Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTW

Developing a Focus on Literacy Across the Curriculum

Albuquerque NM

July 20-21. 2009

Joanna Kister

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTW

Write on the Wall

1. Put dot on the continuum of faculty readiness for literacy across the curriculum

2. Write on the wall. Tell me about New Mexico, your home town, your school, you (name optional).

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTWEssential Questions

How can we develop a focus on literacy across the curriculum in our school?

How do literacy skills contribute to the 10 key practices of High Schools That Work?

Which literacy skills have the greatest impact on student achievement?

How can we effectively use instructional strategies to improve literacy skills?

Kister Consulting 4

10 Key Practices

• High Expectations• Challenging

Career/Technical Studies

• Challenging Academic Studies

• Academic Core and a Concentration

• Work-based Learning

• Integration of Academic and Career/Technical Studies

• Active Engagement

• Guidance and Advisement

• Extra Help• Data-based

Decision Making

Kister Consulting

Brag about your school (extra credit if

connect to 10 key practices)

5

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTW

Jigsaw Articles

Count to 6Each person read one article.Compare with others who read the

same article.Return to original group.Now what do we know?

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTWSREB Literacy Goals

Read 25 books across curriculum Write weekly in all classes Use reading and writing in all

classes Write research papers in all classes Complete a rigorous language arts

curriculum taught like college-prep/honors English

w Kister Consulting

Before Reading . . .Good readers• Build up their

background knowledge on the subject

• Know their purpose for reading

• Focus their complete attention on reading

Poor Readers• Start reading

without thinking about the subject

• Do not know why they are reading

SouthernRegionalEducationBoard

MMGWONE

KEY PREDICTOR

of reading success

is the student’s background background knowledgeknowledge..

w Kister Consulting

During Reading . . .Good Readers• Pay complete attention• Constantly check their

understanding• Monitor their

comprehension automatically

• Stop only to use a fix-up strategy when they don’t understand

Poor Readers• Do not know

whether they understand or do not understand

• Do not monitor their own comprehension

• Seldom use any of the fix-up strategies

w Kister Consulting

Strategies for Monitoring Reading• How would I say that in my own words?• What’s the main point here, and why is it

important?• What would be an example of this?• How could I cluster the ideas I’ve read about?• Where is this going next?• Can I picture in my mind what is going on

here?• Can I trust this author’s

accuracy/authority/objectivity?

w Kister Consulting

Fix-Up Strategies

• Let me reread that last part, more slowly this time.

• Let me think about that for a minute.

• Is there a certain word here that is throwing off my understanding?

• Let me read ahead a little to see if getting the larger picture helps.

w Kister Consulting

After Reading . . . Good Readers• Decide if they have

achieved their goal for the reading

• Evaluate their comprehension

• Summarize the major ideas

• Seek additional information

Poor Readers• Do not know what

they have read• All ideas are equal• Do not follow

reading with comprehension self-check

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTW

The Six

SummarizingParaphrasingCategorizingInferringPredictingRecognizing Academic

VocabularyPage 14

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTW

Carousel Brainstorming

Divide into groups.Go to one station.Select scribe.Write at least one answer—small.Rotate at signal.Must add new answer.Continue.

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTWCarousel Strategy

For each skill, list why you believe it is considered to be one of the “Big Six” essential reading skills

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTWHow do we know these are important?

Direct links to most items on ASSET/COMPASS reading placement tests.

Included in ACT Consistently in state standards Recognized by postsecondary

faculty for importance Linked to all content areas Linked to careers

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTW

Summarizing

Only skill identified in both Reading Next and Writing Next as improving essential literacy skills

Essential in research and other expository writing

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTW

Paraphrasing

Reduces plagiarism—considered one of the biggest academic “crimes”

Show adaptation for audience and purpose—essential writing skills

Reflects a deeper understanding of material

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTW

Categorizing

Ability to group information into manageable chunks

Essential for study skillsMandatory for problem analysis

and solution—especially in workplace or laboratory

Only easy for naturalist intelligence—must be taught to others

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTW

Inferring

Reading “between the lines”Encourages connection within

a text, across texts and to other contexts

Shows that a reader “really gets it”

w Kister Consulting

Inference

• In order to infer readers must lift up the words and go beneath them.

Keene & Zimmerman (1997)

w Kister Consulting

She moves backwards a few feet and with a piece of white chalk draws a rectangle onto the wood floor. Then continues backwards, drawing more rectangles, so there is a pyramid of them, single then double then single, her left hand braced flat on the floor, her head down, serious…

She drops the chalk into the pocket of her dress. She stands and pulls up the looseness of her skirt and ties it around her waist. She pulls from another pocket a piece of metal and flings it out in front of her so it falls just beyond the farthest square.

