Guided Reading Blog Party: Chapters 9 - 11
Okay, I'll admit Chapters 9 & 10 were not my favorite. Now, I am not saying I did not learn anything. I did!
According to the authors, matching books to individual students is a critical component of guided reading. On page 107, the authors compare selecting books to acquiring a valuable collection. Do any of you collect jewelry, art, pottery, quilts, etc? If so, you probably choose each piece very carefully. When you add a new piece you reexamine what you have to make sure the addition will fit the collection. So it is with selecting books for our classrooms. We must be thoughtful and careful with our selection. On pages 107 and 108, the authors provide some characteristics to consider in creating a solid selection of books. One important characteristic is depth. You must have enough books in each level in your collection so you have the flexibility to select books that suit the individuals in your groups. Another important characteristic is content. Make sure your collection of books cover a wide range of topics that appeal to students' life experiences and interests.
The second part of Chapter 9 explored text gradients. First, let's make sure we are all on the same page in terms of a text gradient. What exactly is a text gradient? A gradient of text is an ordering of books according to a specific set of characteristics. Gradient means ascending or descending in a uniform or consistent way, so the levels of a gradient are defined in relation to each other. As you go up the gradient of text, the texts get harder; conversely, as you go down, they get easier. At each level of the gradient, there is a cluster of characteristics that helps you think about the texts at that level and how they support and challenge readers. Appendix M,page 287 - 389, is a great resource for text levels. Books are listed alphabetical by title and then by level. If you are not sure of a book's level, check out Appendix M.
Chapter 10 provides a general description of characteristics for each level. The authors also provide important behaviors to notice and support as students read at each level. This can assist with your instructional planning.
In my opinion, Chapter 11 (Introduction of books) was most helpful. According to Don Holdaway, "A book introduction is a brief and lively discussion in which the teacher interests the students in the story and produces an appropriate set for reading it." Marie Clay states that a book introduction is like a conversation. In order for the listener to understand, the speaker must key into the listener's prior knowledge or provide some kind of introduction. On page 137, Figure 11-1 illustrates Clay's discussion of teacher involvement in book introductions. Based on the students' needs and characteristics of the text, teachers shift up or down this gradient. At the bottom of page 137, there is a list of strategies you might use when introducing stories to children. For example, explain important ideas and concepts to students prior to reading. The rest of the chapter provides great examples of book introductions for kindergarten and first grade (I Can - Kdg; The Hungry Kitten and Billy Goats Gruff - 1st grade).
So, how do you know if your book introductions are effective? Ask yourself, "How did my students read the text? Did they understand the text? Did the reading of text allow for them to use effective reading strategies?"
Reflection:
1. Reflect on your organization of book levels. Are your texts leveled? Do you have a system in place? Are your texts part of a text gradient? Review your levels, are there any changes you would make based on working with the texts for a couple of years and your students' needs?
2. Based on your through assessment of your leveled books, are there levels which need more titles? Did you consider the characteristics on pages 107 & 108 in establishing a good, solid collection of texts.
3. Videotape or record a book introduction. To what extent did the students understand the story? Were their substitutions meaningful? Did they read with fluency and accuracy? Did the introduction help them when encountering points of difficulty? Did students use strategies or processes modeled in the introduction?
Showing posts with label Guided Reading Book Study. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guided Reading Book Study. Show all posts
Monday, February 9, 2015
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Guided Reading Blog Party Chapters 6 - 8
Guided Reading: Chapters 6 - 8
How well do you know your students? Silly question, huh? Well, maybe, maybe not. Yes, you know your students' names, families, addresses, phone numbers, friends, etc. But do you know their strengths, challenges, interests, etc? Do you deeply understand their needs in order to support their development. Chapter 6 outlines what a teacher needs to know about students in order to support their development of strategies, specifically reading strategies. On page 73, the authors state, "The primary purpose of assessment is to gather data to inform teaching. If assessment does not result in improved teaching, then its value in school diminishes greatly." What does that statement mean to you? For me, it means assessment is twofold - to inform me of students' understanding/knowledge and to inform me of my teaching. You know how much I love theory! We MUST know why we do what we do. Theory is the base for our decisions in the classroom. Assessment helps us to continually test and retest theory so we can make the best instructional decisions for our students.
