Developing a Focus on Literacy Across the Curriculum Albuquerque NM July 20-21. 2009 Joanna Kister

Write on the Wall Put dot on the continuum of faculty readiness for literacy across the curriculum Write on the wall. Tell me about New Mexico, your home town, your school, you (name optional).

Essential Questions How can we develop a focus on literacy across the curriculum in our school? How do literacy skills contribute to the 10 key practices of High Schools That Work? Which literacy skills have the greatest impact on student achievement? How can we effectively use instructional strategies to improve literacy skills?

10 Key Practices Integration of Academic and Career/Technical Studies Wisconsin Keynote 01-29-03 10 Key Practices Integration of Academic and Career/Technical Studies Active Engagement Guidance and Advisement Extra Help Data-based Decision Making High Expectations Challenging Career/Technical Studies Challenging Academic Studies Academic Core and a Concentration Work-based Learning This is an overview of all 10 Key Practices. Mature HSTW sites have implemented these practices in their schools over time. For purposes of this workshop, we will re-order them and go into greater detail for some of the key practices. No school is expected to implement all ten at one time or in one year. You will be asked to examine priorities, goals and actions for your school that can be implemented over a 3-5 year period.

Brag about your school (extra credit if connect to 10 key practices)

Jigsaw Articles Count to 6 Each person read one article. Compare with others who read the same article. Return to original group. Now what do we know?

SREB Literacy Goals Read 25 books across curriculum Write weekly in all classes Use reading and writing in all classes Write research papers in all classes Complete a rigorous language arts curriculum taught like college-prep/honors English

Before Reading . . . Poor Readers Good readers Build up their background knowledge on the subject Know their purpose for reading Focus their complete attention on reading Poor Readers Start reading without thinking about the subject Do not know why they are reading

ONE KEY PREDICTOR of reading success is the student’s background knowledge.

During Reading . . . Good Readers Poor Readers Pay complete attention Constantly check their understanding Monitor their comprehension automatically Stop only to use a fix-up strategy when they don’t understand Poor Readers Do not know whether they understand or do not understand Do not monitor their own comprehension Seldom use any of the fix-up strategies

Strategies for Monitoring Reading How would I say that in my own words? What’s the main point here, and why is it important? What would be an example of this? How could I cluster the ideas I’ve read about? Where is this going next? Can I picture in my mind what is going on here? Can I trust this author’s accuracy/authority/objectivity?

Fix-Up Strategies Let me reread that last part, more slowly this time. Let me think about that for a minute. Is there a certain word here that is throwing off my understanding? Let me read ahead a little to see if getting the larger picture helps.

After Reading . . . Poor Readers Good Readers Decide if they have achieved their goal for the reading Evaluate their comprehension Summarize the major ideas Seek additional information Poor Readers Do not know what they have read All ideas are equal Do not follow reading with comprehension self-check

The Six Summarizing Paraphrasing Categorizing Inferring Predicting Recognizing Academic Vocabulary Page 14

Carousel Brainstorming Divide into groups. Go to one station. Select scribe. Write at least one answer—small. Rotate at signal. Must add new answer. Continue.

Carousel Strategy For each skill, list why you believe it is considered to be one of the “Big Six” essential reading skills

How do we know these are important? Direct links to most items on ASSET/COMPASS reading placement tests. Included in ACT Consistently in state standards Recognized by postsecondary faculty for importance Linked to all content areas Linked to careers

Summarizing Only skill identified in both Reading Next and Writing Next as improving essential literacy skills Essential in research and other expository writing

Paraphrasing Reduces plagiarism—considered one of the biggest academic “crimes” Show adaptation for audience and purpose—essential writing skills Reflects a deeper understanding of material

Categorizing Ability to group information into manageable chunks Essential for study skills Mandatory for problem analysis and solution—especially in workplace or laboratory Only easy for naturalist intelligence—must be taught to others

Inferring Reading “between the lines” Encourages connection within a text, across texts and to other contexts Shows that a reader “really gets it”

Inference In order to infer readers must lift up the words and go beneath them. Keene & Zimmerman (1997)

She moves backwards a few feet and with a piece of white chalk draws a rectangle onto the wood floor. Then continues backwards, drawing more rectangles, so there is a pyramid of them, single then double then single, her left hand braced flat on the floor, her head down, serious… She drops the chalk into the pocket of her dress. She stands and pulls up the looseness of her skirt and ties it around her waist. She pulls from another pocket a piece of metal and flings it out in front of her so it falls just beyond the farthest square. She leaps forward, her legs smashing down, her shadow behind her curling into the depth of the hall. She is very quick, her tennis shoes skidding on the numbers she has drawn into each rectangle, one foot landing, then two feet, then one again until she reaches the last square. From, The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

Hocked gems financed our hero Hocked gems financed our hero. Scornful laughter had tried to prevent his scheme. Bravely he persisted. An egg, not a table, typifies this unexplored planet, he said. Now three sturdy sisters sought proof. They forged along turbulent peaks and valleys. Days became weeks as doubters spread fearful rumors about the edge. At last welcome winged creatures appeared. Momentous success was at hand.

