Challenging Talented Readers and the SEMR: IRA Institute

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Challenging Talented Readers and the SEM-R IRA
Institute

• Sally M. Reis
• Sandra N . Kaplan
• Susannah Richards
• Sheelah Sweeny
• Liz Fogarty
• Angela Housand
• Brian Housand
• Lisa Muller
• Thanks to the Javits Education Act
• www.gifted.uconn.edu/semr

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www.gifted.uconn.edu/semr
The National Research Center on the Gifted and
Talented
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Three-Legged Stool

• Renzulli (1977)
• Enrichment Triad Model
• Vygotsky (1962)
• Zone of Proximal Development
• National Reading Panel (2000)
• Need for further research

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Talented Readers

• If the environment presents no such
  challenging tasks to the adolescent, makes no
  new demands on him, and does not stimulate his
  intellect by providing a sequence of new goals,
  his thinking fails to reach the highest stages,
  or reaches them with great delay.
  Vygotsky

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E. M. Forster, English novelist

• the only books that influence us are those for
  which we are ready, and which have gone a little
  further down our particular path than we have
  gone ourselves.

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Do any of you remember reading instruction when
you were in school?

• Choral reading
• Waiting to read
• Waiting for others to catch up..
• I mumbled that I was sorry and retired
  meditating upon my crime.
• Scout

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To Kill a Mockingbird

• Miss Caroline writes the alphabet on the board
  and Scout reads it through easily, then reads
  from her reader and the local paper. Miss
  Caroline forbids Scout to let Atticus teach her
  to read anymore. Miss Caroline tells her she can
  not read at home anymore. Scout explains she
  doesn't remember learning how to read, but it
  seems she always knew how. When Miss Caroline
  forbids her to continue reading, Scout realizes
  how important it is to her "Until I feared I
  would lose it, I never loved to read. One does
  not love breathing."

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Reading Instruction Continuum

• Programmed Instruction
• Success For All (SFA)
• Research results on the effectiveness for
  teaching comprehension strategies are mixed
• (Institute of Education Services, n.d.)
• Balanced Literacy
• In literature-rich classrooms, students perform
  better on some reading achievement measures
• (Guthrie, Schafer, Wang Afflerbach, 1995
  Johnston, Afflerbach Weiss, 1993)

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• Reading at Risk A Survey of Literary Reading in
  America
• National Endowment for the Arts
• Reading Is Declining Faster Than Before
• The findings in the report show a steady drop in
  the percentage of Americans who read books of any
  sort!
• Only 56.6 of respondents reported
• reading any type book in 2002, a decline of 7
  from the previous decade.

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The steepest decline -- and the one that the
report notes with most alarm -- has occurred
among young adults.

• The change has been particularly striking among
  those aged 18 to 24. The report says that, over
  the past two decades, the share of the adult
  population engaged in literary reading declined
  by 14 points, from 56.9 percent in 1982 to 43
  percent in 2002. But for the age 18-to-24 cohort,
  the drop has been faster, sinking from 59.8
  percent to 32.8 percent, a decline of 27 percent.

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According to a recent report by the U. S.
Department of Education,

• Approximately 2.9 million children aged 6-21 were
  identified with specific learning disabilities
  during the 2003-2004 school year.
• This figure is 14.2 higher than a decade ago.
  Current figures suggest that 1 in 5 students
  (20) of all children in school have some form of
  reading disability.

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Barely Half of High-School Graduates Have
College-Level Reading Skills (ACT Inc., the
nonprofit Iowa-based organization, report based
on the scores of 1.2 million high-school students
who took its popular college-entrance
test--Reading Between the Lines) Only 51 percent
of last year's high-school graduates who took the
ACT examination had the reading skills they
needed to succeed in college or job-training
programs, the lowest proportion in more than a
decade, according to a report scheduled for
release today. 79 of black students, 67 of
Hispanic students, and 33 of students from
families with annual incomes below 30,000 were
NOT prepared for college-level reading.
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More than 1 million K-12 students who qualify for
free or reduced-price lunches rank in the top
quartile. Expand the category to include children
whose families make less than the median U.S.
income, and the total rises to 3.4 million--more
than the entire population of Iowa. Now the bad
news nearly half of lower-income students in the
top tier in reading fall out of it by fifth
grade. As economically disadvantaged brainiacs
get older, 41 don't finish college.
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• Enjoyable activities, in contrast, are not
  natural they demand an effort that initially one
  is reluctant to make. But once the interaction
  starts to provide feedback to the persons
  skills, it usually begins to be intrinsically
  rewarding
• Csikszentmihalyi, 1990