She leaps forward, her legs smashing down, her shadow behind her curling into the depth of the hall. She is very quick, her tennis shoes skidding on the numbers she has drawn into each rectangle, one foot landing, then two feet, then one again until she reaches the last square.

From, The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

w Kister Consulting

Hocked gems financed our hero. Scornful laughter had tried to prevent his scheme. Bravely he persisted. An egg, not a table, typifies this unexplored planet, he said. Now three sturdy sisters sought proof. They forged along turbulent peaks and valleys. Days became weeks as doubters spread fearful rumors about the edge. At last welcome winged creatures appeared. Momentous success was at hand.

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTW

Predicting

Form of inferencingRequires support for predictionForward thinking based on

backward knowledgeRequired to solve non-routine

problems in the real world

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTWUsing academic/technical

vocabulary

Separates success for second-language students

Technical language (jargon)Understanding roots and

affixes

w Kister Consulting

K – W - L

K W L

What I Know

What I Want to Find Out

What I Learned

w Kister Consulting

Directed Reading and Thinking Activity (DRTA)

• Preview

• Discuss what you know

• Write questions

• Read to find answers

• Reflect on the reading

w Kister Consulting

Anticipation Guide Rationale

• Students get excited-argue/debate the points

• Predict - curiosity – hook for content

• Creates purpose for reading

• Purposeful reading leads to improved comprehension

w Kister Consulting

“Teaching Secrets”

• Create 5 anticipation guide statements.

• Use both inferring and concrete statements.

w Kister Consulting

A to Z Review

Using each letter of the alphabet, describe what employers want in employees.

w Kister Consulting

Tournament – Defend Your Word

In pairs, select four words that address a question about reading. Convince each other that their word is the best to go to the next level. Present “the” word to the whole class with evidence.

w Kister Consulting

INSERT (Interactive Notetaking System for Effective Reading and Thinking)

- I agree

X – I disagree

+ - That’s new

! – Wow!

? – I wonder

?? – I don’t understand

* - That’s important

SouthernRegionalEducationBoard

MMGWHow to teach

vocabulary???• Front-load meaning - prior instruction

increases understanding by 33%• Descriptions and examples• Create symbols or pictures to

represent the word -- gains 34 percentile higher

• Categorize words -- associations among related concepts

• Limit the # of words taught to those that represent key concepts

• Teach common prefixes, suffixes, roots

w Kister Consulting

Definition Picture or symbol

Described in your own words

Ways I used the word (a week later)

Vocabulary Blocks

w Kister Consulting

Word Sort – Sort into Three Categories

• Formative• Warm up activity• Scenarios• Collegial

observations• Questioning• Team building

• Graphing• Reading

comprehension• Teacher book study• Summative• Project-based

learning• Demonstration

classrooms

w Kister Consulting

Frayer Model

Essential Characteristics Non-essential Characteristics

Examples Non-examplesTopic

w Kister Consulting

Summarizing and Paraphrasing

• GIST

• 3-2-1

• Summary Pyramid

• Final Word

w Kister Consulting

Teaching Secrets

3-Identify 3 pieces of advice given to new teachers.

2-Explain how the advice fits into 2 categories.

1-Describe 1 way that taking the advice will help novice teachers.

w Kister Consulting

3-2-1

Increasing level of difficultyRequires summarizing and

paraphrasingPre- or post-readingRequires teacher preparationStudents can construct.

w Kister Consulting

Democracy

__________Synonym

__________ __________Two Groups to Which Democracy Applies

_________ ________ _________Three Areas of Origin

Page 5

w Kister Consulting

Other Possible Prompts

• Analogy between the topic and a sport• Attributes or facts• Words that best describe the topic• Related topics• Causes• Effects• Arguments for/against the topic• Ingredients• Tools for using the topic• Formulas

Page 6

w Kister Consulting

Your Turn

• “Please Don’t Pardon the Interruption”

• Write pyramid prompts

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

Bye, Bye BirdieReasons to Avoid

Round Robin Reading• It encourages

negative attitudes about reading.

• It is boring for everyone.

• Proficient readers read ahead.

• Poor readers are forced to advertise their deficiencies.

• Students pay attention only to the passage they have to read aloud.

• It does not build fluency or accuracy.

• Students need to read entire passages instead of pieces.

