Reading and Writing

By

Ximena Schneider

Reading Next and Writing Next

The reading and writing report from the Alliance for Excellent Education by Giana Biancarosa and Catherine Snow research on literacy for adolescent students has made some recommendations to improve literacy in adolescences.

Carnegie Foundation's Reading Next and Writing Next

Recommendations For Reading

This reportprovidesfifteenelements designed atimproving middle and high schoolliteracy

1. Direct, explicit comprehension 2. Effective instructional principles embedded

in content3. Motivation and self-directed learning4. Text-based collaborative learning, 5. Strategic tutoring 6. Diverse texts7. Intensive writing8. A technology component 9. Ongoing formative assessment of students10. Extended time for literacy11. Professional development 12. Ongoing summative assessment of

students and programs13. Teacher teams14. Leadership15. A comprehensive and coordinated literacy

program

Recommendations # 1 and # 2

• #1 Effective comprehension instruction requires purposeful and explicit teaching:

• A teacher needs to:• know what the student’s cognitive needs • to be clear• needs to have a purpose• provide scaffolded instruction in research-

tested strategies • to model the strategy and to allow

students to use them

Strategies:Previewing the text and predicting

Chunking the textRead Aloud and think aloud

Review, retelling, summarizingGraphic sources, organizers

(graphic organizers), visual images

Attending to text structure

• #2 Effective reading instruction embedded in content

• A teacher needs to• Provide interactions that support the

understanding of all the subjects• uses a range of techniques of specific

texts• is clear about the types of texts• provides discussions • provides writing in response to reading

Discussions:Student-led discussions

Balanced level of questions Bloom’s Taxonomy

Recommendations # 3 and # 4• #3 Motivation and self-directed

learning• Effective reading comprehension

instruction starts with motivation and attitude

• A teacher needs to:• help the student to become aware of their

unique learning strengths• show motivation her/himself • provide the students with opportunities to

choose reading materials/type• provide opportunities for success• emphasize progress rather than

performance• allow students to have some control over

the choices of text

• #4 Effective reading instruction offers Text-based collaborative learning

• A teacher needs to:• provide a rage of concepts and techniques

for enhancing the value of student-student interaction

• promote reading across the curriculum• encourage small group participation• promote interaction beyond discussion• encourage decentralized learning

Builders of motivation:Presence of different genres

Books with different levels of reading difficulty Goal: to enjoy and learn rather than a grade

Independent reading time

Collaborative learning:Positive interdependence: “what helps one helps all”

Individual accountabilityProcessing group interaction: time,

number of members in a group

Heterogeneous and homogeneous grouping

Recommendations #5 and #6

• # 5 Strategic tutoring• Needs to • provide students with intense

individualized reading, writing, and content instruction as

• Tutoring needs to• provide Intense and individualize

instruction • focus on specific area of reading (within

the 5)• be offered during the school day

• # 6 Effective reading instruction offers a diversity of texts

• A teacher needs to:• provide a rage of concepts and techniques

for enhancing the value of student-student interaction

• promote reading across the curriculum• encourage small group participation• promote interaction beyond discussion• encourage decentralized learning

Five areas of reading instruction:Phonemic awareness

DecodingFluency

Vocabulary

Comprehension

Weave a web of connectionswithin lessons, across lessons, and to

students’lives in and out of school.

Recommendations # 7 and # 8

• # 7 Effective reading instruction offers Intensive writing

• Reading to Writing activities• Dialogue journals • Debate • Thematic units • Writing to Reading activities• Writing as a pre-reading activity • Writing during reading activity• Writing as a post reading activity

• # 8 A technology component• Needs to use:• Technology as both an instructional tool

and an instructional topic• Technology as a facilitator of literacy and a

medium of literacy• Needs to be use in different way or stages

of literacy• Computer applications for instruction:

– supplementary applications to used along with other forms of instruction; and stand-alone applications that are used by students with minimal teacher input

The connection:Reading and writing are natural partners One cannot be done without the other Writers write so their work can be read

Software packages and Internet can provideliteracy instruction to support

a self-paced, stand-alone reading and writing environment

Game /interactive activities are mediums

of learning and entertainment

Recommendations # 9 and # 10• # 9 On going assessment for students• Pre-during-post assessments• Running records (keep track of progress)• Results need to be accessible to those

who work with the kids• Make results (data) meaningful and have a

purpose for testing• Focus on one area of reading at the time

– Reading fluency: accuracy, rate, prosody

– Vocabulary – Comprehension (It must require

students to demonstrate their level of reading comprehension by completing some task)

• # 10 Extended time for reading• Reading instruction and practice needs to

happen throughout the day• At least 2 to 4 hours of instruction

connected to the Language Arts• Time needs to be spend connecting

reading and writing• Reading time needs to be meaningful:

quantity not always equals quality• Make time for reading

Assessment should be meaningfulUse data to:

Promote learning Plan strategically, to individualize teaching/learning

Provide evidence to support decisions asto where to focus resources and teaching.