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• Where do I find the time for not reading so many
  books? Karl Kraus

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Characteristics of Talented Readers Review of
Literature(Anderson, Higgins, Wurster, 1985
Baskin Harris, 1980 Catron Wingenbach, 1986
Dean, 1998 Dooley, 1993 Durkin, 1966 Halsted,
1994 Jackson, 1988 Kaplan, 1999 Renzulli
Reis, 1989 Savage, 1983 Southern Jones, 1992
Stanley, 1989 Trezise, 1978 Vacca, Vacca,
Grove, 1991 VanTassel-Baska, 1996)
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Many (but not all) talented readers read early.

• Read at least two grade levels above
  chronological grade placement
• Begin reading early and may be self-taught

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Talented readers enjoy the process of reading.

• Read avidly and with enjoyment
• Use reading differently for different reading
  purposes
• Demonstrate thirst for insight and knowledge
  through reading
• Pursue varied interests in texts
• View books as a way to explore the richness of
  life
• Seek and enjoy depth and complexity in reading
• Develop a deeper understanding of particular
  topics through reading
• Demonstrate preferences for non-fiction
• Pursue interest-based reading opportunities

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Talented readers have advanced language skills.

• Enjoy the subtleties and complexities of language
• Demonstrate advanced understanding of language
• Use expansive vocabulary
• Use reading to acquire a large repertoire of
  language skills
• Use language for humor
• Display verbal ability in self-expression
• Use colorful and descriptive phrasing
• Demonstrate ease in use of language

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Talented readers demonstrate advanced processing
skills.

• Retain a large quantity of information for
  retrieval
• Automatically integrate prior knowledge in
  reading
• Utilize higher-order thinking skills such as
  analysis and synthesis
• Process information and thoughts at an
  accelerated pace
• Synthesize ideas in a comprehensive way
• Perceive unusual relationships
• Grasp complex ideas and nuances

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Talented ReadersScales for Rating the
Behavioral Characteristics of Superior
Students(Renzulli Hartman Scales)

• Eagerly engages in reading related activities
• Applies previously learned literary concepts to
  new reading experiences
• Focuses on reading for an extended period of time
• Pursues advanced reading material
• Demonstrates tenacity when posed with challenging
  reading
• Shows interest in reading other types of
  interest-based reading materials
• (Reis, 2003)

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Differentiation Strategies That Can Be Used With
Talented Readers

• Curriculum Compacting
• Tiered Assignments
• Alternate Choice Assignments
• Enrichment
• Acceleration
• Higher level Questions
• Grouping Options
• Independent Study
• Research Studies
• Competitions and Mentorships
• Technology

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Karen Westbergs research at the NRC-GT found
that

• Students experienced no instructional or
  curricular differentiation in 84 of the
  activities in which they participated in
• Reading Language Arts
• Mathematics Social Studies
• Science
• (see graph on next slide)

Westberg, K. L., Archambault, F. X., Jr., Dobyns,
S. M., Salvin, T. J. (1993). An observational
study of instructional and curricular practices
used with gifted and talented students in regular
classroom (Research Monograph 93104). Storrs,
CT The National Research Center on the Gifted
and Talented, University of Connecticut.
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Types of Differentiation in Which Target Gifted
Students Were Involved
No Differentiation Advanced Content Advanced
Process Advanced Product Indep. Study w/
Assigned Topic Indep. Study w/ Self-selected
Topic Other Differentiation
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Why Not Let High Ability Students Start School in
January? The Curriculum Compacting Study

• Sally M. Reis
• Karen L. Westberg
• Jonna Kulikowich
• Florence Caillard
• Thomas Hébert
• Jonathan Plucker
• Jeanne H. Purcell
• John B. Rogers
• Julianne M. Smist
• The National Research Center on the Gifted and
  Talented

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• Approximately 40-50 of traditional classroom
  material could be eliminated for gifted students.
  When teachers eliminated as much as 50 of the
  curriculum, no differences were found between
  treatment and control groups in most content
  areas. In fact, students whose curriculum was
  compacted scored higher than control group
  students in some content areas.

