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New Horizons in ComprehensionTeaching and Learning
Ellin Oliver Keene
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I believe in the power and mysteryof naming things. Language has thecapacity to transform our cells,
rearrange our learned patterns ofbehavior, and redirect our thinking.
I believe in naming whats right infront of us because that is oftenwhat is most invisible.
Eve Ensler (This I Believe)
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Three Questions to Guideour Inquiry Today What is characteristic of the most
effective comprehension teachers?(pg. 3)
What does it mean to understanddeeply How can we raiseexpectations for childrens literacy
learning by rethinkingcomprehension? (pg 4 10)
What is essential in literacylearning? (pg. 10 - 14)
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The most effective literacyteachers. . . Raise expectations for childrens
learning by exploring wherecomprehension strategies lead
with their students andcolleagues recognize and
explore the dimensions andoutcomes of understanding withtheir students;
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We can begin by asking: Whatdoes it mean to understand?
Jamikas question what does make sense mean? Too often, we think of comprehension as:
Answering questions, Retelling, Teaching comprehension strategies
Is this definition worthy of our students intellectualcapacity?
Are we teaching comprehension or are we testingcomprehension?
Is the text were using more appropriate for fluencyinstruction or comprehension instruction?
What does it mean to understand deeply? What are the indicators that we understand deeply?
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Celebration of the Human Voice/2
Their hands were tied or handcuffed, yet their fingers danced, flew, drew words. The
prisoners were hooded, but leaning back they could see a bit, just a bit, down below.Although they were forbidden to speak, they spoke with their hands. Pinio Ungerfeld
taught me the finger alphabet which he had learned in prison without a teacher:
Some of us had bad handwritinghe told me. Others were masters of calligraphy.
The Uruguayan dictatorship wanted everyone to stand alone, everyone to be no one: inprisons and in barracks and throughout the country, communication was a crime.
Some prisoners spent more than ten years buried in solitary cells the size of coffins,hearing nothing but clanging bars or footsteps in the corridors. Fernandez Huidobro andMauricio Rosencof, thus condemned survived because they could talk to each other bytapping on the wall. In that way, they told of dreams and memories, fallings in and out of
love; they discussed, embraced, fought; they shared beliefs and beauties, doubts andguilts, and those questions that have no answer.
When it is genuine, when it is born of the need to speak, no one can stop the humanvoice. When denied a mouth, it speaks with the hands or the eyes, or the pores, or
anything at all. Because every single one of us has something to say to others, somethingthat deserves to be celebrated or forgiven, by others.
Eduardo Galleano
The Book of EmbracesPg. 37
C h i t t i t l
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Comprehension strategies are tools weuse in all genres in order to understandmore deeplyProficient readers:
Monitor for meaning,Ask questions,Use schema,Infer,Create sensory and emotional
images,
Determine importanceSynthesizein order to develop:
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In our minds. . . (pg. 4) Empathy -- a belief that the reader
is actually a part of the setting,knows the characters, stands
alongside them in their trials,brings something of himself to theevents and resolution -- emotions
are aroused Darrell determining importance in Dear Mr.
Henshaw Its me in there.
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In our minds. . .Experience a memorableemotional response the sensethat what the reader feels may bepart of his/her emotional life for a
long time Raj inferring in Remember Kids here
may not know that people around theworld have been segregated.
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In our minds. . . A sense of the aesthetic a
desire to linger with portions ofthe text or linger with the events
the reader finds beautiful,original, funny or moving the
desire to experience the textagain Gigi using schema in If Youre Not
From the Prairie I know how I like to
do it. I just have to read it again andagain to feel that way.
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In our lives. . . (pg. 6) The behaviors associated with
understanding (what we mightobserve in the classroom when
children are understandingdeeply)
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In our lives. . .A desire to act children mayact in some way to mitigate or
resolve related conflicts in theworld
Hannah synthesizing in Wilfrid GordonMcDonald Partridge We gotta get
over there right now!
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In our lives. . .
We concentrate intensively, we arefervent we lose ourselves in the
experience of thought, the worlddisappears and we work hard to learnmore, we choose to challenge
ourselves on topics about which we arepassionate Kevin and The Stranger
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In Our Lives. . .
We struggle for insight, we savorand learn from the struggle itself,we take ventures into newlearning territory and fight the
debilitating influence of judgment Kevin and The Stranger
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The most effective literacyteachers Focus on a few concepts, Of great import, Taught in real depth, Over a long period of time, Asking students to apply them in
a variety of texts and contexts
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Whats Essential? Instructional focus on 3 surface
structure and 3 deep structuresystems
Instruction in text structures andelements
An environment that invites rigor,intimacy and inquiry
A wide variety of genres and textlevel
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essential for childrens literacylearning?