• It does not require engagement with the text.

w Kister Consulting

Avoid…• Round robin reading

• Copy notes that theteacher has provided

• Look up definitions and copy

• Fill spaces on work sheet from textbook

• End-of-chapter questions

w Kister Consulting

Types of writing• Writing to learn - daily

• Audience is the learner• Purpose is to learn or process information

• Writing to demonstrate learning - weekly• Audience is the teacher• Purpose is to demonstrate learning

• Authentic writing• Audiences are varied• Purposes are “real world” or beyond the

classroom

w Kister Consulting

Writing To Learn

Journals Learning Logs

Exit/Admit Slips

Writer’s Notebook Inquiry Logs

Mathematics Logs

w Kister Consulting

Writing To Demonstrate Learning

Paragraphs Essays

Open-response Lab Reports

Questions

Research Assignments

w Kister Consulting

Authentic Writing

Articles

Editorials

Speeches Letters Proposals

Memoirs Poems

Short Stories

Kister Consulting

National Writing Commission:What Employers Say

• In most cases, writing ability could be your ticket in . . . or it could be your ticket out…

• Everything must be documented…manufacturing documentation, operating procedures, reporting problems, lab safety, waste-disposal operations—all have to be crystal clear

• Writing is a significant hiring consideration in the finance, insurance, and real estate sectors

www.writingcommission.org

Kister Consulting

Kister Consulting

“Email is forold people”

– A student

© 2006 Marc Prensky

Kister Consulting

The “Net” Generation – Survey of College Students

• 97% own a computer

• 94% own a cell phone

• 76% use Instant Messaging.

• 34% use websites as their primary source of news

• 75% of students have a Facebook account

Source: Connecting to the Net Generation: Junco and Jeanna Mastrodicasa, 2007

Kister Consulting

Kister Consulting

Web 1.0• Web pages

• Read and research; use PPT to present content

• Otofoto (digital to print)

• Individual

Web 2.0• Social networking –

Facebook, My Space, Linked In

• Blogs, wikis, twitter, podcasting, RSS feeds

• Read and create interactive content

• Photobucket (online sharing)

• Collaborative

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTW

2-column note-taking

Step 2:Take notes here; useabbreviations

Step 3:Identifykeyconceptsor questions

Step 4:Summarize lesson here

Step 1:Draw a grid with 3 sections

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTW

Benefits of 2-column note-taking

Many exposures to text Matches most textbook styles Easy to teach Study guide Differentiation

w Kister Consulting

Use Admit and Exit Slips

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTW

All students will read the equivalent of 25 books per

year across the curriculum to increase their understanding of the content of all classes.

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTWReading 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 employed—thus the more money you earn in a lifetime.

5. The more diplomas you earn, the higher your children’s grades will be in school.

6. The more diplomas you earn, the longer you live.

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTWThe 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.

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTWPoverty 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.

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTWTo 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.

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTW

Can we ask students to read more?

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTW

Reading more = scoring higher

High School: Seniors who read an assigned book outside

class and reported on the main ideas several times during the year score 26 points higher than those who don’t.

Students who read at least six books in English scored 12 points higher.

500-point scale

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTWReading more = scoring higher

Middle Grades Eighth-graders who read 11 or more

books each year score 25 points higher than those who read none.

Those who read an assigned book outside class and demonstrated understanding only once per semester score 6 points higher.

300-point scale

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTWWhy don’t we ask students to read more?

Brainstorm in pairs.

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTWWhy don’t we ask students to read more?

Believe students aren’t good readers

Believe students don’t have timeBelieve that reading detracts from

teaching “my” contentLack of materialsTeachers aren’t readersSage on stage

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTWDo students have time to read?

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTWDo students have time to read?

High School 35% of the students watch TV three or

more hours per day 26% spend three or more hours per day

surfing the internet, e-mailing or instant messaging

Middle Grades 51% watch TV or play computer games

three or more hours each school day. 20% watch over 5 hours!

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTW

Do The Math

Goal of 25 booksAverage reading rate 250 words

per minute500 words per page100 pages per book175 school days

equals

less than 30 minutes per day

to reach goal!

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTWWhat are some specific steps to raise the amount of reading?

Looking for ideas…

1. Review 11 strategies to get students to read more (pp. 51-58)

2. Skim the five sections

1. DEAR (65)

2. Summer reading (67-68)

3. Technology (69-70)

4. Motivational activities (70-72)

5. Library media center (72-73)

3. Select three ideas that might work in your school.

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTWWhat are some specific steps to increase the strategies our students use?

Table Talk and Planning What strategies might we want to try? What training and support would

teachers need to implement these strategies?

How will we know if these strategies are working (e.g., assessment, analysis of student work, classroom observations)?

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTW

Homework

1. Read pp. 19-27 in LAC guide

2. Admit Slip Two ahas One So what?

Southern

Regional

Education

Board

HSTWDay Two – Literacy Plan

“Planning”

Review data – p. 36Review pp. 37-43Analyze and prioritizepossible

actions – p. 41