choose from is a great idea. These students need to be challenged, but many may feel resentful and give up if schools continue to throw them literature that simply does not interest them.

Ediger, M. (2000). Teaching Reading In The Social Studies [Abstract]. College Student Journal. Retrieved January 29, 2012, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCR/is_1_34/ai_62839401/?tag=content;col1 For my first journal article I choose an article that covers teaching in reading in social studies. The article discusses how teachers should use methods of guiding students to comprehension and understanding of ideas in print. Students need word recognition skills which can lead to meaningful learning. This is crucial for students to develop necessary skills to achieve a higher understanding in this subject area. To do this teaching reading across the subject will benefit as students learn the important facts, concepts, and ideas the curriculum. As a social studies teacher, you need to be active in students reading by helping with comprehension which can lead to a better understanding of the material. The article offers several methods on how to do this. These include adding new words found in readings as vocabulary, reading orally in small groups, using a student aid to read orally, using tape recordings of the section, individual readings, and using journals during readings. Overall I thought this article was great because while it provided you many ideas and practices that you could actually use in your classroom. In the end, having actual methods to use first hand will benefit us as teachers the most. It will just be up to use to master using them in the classroom.

For my first journal, I read this article about multi-sensory language arts instruction.  It claims that if you can provide students with visual, auditory, and tactile-kinesthetic methods for learning, they are more likely to be successful.  One of the things that I agreed with most strongly that it seems many educators today shy away from is the idea that students should "practice to the point of automatization."  Automatic reading is not the key to comprehension but it is surely a necessary foundation for meaningful reading.  When I was a student, we practiced grammar and spelling until it was second-nature and generally my current abilities testify to that.  However, we have steered away from correctness in favor of sparing student egos.  I do not think that it has done them any good.  I wholeheartedly agree with this article that we MUST train our students to be good readers and writers. 

More emphasis is being placed on fluency. You can't understand what a text means if you can't figure out what it says. We don't want students to simple "bark at print" but there has to be a balance between fluency and comprehension.Was there anything in the article you would apply to your own teaching?