Competent Teachers - Competent Students A Model for Designing Daily Literacy Lessons

Anita L. Archer, Ph.D. Oregon Literacy Conference July 2005

Foundation - Engagement of all Students Variety of responses Say answer - As a group (choral) Say answer - To a partner Say answer - To cooperative team Say answer - As an individual

Foundation - Engagement of all Students Variety of responses Write answers - Write on paper, white boards, post-its, journals Act it out Display response cards Utilize “appropriate” hand signals

Competent Student Can pronounce the difficult words in the text both accurately and quickly. This allows the student to focus on comprehension and aides in vocabulary acquisition.

Competent Teacher Before Passage Reading –Determines difficult to pronounce words. –Tells students the pronunciation of the entire word OR –Guides students in reading the decodable chunks of the word. –Incorporates pronunciation instruction with instruction on word meanings.

Competent Student Understands critical vocabulary terms found in the text or can use word- learning strategies (context, glossary, word parts) to determine the meaning of unknown words.

Competent Teacher Before Passage Reading Determines critical vocabulary necessary for passage comprehension. Selects content area terms as well as “academic vocabulary” for explicit instruction. Provides systematic, engaging instruction on selected words. Reinforces use of word-learning strategies. Has students maintain a record/log of critical vocabulary.

Competent Student Brings a wealth of background knowledge to passage reading promoting passage comprehension and allowing connections between the text, past experiences, and previously acquired knowledge.

Competent Teacher Before Passage Reading Determines background knowledge needed for full understanding of the passage. Directly teaches critical background knowledge. Activates student’s background knowledge. –KWL (What do you know/What do you want to learn/What did you learn) –Brainstorming topics that might be covered (War - Causes? Who? When? Where? How? Outcomes) –Anticipation guides

Competent Student Previews the selection attending to the introduction, headings, subheadings, graphics, summary, and questions. As the student previews, he/she discovers the topics to be covered, the information that will be emphasized, and how the material is organized. In addition, background knowledge will be activated.

Competent Teacher Before Passage Reading Guides students in previewing the chapter and formulating a topical outline using the title, headings, and subheadings. Guides students previewing by examining the visual representations and graphics in the selection. Has students preview the selection independently, with his/her partner or team members.

Competent Student Establish a purpose or purposes for reading the selection.

Competent Teacher Before Passage Reading Suggests reading purposes to students. Guides students in determining reading purposes. Has students record their purposes. Asks students to communicate reading purposes to their partner or team members.

Competent Student During Passage Reading Actively reads the text material constantly monitoring comprehension, adjusting reading rate, and connecting information to other experiences and knowledge. As the student reads, he/she utilizes strategies to support comprehension and recall.

Competent Teacher During Passage Reading Guides students in passage reading using choral reading, cloze reading, augmented silent reading, and/or partner reading. Asks questions to monitor comprehension, maintain on-task behavior, and to communicate importance of ideas. Has students generate questions to ask peers.

Competent Teacher During Passage Reading Has students read selection and complete a study guide independently, with a partner, or team members. Teaches students strategies that can be used during passage reading: verbal rehearsal, note-taking, and mapping.

Competent Student After reading the passage, the student organizes the critical information using a graphic organizer or develops his/her own visual representation of the information.

Competent Teacher After Passage Reading Provides students with a graphic organizer that reflects the structure of the text material (e.g., categorization, problem/solution, cause/effect, sequence flow chart). Teaches students how to select or formulate their own graphic organizers (e.g., Thinking Maps). Asks students to independently or collaboratively with a partner or a team develop a graphic organizer.

Competent Student Retains vocabulary from the passage and incorporates “academic vocabulary” into written products and oral communication.

Competent Teacher After Passage Reading Provides engaging practice activities such as: Yes/No/Why and Comprehension Activities. Utilizes vocabulary when communicating to students and encourages students to use vocabulary terms. Provides time for individual, partner, or team vocabulary study.

Competent Student Strategically completes assignments that accompany passage reading including: answering questions, studying for examples, completing written products.

Competent Teacher After Passage Reading The teacher teaches strategies for completing assignments. –Answering questions. –Studying for exams. –Writing extended responses. The teacher guides students in strategy use.

Competent Student Summarizes critical information from the selection verbally or in writing.

After Passage Reading Has students retell the passage content using their topical outline, notes, or graphic organizer. Teaches students how to write a summary using a strategy. Has students formulate and share passage summaries. Competent Teacher