Literacy Leader blogs Read gooder en On the Use of Leveled Text <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Recently, there’s been a lot of discussion going around reading circles about the use of leveled text. The argument centers on the question: “Should students read grade-level complex text, or should they read text at their instructional or independent levels?”</p> <p>Dr. Timothy Shanahan strongly supports the use of complex text for the following reasons:</p> <p>1.     Easier text is not more motivating.</p> <p>2.     Not all texts need to be at an instructional level.</p> <p>3.     Text level is not the only feature of the learning situation that can be varied.</p> <p>4.     More challenging text will not disrupt kids’ development of decoding skills.</p> <p>Personally, I find Shanahan’s reasoning for the reading of complex text convincing; however, I find the research that he has used to support his position compelling. You can read <a href="">his blog</a> (there are actually many that he has written on complex text) and decide for yourself, but be sure that you don’t skip the references Shanahan has listed that support his position and compare it to the research basis in articles you find in support of using leveled text.</p> <p>But that’s not really what concerns me here.</p> <p>What concerns me is that we are more interested in the debate about using leveled text than we are about teaching all students to read at grade level, thus eliminating the discussion altogether.</p> <p>We have 40 years of research (and brain imaging studies) that identifies good reading instruction. In a her keynote address at the 2016 Literacy Symposium, Dr. Louisa Moats highlighted this “settled science” that is supported by an overwhelming amount of scientific research.  Science has identified how children learn to read, why some children have difficulty with reading, and how to prevent reading failure. Science has also identified reading programs that contradict the research, yet teachers continue to use these programs.</p> <p>In a recent meta-analysis of the reading research, the<a href=""> National Reading Panel </a>(2000) listed phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension as the critical areas for developing grade-level readers. You may wonder why research conducted in 2000 is considered recent. <strong>It is because the science is settled; we don’t need to continue to research what we know is true.</strong></p> <p>We have assessments that help us identify a potential reading difficulty even before the child begins reading. We have diagnostic assessments that guide the instruction that each child needs in order to become a grade-level reader. Teachers have access to a wealth of literacy resources.</p> <p>So why are we still debating the appropriate use of leveled text?</p> <p>Why aren’t we teaching children how to proficiently read grade-level text? </p> </div></div></div><span class="vocabulary field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-5 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><h2 class="field-label">Blog Topic:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="vocabulary-list"><li class="vocabulary-links field-item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/34">Reading Instruction</a></li></ul></span> Fri, 12 Aug 2016 16:13:42 +0000 Robi Alstrom 771 at Back-to-School Reading <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p class="p1">Looking for a good book to spark your passion for reading instruction for the new school year? I recommend <i>Reading Reconsidered: A Practical Guide to Rigorous Literacy Instruction</i> by Doug Lemov, Colleen Driggs and Erica Woolway. <img alt="" height="226" src="" style="float: right; margin: 10px;" width="168" /></p> <p class="p2">You may recognize Doug Lemov as the author of <i>Teach Like a Champion,</i> but the part of the cover that you don’t want to miss is that this is <b><i>A Practical Guide</i></b>. Not only have the authors identified the critical concepts and skills for rigorous literacy instruction, they have done so in a way that makes it easy for teachers to implement the strategies in their classrooms. If it’s not enough that the authors have defined the skills students (and teachers) need to master, provided specific examples using commonly taught texts, and included an appendix of useful tools, they have also included a DVD, so teachers can see the strategies and activities in action. Plus, the strategies have been field-tested in Uncommon Schools, urban charter schools with great track records of student success.</p> <p class="p2"><i>Reading Reconsidered</i> is divided into two sections: The Core of the Core and The Fundamentals. The Core of the Core identifies those concepts that the authors feel are gaps in current literacy instruction but necessary for success in college and in life. According to Lemov, Driggs and Woolway, this success can be achieved if students “read harder texts, close read texts rigorously and intentionally, read more nonfiction more effectively, and write more effectively in direct response to text.” Therefore, the first four chapters address text selection, close reading, reading nonfiction, using and building background knowledge, and writing for reading. Each chapter is made up of five modules identifying how to build reading skills in each area. The module approach makes this book a perfect fit for PLC study.</p> <p class="p2">Part two focuses on critical elements of literacy instruction and on creating independent readers: The Fundamentals. In this section, the authors discuss approaches to reading,  the challenge of supporting fluency and decoding, vocabulary instruction, reading systems, and ideas for creating students who possess intellectual autonomy. Lemov, Driggs, and Woolway identify the obstacles to comprehension in order to understand how to provide instruction that overcomes those obstacles. <i>Reading Reconsidered </i>provides comprehensive coverage of the topics necessary for building the skills of independent readers at all ages.