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Case Studies of Talented Readers in Third and
Seventh Grade Classrooms

• National Research Center on the Gifted and
  Talented-UConn site

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Classroom Observations in 12 classrooms (grades 3
7)

• Over 140 days of observations
• Observations of academically talented readers
  also identified as academically gifted
• Observed for 8-10 days over the course of the
  year
• Wrote thick descriptive case studies about each
  classroom
• Compared the instructional and reading
  experiences of talented readers with other
  students

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Reading Instruction for Talented Readers
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Reading Instruction for Talented Readers
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Reading Instruction for Talented Readers
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The needs of talented readers are not being met!

• I try to get to them (the talented readers) at
  least once a week, but I am not always able to do
  that. You see, so many of my other students read
  below grade level that it is hard to justify not
  working with them. Many of these lower readers
  will be retained in this grade if they do not
  improve. The top group already reads at grade
  level, so I rarely have any instructional time to
  give to them.

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What is Differentiation?

• Matching the given content area with a students
  interests, abilities, and learning styles through
  various instructional strategies!

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The SEM-RTheory and Background

• The National Research Center on the Gifted and
  Talented
• (NRC/GT) 2001-2006

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Three Goals of the Schoolwide Enrichment Model
Reading (SEM-R)

• To increase enjoyment in reading
• To encourage students to pursue challenging
  independent reading
• To improve reading fluency, comprehension, and
  increase reading achievement

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The Enrichment Triad Model
(Renzulli, 1977)
Type II Group Training Activities
Type I General Exploratory Activities
Type III Individual Small Group Investigations
of Real Problems
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Key Concepts for Types I, II, III Enrichment

• Exposure to new books and genres

Self-selection and choice
Training in self-regulation and reading
strategies and skills
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Key Concepts for Kaplans Depth and Complexity

• Depth of content and ideas
• Complexity of content and ideas
• Use of non-fiction and multiple tests

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My experiences as a Middle School Language
Arts/Reading teacher

• Regular curriculum (compacted) in three days each
  week
• Two days each week for enrichment and focused,
  challenged reading or in-depth Type III projects

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Schoolwide Enrichment Triad Model Reading
Framework (SEM-R)

• Phase 1
• Advanced, high interest, read aloud book hooks
  to stimulate an interest in reading exposure and
  stimulation of interest in reading embedded
  strategy instruction
• Phase 2
• Time for supported independent reading (SIR) to
  read self-selected books at appropriately
  challenging levels Conferences with
  differentiated instruction that varies with
  students
• Phase 3
• Self-selected activity options to enhance
  engagement with reading materials, participation
  in interest centers and creative language arts
  activities, books on tape, opportunities for
  reading on the web, explorations of various
  genres and literary elements, and time for
  additional supported independent reading.

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Components of the SEM-R Framework







Increasing degree of student selection
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Phase 1

• Book Hooks High interest read alouds and
  higher order questions

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Book Lists

• Book Links Salutes A Few Good Books published in
  Book Links in January
• CCBC Choices, compiled and published by The
  Center for Childrens Books, available in
  April/May
• Childrens Choices, International Reading
  Association, published in October in The Reading
  Teacher
• Ruminator Review -Childrens Books of Distinction
  listed in the spring with the final award winners
  listed in the summer
• Notable Childrens Trade Books in the Field of
  Social Studies, published in April/May Social
  Education and available at http//www.ncss.org/res
  ources/notable/home.html
• Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children
  published in March in Science and Children and
  available at http//www.nsta.org/210
• Riverbank Reviews Childrens Books of
  Distinction at www.riverbankreview.com
• School Library Journals Best of published in
  December/January of each year
• SLJ Star Track, School Library Journal, published
  in January and August as a supplement to School
  Library Journal
• Teachers Choices, International Reading
  Association, published in November in The Reading
  Teacher
• Young Adult Choices, International Reading
  Association, published in November in the Journal
  of Reading.
• Our own list that is available on our web site.

