Special Education 671: Advanced Study of Literacy Problems Spring 2016 Professor Sue Sears

AGENDA Share Instructional Activities I Read It, Bit I Don’t Get It Tutoring Expectations Plan for First Session

Share Instructional Activities

Part 1: Setting The Stage

Part 1: Setting The Stage Fake Reading Chris Tovani shares her own journey as a reader as a teacher (and as a staff developer). Chris had difficulty comprehending (fake reading) Couldn’t use, remember or retell what she read CT: “What do you do if you read every page but still have no idea what the book is about?” Teacher: “Obviously you weren’t concentrating. Reread the book and this time pay attention.” Didn’t really learn how to read for meaning until in her thirties Joined a Book Club and observed what the other “expert” readers did Became a trainer promoting the teaching of reading comprehension in a workshop format. Returned to teaching and applied this workshop format to adolescents In the workshop students study what “good readers” do

Part 1: Setting The Stage Fake Reading On post-it notes write what good readers do

Part 1: Setting The Stage Fake Reading Begins her workshop with the “Important Book and Literary Histories” assignment (pg. 10) Give two reasons why the book is important to you List five positive and negative reading and/or writing experiences Students share their important books Jerome (“the toughest kid I have every taught”) selects The Poky Little Puppy Books will be the great equalizer. Every student knows what it feels like to be a reading failure. They know what it’s like to read a book and not “get it”...

Part 1: Setting The Stage The Realities of Reading “I am often asked why so many middle and high school students are struggling to read well.” Reading demands very sophisticated thought processes Secondary teachers are required to cover a vast amount of content The texts secondary students read are complex and complicated Few secondary teachers feel they have the time or expertise to teach reading “There is nothing I did that made my good readers good and there is nothing I can do to help my poor readers improve. If they can’t read well by sixth grade, it’s too late.” “all teachers are teachers of reading” English Language Arts Standards extend through grade 12 and include the specific standards Grades 6-12 Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, & Technical Subjects

Part 1: Setting The Stage The Realities of Reading Two types of struggling adolescent readers Resistive readers (I’ll Do Anything but Read) May read for pleasure but don’t engage in academic (school) reading Pass their classes by listening in class and copying others and other’s work Learned that the teacher will “give” them the information if they are patient enough Word callers (I Read the Words but What Do They Mean?) Lack strategies for constructing meaning Have difficulty going beyond the word (they think understanding follows automatically from pronouncing) When meaning does not follow the material is too hard or uninteresting or not relevant Tovani suggests that we must redefine reading for these students Decoding is not comprehending, rather reading comprehension is: “the process of simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning through interaction and involvement with written language” (RAND Reading Study Group, 2002)

Part 1: Setting The Stage The Realities of Reading Examine post-it notes: What do good readers do?

Part 1: Setting The Stage The Realities of Reading What do good readers do? They use existing knowledge to make sense of new information They ask questions about the text before, during,and after reading They draw inferences from the text They monitor their comprehension They use “fix-up” strategies when meaning breaks down They determine what is important They synthesize information to create new thinking

Part 1: Setting The Stage The Realities of Reading What do good readers do? They take advantage of: Graphophonic cues: letters, letter combinations, sounds Lexical cues: word recognition Syntactic cues: organization Semantic cues: word meaning, associations Schematic cues: background knowledge Pragmatic cues: what is important and purposeful

Part 1: Setting The Stage The Realities of Reading What’s to Come? Chapters begin with a student quote and an anecdote illustrating a classroom problem Addresses the problem focusing on what good readers do Provides suggestion for teachers to make content more accessible

Part 2:In Support of Strategic Reading Purposes for Reading : Access Tools Conversations with Cantos: Tracking Confusion to Its Source Fix It! Connecting the New to the Known What Do You Wonder? Outlandish Responses: Taking Inferences Too Far

Part 2: In Support of Strategic Reading Jigsaw (Groups 1,2,3,4) For the assigned chapter each group: References the student quote and anecdote Discusses how Tovani addresses the problem (focusing on strategies good readers use) Describes 2-3 of Tovani’s suggestions – What Works (to make content more accessible)

Part 2 In Support of Strategic Reading Jigsaw (Groups A, B, C, D) For the assigned chapter each person: References the student quote and anecdote Discusses how Tovani addresses the problem (focusing on what good readers do) Describes 2-3 of Tovani’s suggestions – What Works (to make content more accessible)

Tutoring Assignments – Questions Expectations – Handout Clinical Notes Week One Time to Plan