1. Empowering the Struggling Reader
Teaching Readers to Self Select Reading Strategies
Session 3: 10:20-11:20
Session 4: 11:20-12:120
Survey 12:20-12:30
March 7, 2015
Lisa Hoelmer

2. Today’s Objectives
Objective:   The ESL Program’s professional development sessions are designed to assist ESL teachers and staff in the formation of an English Language Development (ELD) framework that leads to the development of rigorous language instruction and full English proficiency in all 4 language domains and across all content-areas. .
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3. Elementary and Secondary ESL teachers will:
Know 
The design of ESL instructional support and strategies that complement the 5 priorities of Destination 2025.
 Understand
 The role of the ESL teacher as a school resource person in matters of ELD and content integration
The value of the integration of language acquisition strategies and core-content subject matter
Be able to Do
Re-envision the design of rigorous instruction for ELLs as a curriculum that prepares ELL to meet the demands of CCSS
Communicate and collaborate with mainstream teachers regarding the integration of language and content objectives within a lesson

4. By the end of this session
You will be able to create a “tool box” of strategies that students will be able to self-select when they are reading independently.

5. Session Norms Be present and engaged
Be respectful of differences in perspective while challenging each other productively and respectively
Monitor “air time”
Make the most of the time we have
Stay focused on students

6. Who are our Non-Readers?
Turn to a partner/group and discuss some of the characteristics of non-readers.
What do they have in common?
How are they different from struggling readers?
Discuss some of the behaviors that your non-readers exhibit when they have to read independently.
Reads significantly below grade level; lacks effective word attack skills; exhibits poor comprehension; has limited language and vocabulary
These readers will often start by reading the story with no plan- they use no strategies

7. Non-Readers Approach to Independent Reading
“Dive into the text” and look at only what they know- they are often the first one finished on tests and reading assignments
Find words in the text that match words in the questions to chose an answer
Sit and do nothing
Might act out rather than do the work
This designation would apply to any of our ESL students who are significantly below grade level: newcomers; T1s and 2s who score below basic on TCAP; students who cannot decode; etc.

8. What about our Struggling Readers?
Besides our non-readers (students who are significantly below grade level) what other kinds of struggling readers do we have?
Turn and talk about some of your other students. What reading behaviors show when reading/working independently?
The Struggling readers might read orally with accuracy and fluency; seems to read purposefully when silent reading but provides minimal written responses; lacks elaboration; prefers group work; has limited language and vocabulary; seldom volunteers answers; doesn’t make connections between ideas or the importance of their relationships.

9. Special Considerations
When working with the ELL who also have identified learning disabilities, it is necessary to consult with the Special Education teacher.
Special considerations and/or accommodations may help to fully engage the ELL in language development.

10. So What Can We Do?
First: what do students who do not struggle to read do differently?
Next: what are some ideas that you have used that have been successful to support independent readers?
Participants will be in groups and be given butcher paper or sticky post-it notes to create charts. Afterwards, we’ll “walk the room” to discuss these two points:
At this point, we will create a list of behaviors that successful readers exhibit-how can we instill these same habits in our struggling readers?
We will also work together to create a list of TEACHER led strategies that we think have been successful: remember the focus is on independent reading!

11. What do Good Readers do Differently?
Preview the text.
Activate their background knowledge.
Set a purpose for reading. (What do they want to find out? What do they want to learn? What do they want to do?)
Make predictions as they read and modify them when necessary
Summarize what they read in their own words.
Answer questions.
Ask questions.
All of these are strategies-plans for what to do before, during, and after reading. For struggling readers all of these need to be explicitly taught!

12. Literacy in the Content Areas
Includes explicit literacy (and ELD) learning objectives
Literacy in the Content Areas
Models and reinforces metacognitive strategies, e.g., self-correction, questioning, visualization, annotation, connections/PK, summarization, graphic organizers
Acknowledges each content area has its own literacy norms, text structures, and challenges (e.g., genres, vocabulary, concepts, and topics)
Includes explicit instruction (including modeling) and practice in the literacies and content of each discipline
Appreciates vocabulary is strongly related to general reading achievement; includes both direct, explicit instruction and indirect, learning from context (e.g., listening, other reading instruction, reading) to support vocabulary and comprehension
Focuses explicit vocabulary instruction on words that fall between two tiers-- words that students already know and those that are so rare as to be of little utility—and are used across content areas (academic vocabulary)
Leverages writing as a means to learn and develop—how students make sense of, synthesize, summarize, and evaluate their learning (not just to assess content learning)
Uses discussion and writing prompts to reflect on current understandings, questions, and learning processes help improve content-area learning
“Thinking more about where content area teachers can be most effective in supporting literacy learning… “
Ideas in vocabulary
…that vocabulary is strongly related to general reading achievement has remained unchallenged”
.“…while learning from context is important, direct instruction of vocabulary is effective in improving both vocabulary and comprehension. … both direct, explicit instruction and learning from context are important. … explicit instruction may be useful in closing the gap between the students with the highest levels of vocabulary knowledge and those with the lowest” (Kamil, 2003:10-11).