</p> <p class="p2">Tired of hearing about declining reading scores across the country? Together we can do something about it. <i>Reading Reconsidered</i> can help teachers develop students who read with “rigor, independence, precision, and insight.” And better readers become better thinkers. Pick up a copy and give it a try. Better yet, get your colleagues to read it with you.</p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p2"> </p> </div></div></div><span class="vocabulary field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-5 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><h2 class="field-label">Blog Topic:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="vocabulary-list"><li class="vocabulary-links field-item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/34">Reading Instruction</a></li></ul></span> Fri, 08 Jul 2016 19:22:08 +0000 Robi Alstrom 770 at Reading Fluency: Don't Just Weigh the Pig <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Reading Fluency: Don’t Just Weigh the Pig Imagine that you are a pig farmer. Before you take your pig to market for sale, you want the fattest pig possible. However, weighing the pig everyday will not make the pig fatter. In order for the pig to gain weight, you have to feed the pig a healthy and appropriate diet. The same is true for reading fluency. Kansas College and Career Readiness Promising Practices state to “Engage the five essential components of reading (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension) at all grade levels based on individual student needs.” The Kansas Standards recognize that all five components are vital for reading achievement; however, fluency seems to be the component of reading that is the most misunderstood. Let’s look at some common misconceptions. Misconception #1: Faster reading is better reading. Fluency plays a dual role in reading: It is both a measure of decoding proficiency and a bridge to comprehension. If a student has mastered the sub-skills of reading, she will read with automaticity, and this automaticity frees up cognitive desk space, so the mind has time to think about what is being read. According to G. Reid Lyon, “Fluency is the ability to read connected text rapidly, smoothly, effortlessly, and automatically with little conscious attention to the mechanics of reading such as decoding.” As such, fluency is not an end in itself. Rather, it provides assessment of foundational skills and gives students the gift of time for constructing meaning from the text. Therefore, a comprehension check allows the teacher to determine if the student is reading fluently enough to comprehend even if she is below benchmark on a timed reading measure. Misconception #2: All dysfluent readers require the same intervention. There is always an underlying cause for a reader to lack fluency, so the reading interventionist often needs to put on his detective hat and make use of diagnostic assessments. Rather than merely looking at words read correct per minute, teachers need to pay special attention to accuracy as well. Students who are inaccurate generally need a reading intervention that involves instruction in phonological awareness or phonics. Students who are slow but accurate do not need a sound-based intervention but need assistance in producing automaticity of word recognition. Repeated readings, multiple exposures to words and multi-sensory techniques should be part of the intervention strategy. In addition, using a grid to practice phoneme-grapheme (sound to letter) mapping also increases fluency. Measures of early childhood literacy also provide insight into the type of intervention needed: problems with identifying the first letter name in a word point to a difficulty in the orthographic processor (the world of symbols) while problems in identifying the first sound in a word point to difficulty in the phonological processor (the world of sound). Furthermore, fluency is also affected by a student’s knowledge of vocabulary, sentence structure and text structure. Misconception #3: Fluency assessment and instruction look the same. While standard procedures should always be followed when administering an oral reading fluency assessment or a reading curriculum-based measure, instruction is not the same as assessment. First, the student does not need to be timed when reading to practice becoming a more fluent reader, and having the student read an entire passage (rather than just one-minute’s worth) helps a student see the relationship between decoding and making meaning from text. Immediate corrective feedback and later mini-lessons that provide an explanation of why the word is pronounced the way it is are both helpful. In addition, repeated reading contributes to forming neural pathways for quicker retrieval; however, four readings are usually sufficient. In addition, teachers can also create speed drills on the sub-skills of reading for practice in fluency. This may involve automatic reading of letters, letter combinations, sight words, words with a particular pattern, or phrases. When it comes to reading intervention, think like a pig farmer. Design an appropriate “diet” of intervention for your struggling readers that fits their specific needs, and feed them every day with a variety of fluency-building activities. Don’t just weigh the pig.</p> <iframe allowfullscreen="" src="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe> </div></div></div> Mon, 13 Jun 2016 14:42:44 +0000 Robi Alstrom 769 at Inflection or Inflection? <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Inflection or Inflection?</p> <p>Typically, when most teachers hear or read the word inflection, they think of the change in pitch or loudness of the voice in speech. But when the word inflection is used in the Common Core State Standards, this meaning doesn’t make sense. Let’s look at Kindergarten Language standard 4b:</p> <p>L.K.4b: Use the most frequently occurring inflections and affixes (e.g., -ed, -s, re-, un-, pre-. –ful. –less) as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word.