Assessment and Evaluation are sometimes used interchangeable. However, they mean two different things. Assessment is the ongoing process of collecting data. Evaluation is summarizing the data, making decisions, and reporting the findings. There are many ways we can collect data. Chapters 6 & 7 discuss Marie Clay's Observation Survey. If you are not familiar with the Observation Survey, carefully re-read pages 76 - 78. The Observation Survey provides a systematic way of capturing early reading and writing behaviors and is the primary assessment tool used in Reading Recovery. Observation checklists, anecdotal notes, word tests, and running records are other assessment tools to gather information about students' reading behaviors and skills. Whatever you use, you must have a systematic way to collect information that will help you identify students' strengths and weaknesses and guide your instruction.
Chapter 7 provides an overview of Running Records. You should feel pretty comfortable administering Running Records (or Reading Records as they are sometimes called.) The PGA teachers will be glad to assist you if you have questions about running records. A running record is so much more than a tool to determine a student's reading level. I believe the key to running records is analysis of student reading behaviors. We will continue to practice analysis of behaviors during TCT.
Out of these 3 chapters, this is probably the most helpful. Most teachers have questions about grouping students. How do I group my students? What if I have too many levels and groups? How do I accommodate my high achievers, low achievers, etc? To this day, I remember the names of my reading groups - Pac Man, Smurfs, Donkey Kong (can you tell what decade I taught). All based on student abilities (at least I did not have eagles, blue birds, and buzzards). I would definitely say I had traditional reading groups. Not only was my classroom divided into ability groups, the first grade classes were divided by abilities. We had a section of high ability classes, average, below average classes, and a pre-first class (students who did not have the basic readiness skills). I am not saying this was good or bad. Just telling you how things worked back in the 80's. The grouping debate (heterogeneous vs. homogeneous) was and continues to be a hot topic. Regardless of which side you support, guided reading groups should be dynamic. Dynamic grouping refers to the continuous changing of groups to meet the needs of each individual reader. By creating groups based on specific learning needs, (i.e. application of a specific strategy, work with a particular set of word or text attributes, practice with fluency), students are afforded opportunities to work with a variety of readers, and get concentrated practice on a particular skill or strategy. For the teacher, dynamic grouping means making the most use of precious literacy time. By placing students with like needs together, more intense teaching can be done to bring about more success and confidence in their reading. Dynamic groupings are best made through specific observation and assessment with running records to determine strengths and weaknesses. Once leveled (by Running Record, AIMS Web, MAP, etc.) students can be grouped, and ongoing observation will provide important feedback as to how they are progressing as self-monitoring readers.
One key point in the chapter was that you do not have to meet with every group everyday. Whew! Right now, you should feel a huge sigh of relief! The authors state on page 102, "It is better to have high-quality teaching than brief, rushed periods that accomplish little." Whether you are working with a small group or students are working independently in literacy centers, focused reading and writing must be emphasized. The goal is for students to have focused, productive reading & writing experiences for 90 minutes a day and guided reading 3 or 4 days a week.
Reflection:
1. What types of data do you collect? How does the data provide you with insight on student development?
2. Review a student running record. What kind of information does the students seem to be using at the point of errors? Is the student actively using strategies and cues? Based on the information what is your next step with the student? How accurate is the reading? Is the test too easy? hard? just right?
3. Reflect on your grouping process. How are your students grouped? What information do you use to group students? Are your groups dynamic? What challenges do you face with grouping? What solutions have your tried?
4. What are your thoughts about meeting with groups 3 -4 times a week? Do you agree with the authors that high-quality teaching is more effective than rushed periods of instruction? Reflect on your schedule are you providing focused, productive opportunities for reading and writing?
