612 Reading Intervention Teacher Academy

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6-12 Reading Intervention TeacherAcademy
Effective Literacy Instruction

• Session 8
• Instructional
• Practices to Engage Students
• in Thoughtful Literacy

Students
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Thoughtful Literacy

• Think about a unit you teach in your
  classroomWhat are the big ideas you want
  students to understand at the end of the unit?

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• Thoughtful literacy is more than remembering
  what the text said. It is engaging the ideas in
  texts, challenging those ideas, reflecting on
  them, and so on.

Richard Allington, 2006, p. 135 What Really
Matters for Struggling Readers
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• For centuries, the central question directed at
  the young has been, How much do you remember? The
  proper questions for this era are, Whats going
  on here? Why? Where is it likely to take us and
  what should we be doing?

Marion Brady, 2008, p. 66 Cover the material or
teach students to think? Educational Leadership,
65(5)
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Consider this

• How do we continue to cover our curriculum while
  engaging students in thoughtful literacy
  activities?

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Way-in Texts

• Ellin Oliver Keene uses way-in texts to build
  background knowledge (schema) and provide a way
  in to understanding more abstract, concept- and
  vocabulary-laden texts.

Ellin Oliver Keene, 2007, p. 28 The Essence of
Understanding in Adolescent Literacy Turning
Promise into Practice
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Shared Think Aloud
Richard Allington, 2006, p. 115-116 What Really
Matters for Struggling Readers
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Way in with students

• Read about Ellin Keenes experience on pages 28
  (begin at the bottom of the page with I used)
  through page 31 (stopping at What does it Mean to
  Understand?)
• How does Ellin Keene promote thoughtful literacy
  with her students in this vignette?

Ellin Oliver Keene, 2007, p. 27-38 The Essence of
Understanding in Adolescent Literacy Turning
Promise into Practice
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Thoughtful Literacy Activities
The following are some activities to consider
when planning instruction to engage students in
thoughtful literacy

• Circles of Reflection
• Three Degrees of . . .
• The Most Valuable Idea
• Anchor Questions

Kelly Gallagher, 2004, pp. 148-166 Deeper
Reading Comprehending Challenging Texts, 4-12
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Circles of Reflection

• when leading students to reflect on the
  important issues found in and beyond their texts,
  it can help to think of reflection in terms of
  layers.
• Self
• Family
• Peers
• Community
• Country
• Humankind

Humankind
Country
Community
Peers
Family
Self
Family
Peers
Community
Country
Humankind
Kelly Gallagher, 2004, pp. 157 Deeper Reading
Comprehending Challenging Texts, 4-12
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Three Degrees of . . .

• Students are asked to consider a big idea or
  central theme of a unit or text and determine
  degrees or levels of examples relating to that
  idea.
• For example
• Murder All degrees of murder are horrible, but
  the law provides for degrees of murder
• Manslaughter
• 2nd degree murder
• 1st degree murder

Kelly Gallagher, 2004 Deeper Reading
Comprehending Challenging Texts, 4-12
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The Most Valuable Idea

• Students are asked to identify the most valuable
  idea of a text or unit and complete the following

Kelly Gallagher, 2004 Deeper Reading
Comprehending Challenging Texts, 4-12
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Anchor Questions

• One way to engage students in learning
  activities is to provide an anchor question for
  them to consider while they are reading and
  discussing various topics.
• Some examples might include
• What does it mean to be a responsible adult in a
  democratic society?
• Are wars avoidable?

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Three Degreesof Thoughtful Literacy

• Thinking about your classroom, what will it look
  like to have students engaged in meaningful
  activities leading to thoughtful literacy? Rank
  the activities from the lowest level of
  engagement to the highest level of engagement
• Chart and present your Three Degrees

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Putting the pieces together

• In your notebook, write one activity you will
  add to your classroom practices that will engage
  students in thoughtful literacy.

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References

• Allington, R. (2006). What really matters for
  struggling readers. Boston, MA Pearson.
• Brady, M. (2008). Cover the material or teach
  students to think? Educational Leadership, 65(5),
  54-67.
• Gallagher, K. (2004). Deeper reading
  Comprehending challenging texts, 4-12. Portland,
  ME Stenhouse.
• Keene, E. O. (2007). The essence of
  understanding. In Beers, K., Probst, R. E.,
  Rief, L. (Eds.). Adolescent literacy Turning
  promise into practice (pp. 27-38). Portsmouth,
  NH Heinemann.