13. Research Rationale
Early reading skills do not automatically develop into more complex skills that enable students to deal with the specialized and sophisticated reading of literature, science, history, and mathematics (Perle et al., 2005).
A different array of reading processes is emphasized in each of the disciplines, suggesting the focused and highly specialized nature of literacy at these levels (Shanahan & Shanahan, 2008).
An understanding that all learning is based in language helps content teachers structure their instructional time so that students read, write, speak, listen, and view in he classroom (Fisher & Frey, 2015).
Discipline-specific literacy in social studies and history demands that students are able to read, discuss, and write critically about historical events and documents (Morrow & Gambrell, 2015).
Discipline-specific literacy in science requires students to apply knowledge across texts and science fields in order to understand concepts (Morrow & Gambrell, 2015).
Discipline-specific literacy in mathematics requires a precision of meaning, and each word much be understood specifically in service to that particular meaning (Shanahan & Shanahan, 2008).
Students who receive intensive, focused literacy instruction and tutoring will graduate from high school and attend college in significantly greater numbers than those not receiving such attention. Despite these findings, few middle or high schools have a comprehensive approach to teaching literacy across the curriculum. (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2002).
Slide hidden in presentation mode: DO NOT PRESENT WITHOUT EDITING DOWN/REFORMATTING
This is provided as background information only.

14. Beyond Appearances
It’s not about how students are arranged; it’s about the work in which they are engaged. Is instruction…? -Purposeful -Rigorous -Differentiated to meet student needs -Consistent with evidence-based practice -Aligned to TEM standards

15. Choosing the Right Tools
The most important thing we can to do help our struggling readers is to explicitly teach them how to self select a strategy that will help them access the text.
Define the strategies for students
Create a lesson that focuses on a strategy
Model how you decided to use the strategy
Practice
We know that we don't read everything in the same way with the same attention to detail. Some reading activities require deep attention, and others don't, but students don't always know this. They go about reading in the exact same manner, no matter the goal.
We often will teach a strategy along with a reading skill as part of the lesson. But, for this to be effective, students must be taught how to strategize before, during, and after they read. To do this, create lessons that provide opportunities for self-selection
we will model how we self-select strategies, allow time for practice in whole and small groups, and then provide opportunities to support strategy selection during independent reading.

16. Remember our Strong Readers…
They use….
Context Clues
Skim and Scan
Questioning When I Read
Pull apart the Prompt (question)
Self-statements
Activating Prior Knowledge
Predicting
How many of these strategies have you used? Do we ever use just one strategy independently?

17. Context Clues
For proficient readers using clues is natural. They read a few sentences, zoom in on the clues, and infer the word meaning as if they already knew the meaning of the word.
The majority of struggling/non-readers simply miss the clues given to them- even when the sentence practically spells it out for them!

18. You Can…
Use think-alouds that focus on how you use each specific type of clue to determine the word meaning.  
Then, when students practice finding and using various clues.  This a good way to scaffold their learning and move them towards independence.  
Have them color code their clues and work with a partner to explain their thinking.

19. Skimming and Scanning
Pair an informational text with a fictional text-model how you decide if you will use skim and scan and why.
Think aloud what you are using to skim and scan
Use the information to make a prediction about the text
We often tell students to skim and scan, but then do not teach how it helps us as readers:
It gives us information so that we can make a prediction about what we are going to read and helps us create questions for during reading
Skimming and scanning can help us find the answers to a question quickly

20. Questioning When I Read
So where do the questions come from that I ask myself?
Once again, chose a text-either in TCAP form or with no guiding question.
Model how you figure out which questions to ask before, during, and after you read
This strategy requires continued work throughout the year and incorporates both good reading strategies and test taking skills
Model a skim and scan to show student how to determine the questions
I always have students answer Who What Where Why, When, and How to help support the main idea and details as well as more complex reading skills

21. Pull Apart The Prompt
This is a true test-taking strategy and supports close reading.
Why do we pull apart the prompt (question)
Can the question give us a strategy?
As we are working on strategies, we must explicitly teach the vocabulary of prompts and test questions.
Create mini lessons that focus on understanding the prompts have students write in their own words what they are supposed to do/look for
Allow students to write their own prompts

22. Self-Statements Instead Of…. Try Thinking…
Instead Of…. Try Thinking…
I’m not good at this What am I missing?
What can I use to help myself?
I’m awesome, I don’t need I’m on the right track! What
anymore practice. Should I do next?
I give up! I’ll try some of the strategies
that we’ve learned.
This is too hard! This may take some time, but
I’ll get it!
I just can’t figure this word I’ll try breaking the word down.
out I’ll try using the clues around
word to help.
I made a mistake. Mistakes are great ways to
help me improve.
It’s good enough. Is this really my best effort?
Teach students to recognize their own behaviors and what they can say to themselves.
Have students create their own positive self statements and include strategies-write them in their notebooks; put them on the wall…