How well do you know your students? Silly question, huh? Well, maybe, maybe not. Yes, you know your students' names, families, addresses, phone numbers, friends, etc. But do you know their strengths, challenges, interests, etc? Do you deeply understand their needs in order to support their development. Chapter 6 outlines what a teacher needs to know about students in order to support their development of strategies, specifically reading strategies. On page 73, the authors state, "The primary purpose of assessment is to gather data to inform teaching. If assessment does not result in improved teaching, then its value in school diminishes greatly." What does that statement mean to you? For me, it means assessment is twofold - to inform me of students' understanding/knowledge and to inform me of my teaching. You know how much I love theory! We MUST know why we do what we do. Theory is the base for our decisions in the classroom. Assessment helps us to continually test and retest theory so we can make the best instructional decisions for our students.
Assessment and Evaluation are sometimes used interchangeable. However, they mean two different things. Assessment is the ongoing process of collecting data. Evaluation is summarizing the data, making decisions, and reporting the findings. There are many ways we can collect data. Chapters 6 & 7 discuss Marie Clay's Observation Survey. If you are not familiar with the Observation Survey, carefully re-read pages 76 - 78. The Observation Survey provides a systematic way of capturing early reading and writing behaviors and is the primary assessment tool used in Reading Recovery. Observation checklists, anecdotal notes, word tests, and running records are other assessment tools to gather information about students' reading behaviors and skills. Whatever you use, you must have a systematic way to collect information that will help you identify students' strengths and weaknesses and guide your instruction.
Chapter 7 provides an overview of Running Records. You should feel pretty comfortable administering Running Records (or Reading Records as they are sometimes called.) The PGA teachers will be glad to assist you if you have questions about running records. A running record is so much more than a tool to determine a student's reading level. I believe the key to running records is analysis of student reading behaviors. We will continue to practice analysis of behaviors during TCT.
Out of these 3 chapters, this is probably the most helpful. Most teachers have questions about grouping students. How do I group my students? What if I have too many levels and groups? How do I accommodate my high achievers, low achievers, etc? To this day, I remember the names of my reading groups - Pac Man, Smurfs, Donkey Kong (can you tell what decade I taught). All based on student abilities (at least I did not have eagles, blue birds, and buzzards). I would definitely say I had traditional reading groups. Not only was my classroom divided into ability groups, the first grade classes were divided by abilities. We had a section of high ability classes, average, below average classes, and a pre-first class (students who did not have the basic readiness skills). I am not saying this was good or bad. Just telling you how things worked back in the 80's. The grouping debate (heterogeneous vs. homogeneous) was and continues to be a hot topic. Regardless of which side you support, guided reading groups should be dynamic. Dynamic grouping refers to the continuous changing of groups to meet the needs of each individual reader. By creating groups based on specific learning needs, (i.e. application of a specific strategy, work with a particular set of word or text attributes, practice with fluency), students are afforded opportunities to work with a variety of readers, and get concentrated practice on a particular skill or strategy. For the teacher, dynamic grouping means making the most use of precious literacy time. By placing students with like needs together, more intense teaching can be done to bring about more success and confidence in their reading. Dynamic groupings are best made through specific observation and assessment with running records to determine strengths and weaknesses. Once leveled (by Running Record, AIMS Web, MAP, etc.) students can be grouped, and ongoing observation will provide important feedback as to how they are progressing as self-monitoring readers.
One key point in the chapter was that you do not have to meet with every group everyday. Whew! Right now, you should feel a huge sigh of relief! The authors state on page 102, "It is better to have high-quality teaching than brief, rushed periods that accomplish little." Whether you are working with a small group or students are working independently in literacy centers, focused reading and writing must be emphasized. The goal is for students to have focused, productive reading & writing experiences for 90 minutes a day and guided reading 3 or 4 days a week.
Reflection:
1. What types of data do you collect? How does the data provide you with insight on student development?
2. Review a student running record. What kind of information does the students seem to be using at the point of errors? Is the student actively using strategies and cues? Based on the information what is your next step with the student? How accurate is the reading? Is the test too easy? hard? just right?
3. Reflect on your grouping process. How are your students grouped? What information do you use to group students? Are your groups dynamic? What challenges do you face with grouping? What solutions have your tried?