I Have No TimeI have no time to dream a dreamOr think a splendid thought. . . . ..

I need time to read!

Recommendations # 11 and 12• # 11 Professional Development• Teachers should:• have on going professional development• be offered to everyone that works directly

with the students • should use data from research studies • attend inservice of specific and non-

specific content areas (to sharpen cross-curriculum instruction)

• seek professional development that is tied to the school, district, and state goals (curriculum and standards) for student achievement

• Reflect on students’ need to seek the right inservice

Professional development can promote a positive school environment,

Improve individual teacher skills, team work, and student achievement.

• # 12 Ongoing summative Assessment of Students and Programs

• Summative assessments• are typically used to evaluate the

effectiveness of instructional programs and services at the end of an academic year or at a pre-determined time

• determine each student's ability• are used to identify instructional areas that

need additional attention• are used to determine if students have

mastered specific abilities

Formative Assessments Summative Assessments

Anecdotal records Final exams

Quizzes and essays Statewide tests (ISAT, DWA)

Diagnostic tests National tests (SAT and ACT)

AR tests, selection tests

Recommendations # 13 and # 14

• # 13 Teacher teams• Teams need:• to be properly fashioned and managed• to be diverse (strengths, abilities,

experience, expertise) • need to distribute obligations and

resources• to last for prolonged period of time (to

grow effectively into productive teams) • to have accountability as a team• to have informative assessments• to report to principal/supervisor

• # 14 Leadership• Entitles• a principal and staff with a collective vision• a principal and commitment and

enthusiasm• a school with a defined mission statement,

a vision and goals and objectives• a principal with knowledge of students

strengths and learning needs• teachers who are capable to assume a

leadership role in teams or committees

Two (or more) heads are better than one!

“Leadership is not magnetic personality—that can just as well be a glib tongue. It is not "making friends and influencing people“—that is flattery.

Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's performance

to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.”

Peter F. Drucker

Recommendation # 15

• # 15 A comprehensive and Coordinated Literacy Program

• A program that:

• requires teachers to work and coordinate instruction

• encourages interdisciplinary teams

• promotes reading and writing teachers support and help content-area teachers

• teachers to share writing and reading skills to support other subjects

• reaches or initiates collaborations with our-of-school organizations

• displays motivation, enthusiasm, commitments to learning and reflects these to the students

“The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual.”

Vincent Lombardi

One cannot be done without the other!

Reading and Writing

Reading Writing

Shared reading Shared writing

TEACHER TEACHER

May read aloud, ask students to predict, infer, conclude

Helps students fine tune ideas, make suggestions, ask questions, clarify

STUDENT STUDENT

Respond to questions Partner reading with peer, cross age tutor

Accept responsibility for fleshing out ideas, using personal experiences, illustrations. Pattern writing style after another author

Reading Writing

Guided reading Guided writing

TEACHER TEACHER

Does reciprocal teaching before, during and after reading Offers techniques, strategies

Uses reciprocal teaching techniques to guide writing, fine tuning writing

STUDENT STUDENT

Accepts more responsibility for reading when reading materials at their instructional level

Accepts responsibility for writing, looks for guidance from teacher or "more literate other" (peer, family member, etc.

READING WRITING

Reading aloud Modeled writing

TEACHER TEACHER

Models fluency and expressionReads at student's listening level

Demonstrates planning, brainstorming, structuring, drafting, editing, revising, rereading, thinking aloud

STUDENT STUDENT

Is an attentive listener

ObservesLearns by examplePractices getting into readers' and writers' minds

Reading Writing

Guided reading Guided writing

TEACHER TEACHER

Does reciprocal teaching before, during and after reading. Offers techniques, strategies

Uses reciprocal teaching techniques to guide writing, fine tuning writing

STUDENT STUDENT

Accepts more responsibility for reading when reading materials at their instructional level

Accepts responsibility for writing, looks for guidance from teacher or "more literate other" (peer, mom, dad, tutor, etc.

Reading Writing

Independent reading Independent writing

TEACHER TEACHER

Models own independent reading.Gives time to read:DEAR, SSR, WARP, etc.

Models a variety of opportunities/genres for writing, letters, journals, notes, poems, stories

STUDENT STUDENT

Takes responsibility for choice of reading materials, practices reading skills learned in guided reading, time for practice, reflection. Finds time to read without deadlines.