23. Activating Prior Knowledge/Predicting
Use the previous strategies to encourage students to make connections and to predict what they think the text will be about
KWL charts
Create a question prior to reading
Go back and revise predictions
Pre-teach necessary vocabulary and then let students make a prediction about what they story will be about based on the vocabulary
This solidifies the vocabulary and helps students build background knowledge.
For independent reading, direct students to the glossary or bold words, if they are available
Skimming and scanning also sets the stage for building background knowledge and making predictions

24. Model, Model, Model (and the practice)
With every strategy that we present and with each new text, we must model how we approach the text and select our strategies
Then, we have to let students practice on their own- they are tested independently on WIDA, TCAP, and TCAP writing!
Provide participants with Student Form for Model a Think Aloud, Using Self-Regulation Strategies. This form allows students to take notes while you are modeling for what they do

25. Think Aloud Form . I do this! I don’t do this but want to!
I don’t do this but want to!
Why are you doing this?
I don’t like this!

26. So, Now What? The strategy is never independent of the content skill
The purpose of teaching the strategy is to help struggling readers access the text so that they can answer skill-based or vocabulary based questions

27. The Gradual Release of Responsibility (to introduce or reinforce a new skill)
Teacher Responsibility
I do it.
Guided
We do it.
They do it (together).
Collaborative
This diagram was included to allow us to take a more concise, yet closer look at the Gradual Release model.
Determine how much you want to delve into this model after garnering principals’ responses to the whole group question.
Gradual release of responsibility…..from the work of Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey (2007)
“I do”: The teacher provides direct instruction, establishes goals and purpose, models learning expectations
“We do”: There is interactive instruction between the students and teacher.
“They do”: The teacher provides groups of students a similar task. Groups of students work cooperatively and collaboratively to practice and apply the newly learned standard, skill, or strategy. The teacher moves among groups, provides support and scaffolding, and clarifies misunderstandings.
“You do”: The teacher provides meaningful, differentiated tasks to individual or small groups of students that are aligned to the standard, skills, strategies. Students practice and apply new learning independently (without the direct support of the teacher). Afterwards, the teacher evaluates and provides feedback.
Independent
You do it (independent of the teacher).
Student Responsibility

28. Access Points to Build a Bridge Between Reader and Text (Frey & Fisher, 2013)
Establishing a purpose for reading a complex text, and modeling how an expert reader makes meaning
Providing scaffolded and close reading instruction to guide students through complex texts
Creating opportunities for collaborative conversations w/ peers to refine understanding
Moving them forward through independent reading of increasingly complex texts
Using formative assessment so teacher and reader know what is know and still needs to be
This is the process for the Gradual Release Model.
Teacher driven – “I do”
Teacher guided – “We do”
Flexible grouping – “They do”
Independent work – “You do”
Assessment

29. Structure the lesson to look like…
Today I am practicing the strategy of Skim and Scan. So that I can make predictions about the text I’ll know I’ve got it when I can defend my predictions based upon evidence I find in the text. OR I’ll know I’ve got it when I can decide whether to use skim and scan or another strategy.
We cannot simply pick a text and teach a strategy. When working with content or grade-level texts, decide which strategy (one mentioned, or another) would help the students access the text, model it along with the targeted skill. Mastery will be demonstrated through the skill and consistently getting correct answers. Mastery will also be demonstrated through evidence that the skill was used (underlining in the text; annotation; circling key vocabulary, etc)

30. Reinforcing the Strategy
When you’ve taught several strategies students must practice independently….
Today I am reading independently
So that I can practice using my strategies.
I’ll know I’ve got it when I can explain the strategies I chose and I can consistently answer questions correctly.
At least 2x per quarter I hold a lesson that is independent reading- texts are based on reading groups or student level. They are usually TCAP style texts. After minutes (depending on the age and reading level) students model the strategies they used to their group or class. We discuss how they chose the strategy and why. Mastery is an increase number of questions correct.

31. So Now Let’s Practice
Using the provided text take a minute to look over it.
Think of your students
What reading strategies does the text lend itself too?
How would you teach the text and content skills?
Provide participants with a text.
Each group will be provided a different text that is specific to different grade level content (For this session Journeys ELL readers and TCAP texts will be used)
We’ll work in groups to create a lesson that explicitly teaches reading strategies so that students can self-select.
Participants will create a mini-lesson plan and present to the class (or on large post-it notes and walk the room)

32. Resources for Strategy Lessons
discusses struggling readers and teacher-directed strategies
how to chose reading strategies
forms for think alouds

33. Wrap-Up
Exit Ticket: What is one thing that you will do differently in your ESL classes after this session today? Where is your mastery level with teaching students to self-select strategies? What other information do you need to help support your work with strategies?
Provide participants with an exit ticket with these questions.