4. What are your thoughts about meeting with groups 3 -4 times a week? Do you agree with the authors that high-quality teaching is more effective than rushed periods of instruction? Reflect on your schedule are you providing focused, productive opportunities for reading and writing?
Monday, November 10, 2014
Guided Reading Blog Party
Guided Reading: Chapters 4 & 5
"In short, an organized and well-designed classroom enables the teacher to observe, support, and meet the learning needs of each child." (p.43). That pretty much sums it up! Simple? Not exactly. It takes trial and error and most of all time! Time to build relationships with the kids, time to organize all of the materials, time to create that perfect schedule, etc. And who has all of that time?? Well, if our students are to be successful, confident, independent learners we MUST find the time. As I read the section in chapter 4 on underlying theory I immediately thought of the COT. Okay, I guess you could say 2 things are going on here. One, I LOVE theory (but you know that!) and second, I have been conducting COT observations so I guess I had all of those APS' on my mind. But seriously, I made some connections with the theory and the COT. First, let me share some of the theorists that have guided my understanding of literacy and learning.
1. Roger Brown - form follows function It is within the context of authentic, purposeful experiences (function) that we help children understand specific skills (form)
2. Michael Halliday - Children learn language in order to function in their world. We have to set up reasons for children to want to be literate
3. Brian Cambourne - There are certain conditions that need be in place in order for children to learn language (or anything). One of those is responsibility. The students have to be responsible for the strategies we teach so they can use them when they are away from us and for future learning. Also, expectation is a condition. We need to expect children to read and write and communicate that expectation to them. (Remind me to tell you the Brian Cambourne story!)
4. Lev Vygotsky - learning is a social process. Any 2 or more learners will learn from each other. Learning occurs through the give and take interactions between 2 or more people.
5. Shirley Brice Heath - every community has a legitimate language system. Students come to us with "funds of knowledge". We value what they know and what they do as they emerge as readers and writers.
Now, let's connect the underlying theory to the COT.
1. APS 4A - establishes and communicates high achievement expectations
2. APS 4C - communicating relevance and purpose of learning; facilitates active ownership of learning
3. APS 5B - opportunities for both independent and collaborative learning
4. APS 5C - students applying learning beyond classroom
5. APS 8A - meaningful, relevant displays
6. APS 8C - facilitates inquisitiveness and teamwork; involves students in designing instructional activities
And so on.
I loved all of the ideas in Chapter 4 regarding space. The checklist for analyzing the classroom environment (Figure 4-3) is a great tool for reflecting on your environment.
The essential question of Chapter 5 is "When I am working with guided reading groups, what are the rest of the children doing?" The answer is simple. "All other class members must be engaged in meaningful literacy." Worksheets, color sheets, fill-in-the blanks, etc. are not efficient nor productive. Students need to engage in activities that are purposeful, authentic, and interesting for them. This chapter provides a repertoire of ideas and suggestions for literacy center activities. Another important aspect of managing the class is establishing procedures and routines. I love the quote on page 62, "Every moment invested in teaching routines is time well spent, because it will save hours of instructional time later." Read that again. Take the time at the beginning to explicitly teach routines & procedures. You may want to consider introducing 1 center at a time in small groups. Just like our preschool teachers introduce their centers. You cannot assume the students know anything regarding the routines. Demonstrate, demonstrate, demonstrate everything!!! Some groups will catch on faster. They can be the center experts. Students come to them with questions about equipment or other tools and the daily tasks. Figure 5-3 is a nice chart detailing the first 6 weeks of guided reading. This chapter is full of helpful charts and information on implementing centers and rotation schedules. You could even use these same procedures for math centers.
Think about this quote: "Getting students absorbed in meaningful, purposeful literacy activities requires a number of significant changes in the classroom - in the physical environment, in events and activities, and in the nature and quality of the interactions." Are you ready to make some changes???
Reflection:
1. Reflect on your classroom environment using the checklist on page 52 (Figure 4-3). What changes do you need to make? How might you go about making these changes. Set a timeline for yourself.
2. What work stations or literacy centers do you have? What types of activities are included in your stations? Are the activities differentiated? How? What procedures are in place for stations, i.e. competing activities, rotating stations, etc.? How do students engage independently in each station? Collaboratively?