Predicting Form of inferencing Requires support for prediction Forward thinking based on backward knowledge Required to solve non-routine problems in the real world

Using academic/technical vocabulary Separates success for second-language students Technical language (jargon) Understanding roots and affixes

K – W - L K W L What I Know What I Want to Find Out What I Learned

Directed Reading and Thinking Activity (DRTA) Preview Discuss what you know Write questions Read to find answers Reflect on the reading

Anticipation Guide Rationale Students get excited-argue/debate the points Predict - curiosity – hook for content Creates purpose for reading Purposeful reading leads to improved comprehension

“Teaching Secrets” Create 5 anticipation guide statements. Use both inferring and concrete statements.

A to Z Review Using each letter of the alphabet, describe what employers want in employees.

Tournament – Defend Your Word In pairs, select four words that address a question about reading. Convince each other that their word is the best to go to the next level. Present “the” word to the whole class with evidence.

INSERT (Interactive Notetaking System for Effective Reading and Thinking) - I agree X – I disagree + - That’s new ! – Wow! ? – I wonder ?? – I don’t understand * - That’s important

How to teach vocabulary??? Front-load meaning - prior instruction increases understanding by 33% Descriptions and examples Create symbols or pictures to represent the word -- gains 34 percentile higher Categorize words -- associations among related concepts Limit the # of words taught to those that represent key concepts Teach common prefixes, suffixes, roots

Vocabulary Blocks Definition Picture or symbol Described in your own words Ways I used the word (a week later)

Word Sort – Sort into Three Categories Formative Warm up activity Scenarios Collegial observations Questioning Team building Graphing Reading comprehension Teacher book study Summative Project-based learning Demonstration classrooms

Frayer Model Topic Essential Characteristics Non-essential Characteristics Examples Non-examples Topic

Summarizing and Paraphrasing GIST 3-2-1 Summary Pyramid Final Word

3-Identify 3 pieces of advice given to new teachers. Teaching Secrets 3-Identify 3 pieces of advice given to new teachers. 2-Explain how the advice fits into 2 categories. 1-Describe 1 way that taking the advice will help novice teachers.

3-2-1 Increasing level of difficulty Requires summarizing and paraphrasing Pre- or post-reading Requires teacher preparation Students can construct.

Democracy __________ __________ __________ Synonym __________ __________ Two Groups to Which Democracy Applies _________ ________ _________ Three Areas of Origin Page 5

Other Possible Prompts Analogy between the topic and a sport Attributes or facts Words that best describe the topic Related topics Causes Effects Arguments for/against the topic Ingredients Tools for using the topic Formulas Page 6

Your Turn “Please Don’t Pardon the Interruption” Write pyramid prompts

Bye, Bye Birdie Reasons to Avoid Round Robin Reading It encourages negative attitudes about reading. It is boring for everyone. Proficient readers read ahead. Poor readers are forced to advertise their deficiencies. Students pay attention only to the passage they have to read aloud. It does not build fluency or accuracy. Students need to read entire passages instead of pieces. It does not require engagement with the text. I hated this kind of reading. For many it is painful to do and boring to watch or listen to. I was one of those readers who never knew where we were in the passage because I had read far ahead of those doing the oral reading. Students don’t read aloud naturally. Unless they are modeling proper reading or reading as a performance, high school students read silently. Students should not be asked to read orally until they have had a chance to process text silently and practice to read orally.

Avoid… Round robin reading Copy notes that the teacher has provided Look up definitions and copy Fill spaces on work sheet from textbook End-of-chapter questions

Types of writing Writing to learn - daily Audience is the learner Purpose is to learn or process information Writing to demonstrate learning - weekly Audience is the teacher Purpose is to demonstrate learning Authentic writing Audiences are varied Purposes are “real world” or beyond the classroom

Journals Learning Logs Writing To Learn Journals Learning Logs Exit/Admit Slips Writer’s Notebook Inquiry Logs Mathematics Logs Let’s use another literacy strategy to look at these activities. This is a structured overview. You can use it as a preparation activity before a lesson. It shows students the big idea—Writing-to-learn strategies—and the items that come under that big umbrella.