</p> <p>From the context of this standard, it’s clear that pitch or loudness won’t help us determine the meanings of unknown words in English. Instead the definition for inflection used in the CCSS is “a type of bound morpheme; a grammatical ending that does not change the part of speech of a word but that marks its tense, number, or degree in English” (Moats &amp; Tolman, 2009).</p> <p>Let’s take a closer look at this definition.</p> <p>morpheme<br /> A morpheme is a unit of speech that carries meaning. So in the word cat, there is one morpheme: cat. The meaning carried by the morpheme cat is a little furry pet that is aloof until you try to walk somewhere then it is always underfoot. But the word cats has two morphemes: cat (the furry pet) and -s, which tells us that there is more than one.</p> <p>bound<br /> There are two types of morphemes: free and bound. A free morpheme can stand by itself as a word; this is often called a base word. In our example, cat is a free morpheme, but -s is a bound morpheme, which cannot stand alone as a word even though it still holds meaning.</p> <p>grammatical ending<br /> An inflection is a grammatical ending (aka suffix), so we know that it will be attached to the end of a root or base. A base is a free morpheme that can stand by itself, but a root is a bound morpheme that needs an affix in order to create a word. Teach is a base to which I can add the affix –er to make teacher. However, in the word visible, vis is a root that is not a word by itself until I added the suffix –ible.</p> <p>does not change the part of speech<br /> There are two types of suffixes: inflectional and derivational. Inflections do not change the part of speech, but derivational suffixes do. Here are some examples of derivational suffixes:<br /> fame (noun) + -ous = famous (adjective)<br /> graduate (verb) + -ation = graduation (noun)<br /> peace (noun) + -ful = peaceful (adjective) + -ly = peacefully (adverb)<br /> identity (noun) + -ify = identify (verb)</p> <p>number<br /> Number refers to singular or plural, so the inflections that indicate number are –s and –es. These inflections are added to nouns to make them plural but are added to verbs to make them singular.</p> <p>tense<br /> Inflections that indicate tense are –ed and –ing.</p> <p>degree<br /> Finally, degree is used when comparing two or more items. We use the comparative –er when comparing only two items but use the superlative –est when comparing more than two entities. Notice that the word smart is an adjective, and this doesn’t change when I add the comparative or superlative ending: smarter and smartest are still adjectives.</p> <p>Therefore, when you see the word inflection used in the Common Core State Standards, rather than thinking about the rise and fall of the voice in speech, know that it refers to suffixes that do not change the part of speech of the base word.</p> <p>Reference<br /> Moats, Louisa C., &amp; Carol Tolman (2009). The challenge of learning to read (2nd<br /> edition). Sopris West Educational Services: Boston. </p> </div></div></div> Thu, 26 May 2016 20:44:24 +0000 Robi Alstrom 767 at The Moves That Matter: The Art of Argumentation <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>The Moves That Matter: The Art of Argumentation<br /> Whenever I think of arguments, I think of Mark Bradshaw. Although there are other reasons I connect Mark with argumentation, he shared a great little resource for writing argumentative essays called They Say, I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein. Based on the premise that good writers enter existing conversations, They Say, I Say provides students with the “moves” needed for writing argumentation and scaffolds the process using templates with the goal of demystifying academic writing.<br /> Just like good athletes work on their “moves” for a game, student writers need to practice the “moves” that create convincing arguments. For both the athlete and the writer, with enough practice their moves become automatic and no longer require conscious effort.<br /> So, what are these moves?<br /> Move #1: Start with what others say<br /> Argumentation by nature is part of an ongoing dialog. Therefore, students need to view their writing as entering an existing conversation that gives background for their essays. By starting with what others say, the student identifies the larger discussion surrounding the topic and introduces her response within that context. Other moves for introducing the topic include using an illustrative quotation, a revealing fact or statistic, or a relevant anecdote.<br /> Move #2: Summarizing<br /> The art of summarizing in an argumentative essay involves a balance between what others are saying and the writer’s own focus. The summary should reflect the original author’s stance while anticipating the student’s own slant in order to prepare the reader for the essay’s claims. In addition, the writer aligns opposing views for relevancy and avoids list summaries.<br /> Move #3: Use quotations as proof of evidence.<br /> According to Graff and Birkenstein, “Quoting someone else’s words gives a tremendous amount of credibility to your summary and helps ensure that it is fair and accurate” (p. 42). However, writers should choose quotations carefully and not let them speak for themselves. Instead, students should create “quotation sandwiches” with the quote surrounded by introductory and explanatory statements.<br /> Move #4: Use signal verbs that match the strength of the statement.<br /> When introducing summaries or quotations, good writers choose strong verbs that equal the author’s conviction. Does the author merely “believe” something to be true or does she “insist” on its veracity?<br /> Move #5: State your thesis.