IN-SERVICE READING WORKSHOP

Reading across the Curriculum

How can we help our students?

Not learning •Bored with textbooks•Not reading

Learning! •Graphic organizers•Great for Science, History, Math, etc.

Learning! •Story Maps•Let them be creative: draw what they learned

Knowledge Chart

Prior Knowledge about ___________

1. 2. 3. 4.

New Knowledge about_______

1. 2. 3. 4.

Before reading a text, students fill the blanks in the chart below with the main topic of their reading. Students then briefly list the things they already know about the topic, writing them down in short phrases. After reading the text, students then fill the second column with the new facts they learned from their reading.

Herringbone Pattern

The Herringbone Pattern is used for synthesizing information after pre-reading, or skimming, a chapter. Pre-reading is an important tool for understanding what each reading is going to be about, what the main ideas are going to be, and for getting a general idea of what will be discussed in each reading. When students take the time to pre-read they are better prepared to read and understand the information presented in a text.

Give students a short amount of time to skim a chapter, and then have them fill the Herringbone Pattern with the main ideas of the chapter, including: What is the main idea? Who is speaking? Who is the reading talking about? When did this occur? Where did it occur? How was it brought into being? Why was it done this way? Students write phrases answering these questions on the diagonal lines designated by each question. Notice that in the center of the Herringbone Pattern is "Main Idea," which is what each "W" question should refer back to.

Ae-Hwa, K., Shangiin, W., Vaughn, S., Wanzek, J. (2004) Graphic Organizers and Their Effects on the Reading Comprehension of Students with LD: A Synthesis of Research, Journal of Learning Disabilities, v37 n2 p105-118

This research revealed the examination of the effects of graphic organizers on the reading comprehension of students with LD. It revealed overall beneficial outcomes across the studies. “In general, our findings support the use of semantic organizers, cognitive maps with and without mnemonics, and framed outlines to promote these students’ reading comprehension. Across the board, when the students were taught to use graphic organizers, large effect sizes were demonstrated on researcher developed reading comprehension posttests.”

Story Maps

The Story Map is a great way to get the main ideas or events of a novel into a usable form on paper. How can we use this across the curriculum? Use the Story Map for textbooks too: Write the name of the chapter at the top, and use a box for each section, labeling them with the section headings found in the text.

Title of ChaTitle of Chapter One ____________In this box, to remember the main points of this chapter:Draw a picture, Write a few words of summary, or Write a statement.

Title of Chapter Two ____________In this box, to remember the main points of this chapter:Draw a picture, Write a few words of summary, or Write a statement.

Peer tutoringPeer tutoring is an effective educational strategy for classrooms of diverse learners because it promotes academic gains as well as social enhancement

I have been a witness to this program and the students really enjoy it and thrive from it.

Sustained Silent Reading is a must!

Sustained Silent Reading is a very important time of the day. Giving children time to relax and just enjoy reading is imperative to their reading development. It is great to just read something because your curious about it, not because you have a test to take. If we don’t allow students to read in school at the same time that we tout the wonders of reading, what message are we sending to students about our values? In my classroom, when your done with your work, you read.

Wu, Y., & Samuels, S.J. (2004, May). How the amount of time spent on independent reading affects reading achievement: A response to the National Reading Panel. Paper presented at the 49th annual convention of the International Reading Association, Lake Tahoe, NV. Retrieved from www.tc.umn.edu/~samue001/web%20pdf/time_spent_on_reading.pdf

In 2004 at the IRA annual convention, Wu and Samuels (2004) presented a paper based on a six-month, quasi-experimental study. Wu and Samuels (2004) reported the following:

“Data analysis found that more time spent reading had a significant effect on achievement compared to a control condition where less time was allocated for independent reading. In addition, results found that poor readers showed significantly greater gains in word recognition and vocabulary than good readers. “

Engage students with technology

In dealing with older students, I have found they need to be motivated with the right technology. Electronic reading workshops are great at attracting readers who otherwise would not read a book. Goal accomplished!

Websites for Teen readers

These days, it seems far more likely to find students glued to the computer screen than to the latest literary release. Books and their readers are going online, in a big way. Social networking sites that promote reading, reviewing books, and sharing books with others are springing up all over, and they present the perfect opportunity to making reading fun again for teenagers. Here are some sites to get teens into the world wide web of book lovers:

Shelfari.com, Bookcrossing.com

Larson, L. (2008) Electronic Reading Workshop: Beyond Books With New Literacies and Instructional Technologies, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 52(2) October 2008 doi:10.1598/JAAL.52.2.3 © 2008 International Reading Association (pp. 121–131)

Literacy educators of all grade levels are recognizing the need to respond to the changing array of media technologies and resources used both within and outside the classroom to make education more responsive to today’s learners (Hobbs, 2006; Leu, 2002). The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) provides guidelines for technology performances through the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for both teachers and students (cnets.iste.org)

Pros of Electronic Workshops

Literature conversations

Literature discussions, Literature circles, book clubs

Synchronous or asynchronous online discussions

(threaded discussion groups, chat rooms

Students are Engaged: Deeper Comprehension

Character

Discussions

Chapter

Opinions

Different

Views