Writing To Demonstrate Learning Paragraphs Essays Open-response Lab Reports Questions Research Assignments

Speeches Letters Proposals Authentic Writing Articles Editorials Speeches Letters Proposals Memoirs Poems Short Stories If you used this visual representation of your lesson as a culminating activity, you would call it a post-graphic organizer. Now, just as you did with Goal 1, take 20 minutes to work in your groups to devise a plan for getting students to write every week in every class. . . .1:05 Ask someone in each group to stand and share…1:10

National Writing Commission: What Employers Say In most cases, writing ability could be your ticket in . . . or it could be your ticket out… Everything must be documented… manufacturing documentation, operating procedures, reporting problems, lab safety, waste-disposal operations—all have to be crystal clear Writing is a significant hiring consideration in the finance, insurance, and real estate sectors www.writingcommission.org

“Email is for old people” – A student © 2006 Marc Prensky

The “Net” Generation – Survey of College Students 97% own a computer 94% own a cell phone 76% use Instant Messaging. 34% use websites as their primary source of news 75% of students have a Facebook account Source: Connecting to the Net Generation: Junco and Jeanna Mastrodicasa, 2007

Social networking – Facebook, My Space, Linked In Web 2.0 Social networking – Facebook, My Space, Linked In Blogs, wikis, twitter, podcasting, RSS feeds Read and create interactive content Photobucket (online sharing) Collaborative Web 1.0 Web pages Read and research; use PPT to present content Otofoto (digital to print) Individual -75% of students who are on line have a facebook or my space account Facebook, my space, you tube, teacher tube, linked in, - Interactive content including hyperlinks -

2-column note-taking Step 1: Draw a grid with 3 sections Step 3: Identify key concepts or questions Step 2: Take notes here; use abbreviations Step 4: Summarize lesson here

Benefits of 2-column note-taking Many exposures to text Matches most textbook styles Easy to teach Study guide Differentiation

Use Admit and Exit Slips

All students will read the equivalent of 25 books per year across the curriculum to increase their understanding of the content of all classes.

Reading is the single most important social factor in American life today. The more you read, the more you know. The more you know, the smarter you grow. The smarter you are, the longer you stay in school. The longer you stay in school, the more diplomas you earn and the longer you are employed—thus the more money you earn in a lifetime. The more diplomas you earn, the higher your children’s grades will be in school. The more diplomas you earn, the longer you live.

The opposite is also true. The less you read, the less you know. The less you know, the sooner you drop out of school. The sooner you drop out, the sooner and longer you are poor. The sooner you drop out, the greater your chances of going to jail.

Poverty and illiteracy are the parents of desperation and imprisonment. 82% of prison inmates are school dropouts. Inmates are twice as likely to be in bottom levels of literacy. 60% of inmates are illiterate.

To raise their reading skills and to increase understanding of the content of all classes, Students must read more and a wider range of materials. read both fiction and non-fiction, including technical manuals and journal and magazine articles. prepare written reports. make oral presentations. perform tasks that are described in the text. Teachers should assign reading appropriate to the course content. expect students to demonstrate understanding of what they read. give students choice in the selection of materials.

Can we ask students to read more?

Reading more = scoring higher High School: Seniors who read an assigned book outside class and reported on the main ideas several times during the year score 26 points higher than those who don’t. Students who read at least six books in English scored 12 points higher. 500-point scale

Reading more = scoring higher Middle Grades Eighth-graders who read 11 or more books each year score 25 points higher than those who read none. Those who read an assigned book outside class and demonstrated understanding only once per semester score 6 points higher. 300-point scale

Why don’t we ask students to read more? Brainstorm in pairs.

Why don’t we ask students to read more? Believe students aren’t good readers Believe students don’t have time Believe that reading detracts from teaching “my” content Lack of materials Teachers aren’t readers Sage on stage

Do students have time to read?

Do students have time to read? High School 35% of the students watch TV three or more hours per day 26% spend three or more hours per day surfing the internet, e-mailing or instant messaging Middle Grades 51% watch TV or play computer games three or more hours each school day. 20% watch over 5 hours!

less than 30 minutes per day Do The Math Goal of 25 books Average reading rate 250 words per minute 500 words per page 100 pages per book 175 school days equals less than 30 minutes per day to reach goal!

What are some specific steps to raise the amount of reading? Looking for ideas… 1. Review 11 strategies to get students to read more (pp. 51-58) 2. Skim the five sections DEAR (65) Summer reading (67-68) Technology (69-70) Motivational activities (70-72) Library media center (72-73) 3. Select three ideas that might work in your school.

Table Talk and Planning What are some specific steps to increase the strategies our students use? Table Talk and Planning What strategies might we want to try? What training and support would teachers need to implement these strategies? How will we know if these strategies are working (e.g., assessment, analysis of student work, classroom observations)?

Homework Read pp. 19-27 in LAC guide Admit Slip Two ahas One So what?

Day Two – Literacy Plan “Planning” Review data – p. 36 Review pp. 37-43 Analyze and prioritizepossible actions – p. 41