1 MODULE 2: CONTENT-AREA LITERACY Adolescent Literacy – Professional Development Unit 2, Session 2

2 THE SKILLS THAT UNDERLIE STRATEGIC READING Connecting Reading Comprehension with Content Understanding

3 Essential Questions  Module 2 Question  What role can content-area teachers play in helping adolescents acquire general and discipline-specific literacy skills?  Unit 2, Session 2 Questions  How does an understanding of “schema theory” influence planning & teaching?  What do literacy researchers and practitioners mean by “strategies” and “strategic reading”? Module 2: Unit 2, Session 2

4 Warm-Up  Quick Write:  What does it mean to comprehend a text?  How does one teach students how to comprehend something that they have read?  Pair-and-Share/Group-Share Module 2: Unit 2, Session 2

5 Comprehension = Known + New  Schema Theory Schema Theory  Based partly on the work of Piaget  Expanded by R.C. Anderson in 1980s  Schema as “sum total of our background knowledge and experience” (Harvey & Goudvis, 2007, p. 17)  We learn and comprehend by integrating new information and experiences with existing schema Module 2: Unit 2, Session 2

6 From An Island Like You: Stories of the Barrio,An Island Like You: Stories of the Barrio by Judith Ortiz Cofer First line -- what are you “visualizing”? “So I did what I had to do. I climbed up on the green monster …” (p. 38) How does what you imagine relate to your background knowledge / world knowledge? Module 2: Unit 2, Lesson 1 Playing Around with Schema Theory

7 So I did what I had to do. I climbed up on the green monster … that smelled of the garbage of humanity, of vomit, rotting meat, the urine of bums who slept in the alley, of everything that people use and abuse and then throw out. I balanced my foot on one of the handles the truck hooks onto and I reached for the top. I pulled myself halfway into the pit of hell and nearly ralphed. Man, ten thousand outhouses could not compete with that stink. But I saw the book right away. It was on top of a ton of trash; nobody had thrown a dead cat on it, or last night's arroz con pollo. It took me a couple of minutes to fish it out, but I got it, right before I started to sort of pass out from the stench and all (p. 38). Module 2: Unit 2, Lesson 1

8 Playing Around with Schema Theory So I did what I had to do. I climbed up on the green monster … that smelled of the garbage of humanity, of vomit, rotting meat, the urine of bums who slept in the alley, of everything that people use and abuse and then throw out. I balanced my foot on one of the handles the truck hooks onto and I reached for the top. I pulled myself halfway into the pit of hell and nearly ralphed. Man, ten thousand outhouses could not compete with that stink. But I saw the book right away. It was on top of a ton of trash; nobody had thrown a dead cat on it, or last night's arroz con pollo. It took me a couple of minutes to fish it out, but I got it, right before I started to sort of pass out from the stench and all (p. 38). Module 2: Unit 2, Lesson 1

9 What’s Going On Here?  How was your understanding / comprehension of the passage influenced by your background knowledge?  How was your understanding / comprehension of the passage influenced by your word and world knowledge?  How might students in different parts of the country (from different language backgrounds) understand this passage quite differently?  What supports would you need to provide to help students connect this passage to existing schema? Module 2: Unit 2, Lesson 1

10 Reviewing Schema Theory Audio Clip – Piaget (1926) first used “schema” RC Anderson (mid-1970s) popularized & expanded the theory Main ideas “Always organized meaningfully, can be added to as an individual gains experience” (LinguaLinks, 1999). Layers of schemata (schema embedded in other schema – fork, knife, napkin) Can be reorganized when new data reveals a need to restructure Assimilation / Accommodation Schema combine to form a “whole” that is greater than the sum LinguaLinks. (1999). Schema theory of learning.Schema theory of learning Module 2: Unit 2, Lesson 1

11 Implications for Instruction  If helping students build and revise schema is a major goal, what skills and strategies must we consider when presenting texts?  4As Text-Based Discussion of Harvey & Goudvis (2007) Chapter 1 and 2: Reading is Thinking & Reading is Strategic (pp ). 4As Text-Based Discussion Module 2: Unit 2, Session 2

12 Revisiting the Adlit.org Strategy Library  Tour of Adlit.org’s Strategy LibraryAdlit.org’s Strategy Library  Which strategies emphasize the following?  Activating Background Knowledge  Questioning  Making Inferences  Visualizing  Determining Importance  Summarizing and Synthesizing Module 2: Unit 2, Session 2

13 Revising Lesson Plans  Look or think back to the lesson plan(s) designed in the previous session. What skills were you trying to encourage? Which strategies might help students practice/master those skills?  Activating Background Knowledge  Questioning  Making Inferences  Visualizing  Determining Importance  Summarizing and Synthesizing Module 2: Unit 2, Lesson 1

14 Wrap-Up  Things to remember:  There are fundamental skills (ways of thinking, or cognitive processes) involved in reading and learning that, when explicitly reviewed, may lead to improved comprehension.  Individual strategies can be taught, but only if matched wisely to general or specific disciplinary instructional purposes. Module 2: Unit 2, Session 2

15 Further Study  Read the two vignettes of classroom instruction from Mark Conley’s article “Cognitive Strategy Instruction for Adolescents” (bottom of p. 87–top of p. 92).  Consider the difference between “teaching” a strategy and simply “doing” a strategy.  How can we prepare, as a team, to teach students to use strategies in deep, powerful ways (as opposed to superficial, empty tasks)? Module 2: Unit 2, Session 2

16 References Cofer, J. O. (1996). An island like you: Stories from the barrio. Madison, WI: Demco Media Inc. Conley, M. (2008). Cognitive strategy instruction for adolescents: What we know about the promise, what we don't know about the potential. Harvard Educational Review, 78(1), 84–106. Harvey, S., & Goudvis, A. (2007). Strategies that work: Teaching comprehension for understanding and engagement (2nd Ed.). Portland, ME: Stenhouse. Strategies that work: Teaching comprehension for understanding and engagement Module 2: Unit 2, Session 2