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Teacher Read AloudGuidelines in Phase One

• Find a book you enjoy.
• Match the book to your audience.
• Use book hooks to illustrate reading strategies
• Use a range of intonations, speeds, and volumes.
• Read part of the book.
• Use book chats to scaffold higher level thinking
  skills.
• Read selections from multiple books by the same
  author.
• Change genres and styles often.
• Expose kids to great books on tape.
• Invite special guest readers.

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Reading Strategies
Paris, 2004 Keene Zimmerman,
1997 Harvey Goudvis, 2000
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Making Connections Includes

• Text to self
• A text to self connection involves the reader
  making an authentic connection between someone or
  something in the story to themselves.
• Text to world
• A text to world connection is when the reader
  makes a connection between the text and something
  that has happened or is happening in the world.
• Text to text
• A text to text connection is when the reader can
  find a commonality between two texts. In this
  case, a text is anything written, (i.e., a book,
  a poem, or a song).

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Knowledge
Making Inferences
Making Inferences
Making Connections (T-S)
Making Connections (T-W)
Synthesis
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Weekly Book Hook Theme Ideas
www.CarolHurst.com/subjects/subjects.html

• Historical Themes applied to (WW2, Hiroshima,
  Gold Rush, Pioneering, Colonialism)
• Struggle and Conflict
• Power
• Culture and Diversity
• Gender Issues
• Abstract Themes (hate, love, peace, inhumanity to
  others)

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Weekly Theme Prejudice

• Day 1

Dr. King uses interesting words in his speeches.
Give one example How would you have said the
same thing? For what purpose should someone
read these books?
(MC text to self)
(MC text to text)
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• Day 2

Why did Dr. Kings sister decide to write a book
about her brother? Did Marian Andersons
personality contribute to her success or failure?
(Making Inferences)
(MC text to text)
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• Day 3

How do the events in the passages from these two
books relate to what was going on in the world
during the stories time periods? What
questions do you have about the time period in
which these books took place? What kind of text
could you use to find answers to your questions?
(MC text to world)
(Questioning)
(MC text to text)
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• Day 4

As I read from this book, I want you to try to
picture in your mind one of the characters and
the setting in which he or she lived.
(Visualization)
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• DAY 5

Todays books are different from the books weve
book talked about earlier this week, but they
have a similar theme. How are they different?
(MC text to text)
(Synthesis)
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Phase 2

• Supported Independent Reading (SIR) using
  individual conferences and differentiated reading
  instruction

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Phase Two Goals

• Students will . . .
• Enjoy reading books of their own selection
• Read appropriately challenging books (1 to 1.5
  above their current reading level)
• Develop self-regulation skills to enable all
  students to read appropriately challenging books
  for at least 25-35 minutes each day
• Have individualized reading strategy instruction

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Reading Strategies vs. Reading Skills

• Reading skills instruction in the following
• Word identification
• Fluency
• Vocabulary and Comprehension
• Study skills
• Reading strategies process where the reader
  interacts with the text to create meaning

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Reading Conferences

• Teachers can differentiate
• The conversation structure, content tone
• Strategies used by teachers
• Responses of students

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Conferencing and Individualized Instruction

• What book are you reading?
• What made you interested in this book?
• Would you read a few pages/paragraphs to me?
• What do you do when you encounter a word you do
  not know?
• How can you try to interpret the meaning of this
  section of text?
• How would the book be different
• if the main character was a
• woman instead of a man?

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Supported Independent Reading is not sustained
silent reading
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Without discipline, there's no life at all.

• If you always do what interests you, at least
  one person is pleased.

Katharine Hepburn
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Comprehension Includes

• Constructing meaning
• Text to self
• Text to world
• Text to text

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Self-Regulated Learning

• Zimmerman (1989) defines self-regulated learning
  as involving the regulation of three general
  aspects of academic learning.
• First, self-regulation of behavior
• active control of various resources students have
  available- such as time, study environment-where
  they study
• use of peers and faculty members to help
• Second, self-regulation of motivation and affect
• controlling and changing motivational beliefs
  such as self-efficacy and goal orientation
• controlling emotions and affect in
• ways that improve learning.
• Third, self-regulation of cognition
• control of various cognitive
• strategies for learning such as the
• deep processing strategies for better
• learning and increased performance.

