Learning from the Data: Reading and Writing for Learning

1
(No Transcript)
2
Moving All Students to Literacy Proficiency

• Five Goals to Implement

3

• Introducing the five goals

4
Five school-wide goals will make a difference

• Read 25 books
• Write weekly
• Use reading and writing strategies
• Write research papers
• Teach all ELA classes as if gifted

5
All students will read the equivalent of 25 books
per year across the curriculum to increase their
understanding of the content of all classes.
6
(No Transcript)
7
Reading is the single most important social
factor in American life today.

1. The more you read, the more you know.
2. The more you know, the smarter you grow.
3. The smarter you are, the longer you stay in
   school.
4. The longer you stay in school, the more diplomas
   you earn and the longer you are employedthus the
   more money you earn in a lifetime.
5. The more diplomas you earn, the higher your
   childrens grades will be in school.
6. The more diplomas you earn, the longer you live.

8
The opposite is also true.

• The less you read, the less you know.
• The less you know, the sooner you drop out of
  school.
• The sooner you drop out, the sooner and longer
  you are poor.
• The sooner you drop out, the greater your chances
  of going to jail.

9
Poverty and illiteracy are the parents of
desperation and imprisonment.

• 82 of prison inmates are school dropouts.
• Inmates are twice as likely to be in bottom
  levels of literacy.
• 60 of inmates are illiterate.

10
Where are we now?

• Less than half of high school seniors score high
  enough to be ready for college, but two-thirds
  attempt to go.
• 80 of college faculty report that entering
  freshmen cannot read well enough to do college
  work.
• About one-third of seniors and one-fourth of 8th
  graders are proficient readers.

11
Describing the proficient reader

• through SREBs assessment

12
To raise their reading skills and to increase
understanding of the content of all classes,

• Students must
• read more and a wider range of materials.
• read both fiction and non-fiction, including
  technical manuals and journal and magazine
  articles.
• prepare written reports.
• make oral presentations.
• perform tasks that are described in the text.
• Teachers should
• assign reading appropriate to the course content.
  
• expect students to demonstrate understanding of
  what they read.
• give students choice in the selection of
  materials.

13
Can we ask students to read more?
14
Reading more scoring higher

• High School
• Seniors who read an assigned book outside class
  and report on the main ideas several times during
  the year score 26 points higher than those who
  dont.
• Students who read at least two hours outside
  class each week score 11 points higher.
• Students who read at least five books in English
  scored 15 points higher.
• 500-point scale

15
Reading more scoring higher

• Middle Grades
• Eighth-graders who read 11 or more books each
  year score 35 points higher than those who read
  none.
• Students who read an hour outside of school each
  day score 16 points higher. ½ hour 12 points
• Those who read an assigned book outside class and
  demonstrated understanding only once per semester
  score 9 points higher.
• 300-point scale

16
But teachers arent asking students to read
Number Middle Grades High School
None 47 33
1-2 28 36
3-5 12 18
6-8 7 7
9 7 5
17
Why dont we ask students to read more?

• Believe students arent good readers
• Believe students dont have time
• Believe that reading detracts from teaching my
  content
• Lack of materials
• Teachers arent readers
• Sage on stage

18
Do students have time to read?
19
Do students have time to read?

• High School
• 44 of the students watch TV three or more hours
  per day
• 7 percent watch over 6 hours!
• Middle Grades
• 51 watch TV or play computer games three or more
  hours each school day.
• 17 watch over 5 hours!

20
Do The Math

• Goal of 25 books
• Average reading rate 250 words per minute
• 500 words per page
• 100 pages per book
• 175 school days
• equals
• less than 30 minutes per day to reach goal!

21
All students will write weekly in all classes to
help them understand and use the content of their
classes.
22
Writing is not a special language that belongs to
English teachers and a few other sensitive souls
who have a gift for words.Writing is the
logical arrangement of thought. It enables us to
find out what we know, and what we dont know,
about whatever were trying to learn.
William Zinsser
23
Focusing on the goal
Students will write weekly in all classes.
24
To raise their writing skills and use them to
increase and demonstrate understanding of the
content of all classes,

• Students must
• Complete short writing assignments each week.
• Write something everyday.
• Write in multiple formats for different audiences
  and purposes.
• Revise their writing frequently.
• Understand the standards for good writing.
• Examine models of good writing.
• Use word processing in the writing process.
• Teachers should
• assign writing appropriate to the course content.
  
• expect students to demonstrate good writing
  skills.
• give students choice in what they write.

25
Why is this goal important?
26

• Writing across the curriculum is about a method
  of discovering and uncovering knowledge.
• Nonfiction writing is the key to adult success.
• Writing is required in every postsecondary class.
• Writing is required in virtually all professions.
• Writing is the number one thinking skill.
• Our future is technology.

27
Where are we now?

• About one-fourth of the students complete short
  writing assignments no more than once a semester.
• Over one-third of the seniors went through the
  writing process no more than once a year.
• Nearly half of the students never completed a
  joint writing assignment for English and another
  class.
• One-third of the CTE students said they never
  wrote in CTE classes.

28
Why dont we ask students to write more?

• Believe students arent good writers
• Believe it isnt necessary
• Believe that reading detracts from teaching my
  content
• Lack of good assignments
• Teachers arent writers
• Lack of confidence in scoring

29
Types of writing

• Writing to learn
• Writing to demonstrate learning
• Authentic writing

30
Ways to address problem

• Someone has to teach process
• Begin with group writing
• Models
• Student choice
• Rubrics
• Technology

31
Revise writing to improve quality

• Key is to make students careauthentic writing
• Student ownership
• Peer review
• Publishing
• Electronic tools

32
Write explanations

• Writing-to-demonstrate learning
• In-depth, conceptual learning
• Test preparation
• Logs, journals, notebooks
• Open-response on every test
• Strategies to respond
• Graphic organizers
• Understand question

33
Use a word processor

• Drafting
• Revising
• Publishing

34
All students will use reading and writing
strategies to help them understand and use the
content of all classes.
35

• Close to 50 of students say their teachers never
  or seldom show strategies for understanding what
  they read

36
All students will write research papers in all
classes.
37
Research involves a process

• Define the question
• Locate information
• Evaluate quality of information
• Summarize and paraphrase information
• Combine information in a logical piece of writing
• Organize for purpose and audience
• Document sources

38
Teachers must share the stage so that students
become experts!
39
To be successful, schools must design

• Research continuum
• Schoolwide style guide
• Common rubric
• Shared papers across classes
• Alternating schedule

40
All students will be taught as if they were in
honors English classes.
41
(No Transcript)
42
What does this mean?

• Read 10-12 books annually, including assigned
  summer reading.
• Make an oral or written report on each book read.
• Participate in some type of writing-to-learn
  activity daily.
• Complete at least one formal research paper
  annually.
• Demonstrate what they have learned in writing or
  in an oral or group presentation each week.
• Develop a minimum of one piece of authentic
  writing addressed to an outside audience each
  month.
• Participate in a cooperative learning team at
  least once each week.
• Review and critique others work at least once a
  month.

43
Pulling it all together
Making a plan that can be accomplished. Making a
commitment that we will do the work.