3. How do you determine your work groups?
"In short, an organized and well-designed classroom enables the teacher to observe, support, and meet the learning needs of each child." (p.43). That pretty much sums it up! Simple? Not exactly. It takes trial and error and most of all time! Time to build relationships with the kids, time to organize all of the materials, time to create that perfect schedule, etc. And who has all of that time?? Well, if our students are to be successful, confident, independent learners we MUST find the time. As I read the section in chapter 4 on underlying theory I immediately thought of the COT. Okay, I guess you could say 2 things are going on here. One, I LOVE theory (but you know that!) and second, I have been conducting COT observations so I guess I had all of those APS' on my mind. But seriously, I made some connections with the theory and the COT. First, let me share some of the theorists that have guided my understanding of literacy and learning.
1. Roger Brown - form follows function It is within the context of authentic, purposeful experiences (function) that we help children understand specific skills (form)
2. Michael Halliday - Children learn language in order to function in their world. We have to set up reasons for children to want to be literate
3. Brian Cambourne - There are certain conditions that need be in place in order for children to learn language (or anything). One of those is responsibility. The students have to be responsible for the strategies we teach so they can use them when they are away from us and for future learning. Also, expectation is a condition. We need to expect children to read and write and communicate that expectation to them. (Remind me to tell you the Brian Cambourne story!)
4. Lev Vygotsky - learning is a social process. Any 2 or more learners will learn from each other. Learning occurs through the give and take interactions between 2 or more people.
5. Shirley Brice Heath - every community has a legitimate language system. Students come to us with "funds of knowledge". We value what they know and what they do as they emerge as readers and writers.
Now, let's connect the underlying theory to the COT.
1. APS 4A - establishes and communicates high achievement expectations
2. APS 4C - communicating relevance and purpose of learning; facilitates active ownership of learning
3. APS 5B - opportunities for both independent and collaborative learning
4. APS 5C - students applying learning beyond classroom
5. APS 8A - meaningful, relevant displays
6. APS 8C - facilitates inquisitiveness and teamwork; involves students in designing instructional activities
And so on.
I loved all of the ideas in Chapter 4 regarding space. The checklist for analyzing the classroom environment (Figure 4-3) is a great tool for reflecting on your environment.
The essential question of Chapter 5 is "When I am working with guided reading groups, what are the rest of the children doing?" The answer is simple. "All other class members must be engaged in meaningful literacy." Worksheets, color sheets, fill-in-the blanks, etc. are not efficient nor productive. Students need to engage in activities that are purposeful, authentic, and interesting for them. This chapter provides a repertoire of ideas and suggestions for literacy center activities. Another important aspect of managing the class is establishing procedures and routines. I love the quote on page 62, "Every moment invested in teaching routines is time well spent, because it will save hours of instructional time later." Read that again. Take the time at the beginning to explicitly teach routines & procedures. You may want to consider introducing 1 center at a time in small groups. Just like our preschool teachers introduce their centers. You cannot assume the students know anything regarding the routines. Demonstrate, demonstrate, demonstrate everything!!! Some groups will catch on faster. They can be the center experts. Students come to them with questions about equipment or other tools and the daily tasks. Figure 5-3 is a nice chart detailing the first 6 weeks of guided reading. This chapter is full of helpful charts and information on implementing centers and rotation schedules. You could even use these same procedures for math centers.
Think about this quote: "Getting students absorbed in meaningful, purposeful literacy activities requires a number of significant changes in the classroom - in the physical environment, in events and activities, and in the nature and quality of the interactions." Are you ready to make some changes???
Reflection:
1. Reflect on your classroom environment using the checklist on page 52 (Figure 4-3). What changes do you need to make? How might you go about making these changes. Set a timeline for yourself.
2. What work stations or literacy centers do you have? What types of activities are included in your stations? Are the activities differentiated? How? What procedures are in place for stations, i.e. competing activities, rotating stations, etc.? How do students engage independently in each station? Collaboratively?
3. How do you determine your work groups?
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