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Rules for SIR

• You must have a book to read
• If you arent enjoying a book and have given it a
  fair chance (10 pages!), ask someone to help you
  choose a new one.
• Remain in your reading area during SIR
• Only reading is happening
• Books must be appropriately challenging
• Do your best reading the whole time

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SEM-R Components








Increasing degree of student selection
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Phase 3

• Self-selected interest and choice components

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Independent Projects

• Build on student interest
• Encourage independence
• Allow work with complex and abstract ideas
• Enable long-term and in-depth work on topics of
  interest
• Develop task commitment and self-regulation
• Teach planning and research skills at advanced
  levels

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What is Renzulli Learning?http//www.renzullilear
ning.com/

• Renzulli Learning matches students interests,
  product and learning styles to thousands of
  enriched, challenging opportunities on-line, and
  matches kids to books in their area of interest
  at appropriate levels of challenge.

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The Total Talent Portfolio
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Renzulli Learning--currently over 35,000
enrichment activities.

• A dozen (or more) teaching assistants can enable
  you to challenge each student both in school and
  at home

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Research

• Plimoth Plantation Online Learning Center
• Find out firsthand about the first Thanksgiving.
  Learn how historians decide what is fact and
  fiction using primary sources. Share what you
  have learned online for everyone to see.
• Within These Walls
• Historians use clues to understand the past. Use
  the clues in this house to learn about its
  history just like the professionals do!

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Critical Thinking Activities
Ancient Egypt Discovery Case Explore ancient
Egypt through an interactive discovery case full
of materials including an interactive timeline,
Egyptian hieroglyphs and a map of ancient Egypt.
Learn about the pyramids, burial customs, Gods
and Goddesses, and much more. http//www.dnr.sta
te.wi.us/org/caer/ce/eek/nature/track.htm Students
who are interested in nature can study animal
tracks and learn how to track certain species.
This site presents a mystery which students solve
by examining animal tracks.
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Contests Competitions

• Hundreds of contests competitions
• Based on students interests
• Using authentic methods of research and inquiry
• Writing, Math, Science, History, Technology,
  Debate, and the list goes on

Young Inventors! The Young Inventors Awards
Program is open to all students in grades 2-8 in
the United States. Students must work to conceive
and design their tool inventions.
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Book Resources

• Fiction and non-fiction books to match readers
  different interests
• E-books can motivate reluctant readers
• How-to books are a resource for independent
  projects

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E-books Books available to read online
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

• CHAPTER ONE
• "Christmas won't be Christmas without any
  presents," grumbled Jo, lying on the rug. "It's
  so dreadful to be poor!" sighed Meg, looking down
  at her old dress. "I don't think it's fair for
  some girls to have plenty of pretty things, and
  other girls nothing at all, added little Amy,
  with an injured sniff.

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Self-regulation in reading and task commitment in
reading

• Challenge vs. comfort
• Ability of students to enjoy challenge and
  develop self-regulation in reading appropriately
  challenging material

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The Right Match
In the beginning my kids looked at me as if I had
two heads when I took the books away from them
and told them that they were reading a book that
was too easy for them.

• 4th grade treatment teacher

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The individual conferences were so helpful. My
average to above average readers really surprised
me. They went beyond what I ever thought they
could do with advanced thinking skills and
questioning skills.
5th grade treatment teacher
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In the beginning, I did not realize how much
middle of the road reading instruction I did and
how few of my kids I really challenged.