Makes personal choice of writing topics, takes responsibility for completion of tasks, practices skills learned in guided writing, reflects, and rewrites

Recommendations For Writing

This report

provides

eleven

elements

designed at

improving

middle and

high school

literacy

1. Writing Strategies2. Summarization 3. Collaborative Writing 4. Specific Product Goals5. Word Processing6. Sentence-Combining7. Prewriting8. Inquiry Activities9. Process Writing Approach10. Study of Models11. Writing for content learning

Recommendations 1 and 2

• #1 Teaching Explicit Writing Strategies• Intensive instruction should focus on the

following: • Writing strategies• Knowledge of the elements of genres • Self-regulation strategies

Brainstorming Peer-revising

Journaling: response, double-entry journals, learning logs

Gist statementsFocusing on one element at a time: ideas, organization, word choice,

sentence fluency, convention, and voiceExit Slips

SRSD: self-regulated strategy development

•#2 Summarization

• Students need to learn to express their reading in a shorter version

• The summary captures all the most important parts of the original (passage, story, article), but expresses them in a shorter version

Read the article.Re-read the article.

Underline important ideas. Circle/underline key terms.

Find the main point of the article. Divide the article into sections

Write brief outline of the article/passage/story. Write a rough draft of the summary:

Combine these steps into paragraphs.Read it to yourself, a peer and/or teacher 

Recommendations # 3 and # 4• #3 Collaborative Writing• Collaborative groups draw upon the

strengths of all their members• One student may be stronger in one area

(example one can be stronger in critical thinking skills, another may excel in organizing)

• By working in groups, students learn from each other while they complete assigned tasks

• #4 Specific Product Goals• Students need attainable specific goals• Be specific (element, trait, genre)• Use models to attain specific goal• Models show students what they should

do, and avoid what they need to avoid

Students work together to plan, raft, revise, and edit their compositions

Positive interdependence:

“what helps one helps all”

“If you don't know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.”

Jogi BerraOr

Alice in Wonderland found out, "If you don't know where you're going,

then any road can take you there." 

Recommendations #5 and #6

• # 5 Word Processing• Word processors are powerful assistants• World Wide Web provides new ways to

practice writing• Word processors provide software to

enhance writing: example, Inspiration (organizing, pre writing, outlining skills)

• # 6 Sentence Combining• Grammar instruction should be matched

to the purpose of the user• Kill two birds in one shot: encourage the

students to explain how incorrect usage of the words/sentences or passage in the essay might affect the reader (writing and reading)

• When reading, point out the simple and complex sentences

• Ask students to find models of simple and complex sentences as they read

Word processing is primarily about manipulating text:

Add, edit, cut and paste, move text

Working with sentences:http://www.geocities.com/fifth_grade_tpes/sentence2.html

Recommendations # 7 and # 8• # 7 Pre-writing• Allow some time in class for students to

engage in prewriting activities:• Response Journals (prompts)• Dialogue Journals (interact with others and

text)• Brainstorming• Mapping and webbing, flow charts and

trees• Free writing• Summaries and Questioning• Annotated Bibliographies (when using

resources)• Electronic Discussions (using technology)• Listing Outlines (start small and simple)• Models (see others pre-writing work)

• # 8 Inquiry Activities

• Engage students in activities that target:• The development of ideas • Analyzing • Comparing and contrasting • Evaluating• Synthesizing • Collecting data and evidence• Reflect on observations• Work with other subjects (cross-

curriculum)

1) Why am I writing? (purpose)2) What will I write about? (subject)

3) What will I say? (content)4) How will I say it? (voice)

5) For whom am I writing? (audience)

Ideas:Create a brochure

Reporter assignment (newspaper article)Review of literature

Present a historical eventWrite about science processes

Recommendations # 9 and # 10• # 9 Process Writing Approach• Encourages planning• Encourages ownership and responsibility

of one’s writing• Encourages dialogue with others writing• Encourages questioning writing purpose

and process• Encourages self-reflection and evaluation• Keeps in mind the different traits of writing:

– Ideas– Organization– Word choice– Sentence fluency– Conventions – voice

• # 10 Study of Models• Studying models help students understand

the conventions • It serves as a motivator (they want to

produce something like it)• Models show students way to use the

critical elements of writing

What do I write about? Who is my audience?

How do I structure my essay? What sort of language and voice should I use?

I need to fix this, I need to fix that. . .I can add this, I can delete that. . . .

“A good example [model] has twice the value of good advice”

“To accept good advice is but to increase one's own ability”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Recommendations # 11• # 11 Writing for Content Area

• All subjects should include some form of writing:

• Students should write for authentic audiences and purposes

• Students should know in advance the criteria that will be used to assess their writing

• Examples: – Science: research, process, analytical,

compare and contrast, cause and effect, sequence (step by step) papers

– Social Studies: research, cause and effect, compare and contrast, narrative, biographical papers

– P.E.: how to, cause and effect, compare and contrast papers

– Mathematics: how to paper

Since each subject (content area) has its own conventions and style, those conventions should be taught to students.

Then, content area teachers have the responsibility to teach reading and writing through the content area

Read like a writer and write like a reader!