<br /> Even though the writer begins with another person’s position, he should state whether he agrees or disagrees with that position and directly move to his thesis statement. Having created the context for the discussion, the writer identifies where he stands in the conversation and proceeds to offer evidence in support of his opinion, further anticipating potential objections with sound reasoning. As the writer accomplishes this, he uses “voice markers” to identify various positions.<br /> Move #6: Connect the parts.<br /> Good writers use transitions and other connective devices, including pointing words, repetition of key terms, and rewording.<br /> Move #7: Create your own voice.<br /> Students can maintain the rigor and precision of academic writing while still inserting their own voice into the writing. In doing so, students must keep audience and purpose in mind.<br /> Move #8: Say why it matters.<br /> Writers should address the relevance and importance of their content by answering “So what?” and “Who cares?” directly in their argumentative essay. Even though the writer’s position is supported with evidence, the relevance of the issue should be framed in a manner that makes the reader care about the thesis. If possible, the essay might contain a real-world application or create a sense of urgency.<br /> In They Say, I Say, Graff and Birkenstein present good instruction for argumentative essays and provide exemplars and templates for developing “an arsenal of basic moves” that matter in academic writing. Beyond writing achievement, however, the authors help students develop critical thinking and their ability to consider topics from different perspectives: to become “a critical, intellectual thinker who, instead of sitting passively on the sidelines, can participate in the debates and conversations of our world in an active and empowered way”( p. 13).</p> </div></div></div><span class="vocabulary field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-5 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><h2 class="field-label">Blog Topic:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="vocabulary-list"><li class="vocabulary-links field-item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/33">Writing Argument</a></li></ul></span> Thu, 05 May 2016 18:46:29 +0000 Robi Alstrom 766 at Where It All Begins: Oral Language <div class="field field-name-upload field-type-file field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><table class="sticky-enabled"> <thead><tr><th>Attachment</th><th>Size</th> </tr></thead> <tbody> <tr class="odd"><td><span class="file"><img class="file-icon" alt="PDF icon" title="application/pdf" src="/modules/file/icons/application-pdf.png" /> <a href="" type="application/pdf; length=1162417" title="Oral Language Blog cards.pdf">Oral Language Activities</a></span></td><td>1.11 MB</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>With the push for higher standards of academic achievement, teachers sometimes forget that oral language is the foundation for all literacy skills. As a result, when planning instruction, teachers should begin by looking at the Common Core Standards for Speaking and Listening.</p> <p>At the very early stages of academic preparation, young children need opportunities to express themselves verbally, both in free play and with more structured academic content. Teachers should create opportunities for children to talk with a partner and with a large group about academic content in order to stretch oral language skills and develop vocabulary. Simply having students turn and talk to a partner, after some thinking time, provides the opportunity to express ideas orally. In large group discussions, teachers can help develop oral literacy by developing structures for students to respond to other students. Starter stems will help students get started in sharing their ideas.</p> <p>Teachers can also ensure student engagement in listening to each other by creating gestures that demonstrate what students are thinking about their classmates’ ideas. Students indicate that they are thinking the same thing by extending the thumb and pinky and making a motion between themselves and the student who is speaking. The hand with all fingers extended can be rotated back and forth to express uncertainty: indicating that the student needs more clarification. Thumbs up indicates a great idea that I hadn’t thought about, and two fingers can be used to indicate that I agree but have something to add to the points already made.</p> <p>In addition, teachers need to challenge students to be very intentional about the language choices they make. Using college talk is one way to accomplish this. Teachers replace common things that they say with academic language. Instead of telling students to stop talking, the teacher could say, “Terminate the conversation,” or ask students to “classify” objects or words rather than sort them. Teachers should also encourage students to find and use $10 words.</p> <p>Another easy technique that addresses the standards is the ACE question-answering strategy. A stands for Answer the Question. Students should change the question into a statement and use complete sentences. C is Cite the Evidence. Students provide evidence or demonstrate their reasoning. And E asks the student to explain, evaluation or extend his thinking. Creating a routine like this encourages students to continually be looking for evidence or the reasoning they used to determine an answer to a question and leads to paragraph development in writing.</p> <p>In conclusion, in order to create good readers and writers, teachers start by focusing on oral language and providing students with opportunities to develop these skills.</p> </div></div></div><span class="vocabulary field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-5 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><h2 class="field-label">Blog Topic:&nbsp;</h2><ul class="vocabulary-list"><li class="vocabulary-links field-item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/32">Oral Language</a></li></ul></span> Mon, 16 Feb 2015 15:43:30 +0000 Robi Alstrom 761 at