• 4th grade treatment teacher

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Schoolwide Enrichment ModelReading Framework

• Results

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Cluster-Randomized Studies

• Major urban areas, as well as suburban areas,
  with random assignment of students and teachers
• SEM-R Implemented during one hour of LA/Reading/
  literacy time slot of one hour
• (Publications in Elementary School Journal
• Journal of Educational Research, Educational
  Leadership, Journal for the Education of the
  Gifted )

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Pre and Post Assessments

• Measures of Oral Reading Fluency
• Elementary Reading Attitude Survey
• Iowa Test of Basic Skills
• Reading Interests
• Self-regulation

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• Resolve to edge in a little reading every day, if
  it is but a single sentence. If you gain fifteen
  minutes a day, it will make itself felt at the
  end of the year.
• Horace Mann

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Differences between SEM-R and other Reading
Programs

• Focus on the joy found in reading
• Increasing levels of challenge in reading
• Can be used in conjunction with other programs
• Increased self-regulation in reading
• Acknowledging and celebrating students interests
• Deeper more complex conversations about reading
• Higher level thinking skills and questioning
• Individualized instruction on a regular basis 2-4
  times each week during Phase 2
• Freedom to choose activities and reading!

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Phase Three and Four ImplementationSEM-R

• Implemented in four elementary and one middle
  suburban and urban schools (5 months)
• Implemented in five elementary schools (5 months)
• Random assignment of students and teachers
• Taught one hour of a two hour Language Arts class
• Significant differences in reading fluency and
  achievement on the DRP across both years

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Self-regulation in reading and task commitment in
reading

• Challenge vs. comfort
• Ability of students to enjoy challenge and
  develop self-regulation in reading appropriately
  challenging material

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Findings related to self-regulation in and task
commitment in reading

• Pre Post
• 10 95
• 30-40 minutes of 30-40 minutes of
• reading a day reading a day

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SEM-R--After School Program Reading Fluency Test
Scores for Talented Reader before and after the
SEM-R Intervention
Beth 21 points Brad 24 points Harry 39
points Reading Fluency Scores (students at
the 90th percentile) Norms for Grade 3-Fall
(130) Winter (147)Spring (163) Increase 33
points
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Strategies to Challenge Talented Readers

• High interest teacher book hooks
• Freedom, but guidance to select appropriately
  challenging books--advanced content in areas of
  personal interest--some supported struggle
  daily--early intervention
• Quiet space during regularly scheduled time to
  read without distraction
• Trial and reflection about specific reading
  strategies use
• Teacher/researcher persistence in asking higher
  order questions and providing wait time for
  thoughtful responses
• Reflection and practice and follow-up reflection
  on self-regulation strategies used for
  challenging reading

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We do not need to burn books to kill our
civilization we need only to leave them unread
for a generation.

• R. M. Hutchins

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Research-based strategies to challenge talented
readers
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For more information

• See our web page on SEM-R
• www.renzullilearning.com
• SEM-R Book (at cost recovery only)
• www.creativelearningpress.com
• Most importantly what will you do?
• What actions will you take?
• Thank you very much!

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Tests Have Been Blamed for a Decline in Reading
for Pleasure

• Children are spending less time reading for
  pleasure, new research shows, because the
  relentless focus on tests and targets has
  squeezed storytelling and joy of reading out of
  schools, according to a recent 5 year study.
• Sarah Cassidy, Education Reporter, The Daily
  Independent

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What is Reading?

• a complex and purposeful sociocultural,
  cognitive, and linguistic process in which
  readers simultaneously use their knowledge of
  spoken and written language, their knowledge of
  the topic of the text, and their knowledge of
  their culture to construct meaning with text.
• (National Council of Teachers of English, 2004)

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What is Needed to Teach Reading?

• Teachers must have a strong knowledge of
  multiple methods for teaching reading and a
  strong knowledge of the children in their care so
  they can create the appropriate balance of
  methods needed for the children they teach.
• (International Reading Association, 1999, p.1).

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A recent study in reading conducted at our
daughters high school shocked and saddened us.

• Students in all levels of classes (including
  honors classes) were concerned about their own
  reading, explaining that they
• can not concentrate for very long when reading
• are confused by long and complex sentences
• can not identify main ideas
• have limited vocabulary that adversely affects
  their reading and writing

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In the same study, students in all level classes
reported that they

• have difficulty spelling multisyllabic words
• can not determine which word to use if the word
  is a homophone
• have difficulty writing anything of substance
  because of poor spelling and vocabulary
• cannot begin to write a passage without assistance