Research has fairly clear answers We understand that effective literacy
learning (reading, writing, speaking
and listening) is dependent on ouruse of3 surface structure systemsand 3 deep structure systems
We need to seek a balance betweensurface and deep structureinstruction: 50/50 balance in primary grades 20/80 balance thereafter
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A Closer Look at theSystems
Surface Structure Systems (word identification,fluency related to the visible, audible aspectsof language)
Grapho Phonic Letters, sounds, alphabetic principle, phonemic awareness,decoding, encoding pronouncing words for the first time
Lexical Instantaneous word recognition, visual memory for words,
spelling up to 300,000 words in our lexicon pulling up
words in ourmind
s eye
, teaching students to store wordsin their lexicon
Syntactic Understanding and using language structures at the word,
sentence and whole text level using our minds ear tohear when words, sentences and longer text sound likelanguage
l k h
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A Closer Look at theSystemsDeep Structure Systems (creating meaning using the
invisible/inaudible aspects of language)
Semantic Understanding word meanings ~ word usage,
building associations and memories related tonew words ~ incidental and intentionalacquisition of new words
Schematic Understanding ideas, themes, connecting
existing schema to new information, creatingschema, writing and speaking meaningfully
Pragmatic Using what one understands to interact with
others and/or deepen understanding, writing
and speaking tailored to a particular audienceor purpose
Cl k h
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A Closer Look at theSystems
Deep Structure Systems (creating meaning using theinvisible/inaudible aspects of language)
Semantic Understanding word meanings ~ word usage,
building associations and memories related to
new words ~ incidental and intentionalacquisition of new words
Schematic Understanding ideas, themes, connecting
existing schema to new information, creating
schema, writing and speaking meaningfully Pragmatic
Using what one understands to interact withothers and/or deepen understanding, writingand speaking tailored to a particular audience
or purpose
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The Most Effective LiteracyTeachers Use a wide variety of texts
including leveled texts to developfluency and word learning and
texts rich in ideas to developcomprehension;
Teach text elements and textstructures to help children
navigate different genres.
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Cognitive Strategies TextElements and Structures
Narrative Text Elements(character, setting, conflict,sequence of events, resolution)
Expository Text Structures(cause/effect, compare/contrast,
descriptive, chronological,enumerative, problem/solution)
Expository Text Hurdles
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What is essential: Text levelsand genreText Genres
Teaching key features and elementsfrom a wide variety of genres
Text Levels Consider students needs in both
surface and deep structure learning Leveled text for surface structure learning More challenging text for deep structure
learning
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The most effective literacyteachers. . .
Provide lengthy periods of timefor students to read and writeindependently every day;
Create a Literacy Studio(workshop setting) that allows
daily time to for teachers toconfer with individuals and meet
with invitational groups (small,needs-based);
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The most effective literacyteachers Create a classroom environment
conducive to scholarly oralinteractions, intimate conversation
focused on deeper comprehensionand growing independence forstudents;
Are themselves readers and avidlearners, constantly scrutinizing theirown reading and understandingprocesses in order to provide the
most precise and responsive
l li d
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classroom climate andenvironmentRigor, Inquiry and Intimacy
Authentic experiences for childrenbased on our own literate lives
Thinking aloud, modeling anddemonstrating
Time for independent reading andwriting
Providing opportunities for readers andwriters to interact with one another
and work with ideas
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Focus is essential
We need to compare our currentcurricula and standards to theresearch-based list of whats
essential We need to deemphasize or
eliminate those skills and
strategies that dont correlatewith research
We need to direct our focusedattention and instructionalartistry to that which is most
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Pulling it all together
In the video clip, please watchfor
Initial management tactics Outcomes of Understanding Vocabulary instruction Focus on the strategy Oral language patterns
Our language with children
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Our language with children
Matters as much as any otherteaching move we make
We need to be conscious aboutour word choice and non-verbalsignals
We need to take time to considerwhat and how we speak to
children
Our language choices haveeverything to do with whether
Why our oral language
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Why our oral languagematters Children long to be intellectually
engaged;
Depth and breadth in language useintroduces them to the life of themind
Children can learn howto beintellectually engaged if we, andeventually, they can name and
describe the thinking processes theyuse.
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I believe freedom beginswith naming things.
Humanity is preserved byit.Eve Ensler