Building Comprehension: The Role of Teacher, Context, and Task EDC 423

Objectives Observe and apply ways to launch a book (pre- reading activity) to set a context that engages readers with the main ideas and the big ideas Identify the teacher’s role at each stage of reading (pre, during, and post-reading) and give examples of activities/tasks related to a specific text to engage readers with the main ideas and big ideas at each stage

Launching a book/set of books

How could this have happened? Is there any way we can help?

Planning a Book Launch Share your thoughts about main ideas and big ideas with your planning group. Think about the example I modeled for how to launch Oil Spill for some ideas. Create a 2-3 minute launch for your text that engages students (your peers) in thinking about the ideas and sets a purpose for reading. Choose a group member to conduct the launch in your teaching groups. While watching, is this book launch effective? Why/why not? What might you do different next time?

“The Teacher Factor” B-D-A

Before Reading…students need to The mantra: “Activate prior knowledge and set a purpose for reading” Activating prior knowledge (schema theory): Call up relevant schema about The topic (what I already know?) The text (how is this text organized?) Use PK to make predictions Set a purpose: Motivation, questions, why am I reading?

During Reading…students need to Monitor Determine important concepts Ask questions Make inferences Visualize the text Analyze/critique Incubate—take time out to consider/reconsider Synthesize—pull ideas together and add your original insights

After Reading … students need to Organize and shape: Transform big ideas (how can I show what I know?) Reflect and revise (Publish—not always necessary, but very authentic and motivating with a real audience)

Before Reading…teachers need to The mantra: “Activate prior knowledge and set a purpose for reading” Activating prior knowledge (schema theory): Help students call up relevant schema about The topic (what do students already know?) The text (how is this text organized?) Help students use PK to make predictions Help students set a purpose: Motivation, questions, why are students reading? I Do / We Do

During Reading…teachers need to Help students: Determine important concepts Make inferences Visualize the text Ask questions Monitor Analyze/critique Incubate—take time out to consider/reconsider Synthesize—pull ideas together I Do / We Do

After Reading … students need to Help students organize and shape their ideas: How can they transform big ideas to show what they know? Help student reflect on the reading Revise prior ideas Respond to reading (Publish—not always necessary, but very authentic and motivating with a real audience) You Do / Redo

Before Reading Instruction Preview the text Pre-teach vocabulary Discuss prior knowledge (activate) Teach knowledge necessary if no prior knowledge exists Set questions/help students generate questions that will be answered by the text Teacher Task Context

During Reading Instruction Use of discussion to focus on understanding important concepts, inferring, etc. Use of realia to help students understand difficult concepts Zoom in/zoom out from details to big ideas Graphic organizers—active tasks that keep students thinking and engaged T Charts Compare/contrast charts Teacher Task Context

After Reading Instruction Discussion From details/main idea to big idea How does that help us in life? Ways of “publishing”/demonstrating what we know Drama Diorama Writing/drawing Projects Responding to text Taking on the persona of a character Journal writing Creating text based on text read (stories, informational brochures, etc.) Teacher Task Context

Activities that Span BDA K-W-L Charts Story Impressions Anticipation Guides Graphic organizers Teacher Task Context

K-W-L Chart What I KNOWWhat I WANT to knowWhat I LEARNED

Story Impressions

Anticipation Guide

Graphic Organizers Compare/Contrast Description Story Map Character Map Time line

Cause/Effect

Compare/Contrast Brian’s First ShelterBrian’s Second Shelter

Prediction Chart What I predict will happenWhat actually happened Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4

Feelings Chart Event #1 Describe the character at the beginning Describe the character at the end The character feels/thinks/acts…

Character Web (empty) Vary the format of response to meet different learning styles

Character Web Brian CourageousStrongObservantSmart

So, how does it all fit together? Main Ideas: Big Ideas: Learning Goals and Standards: Before: During: After:

Before, During, and After Reading Plan for Oil Spill by Melvin Berger Before: Launch book > Build on RI beach experience to connect to events of the oil spill During: Graphic Organizer Handout (How clean up? How prevent oil spills?) Sticky Notes for Students to Pose Questions After: Post, discuss, categorize sticky notes for future use Respond (Choose): 1. Write a group letter to your Senator to prevent oil spills 2. Find out how much electricity your family uses and try two things to save electricity for a week. 3. Find an answer to one of your questions and share it with the class.

What are some ways to clean up an oil spill? Just wait Boom Skimmer Sponge Pads Set on fire Chemicals How can oil spills be prevented? Use less electricity Less oil used Fewer tankers – less chance of crashing Drive smaller cars and drive the speed limit Less gas used Less oil needed

Response Examples

You Try: During and After Activities Draft one activity prompt to engage readers with the main ideas and big ideas DURING reading Discussion Zoom in/Zoom Out (Analyze) Graphic Organizers (compare/contrast, description, timeline, cause/effect; sequence) Draft one activity prompt to engage readers with the main ideas and big ideas AFTER reading Discussion Publishing (diorama, poster, project, brochure) Creative/action response (journal, drama, letter)

Feedback on Strategy Self- Assessment Assignment Active reading = going beyond highlighting and taking notes in your notebook Annotating the text (in the margins) and applying specific cognitive/thinking/reading strategies while you highlight or take notes is critical! Your comments add to, put in different form ***Infer, analyze, and transform are key

Deep reading is more than rereading and highlighting/underlining – it’s the type of thinking you do as you’re doing these things! The second time I actually came up with a purpose, which guided some of my sticky notes and diagrams. Those will help me remember the main ideas of the text. It helps to reread because I discovered different things the second time. I learned that I comprehend better by visually drawing out diagrams and scribbling down what I see in my head…I learned a lot more goes into comprehension than I thought. It is not just coming up with the main ideas. It is expanding on those main ideas and determining how you know those are the main ideas and how they related to your purpose.

Homework

Objectives Observe and apply ways to launch a book (pre- reading activity) to engage readers with the main ideas and the big ideas Identify the teacher’s role at each stage of reading (pre, during, and post-reading) and give examples of activities/tasks related to a specific text to engage readers with the main ideas and big ideas at each stage