Whitney Curd, Nikki Jolly, Mackenzie Minton, & Tyler Richardson Literacy Day Standard 7 Whitney Curd, Nikki Jolly, Mackenzie Minton, & Tyler Richardson

Reading to understand a concept and construct meaning Standard 7 Reading to understand a concept and construct meaning

Understand Know and comprehend the nature or meaning of Perceive (and idea or situation) mentally Make sense of a language Believe to be the case Be understanding of www.audioenglish.org/dictionary

Construct Make by combining materials and parts Put together out of components or parts Draw with suitable instruments and under specified conditions Create by linking linguistic units Create by organizing and linking ideas, arguments, or concepts Reassemble mentally www.audioenglish.org/dictionary

Active Constructors “Comprehension requires the reader to be an active constructor of meaning.” Active prior knowledge Set purposes Predict Decode text Summarize visualize Question Monitor understanding Use clarifying and corrective strategies where needed Reflect www.scholastic.com

What is QFT?? The Question Formulation Technique (QFT) is a simple step-by-step, rigorous process that facilitates the asking of many questions. The process includes the following steps: 1. A Question Focus (QFocus) 2. The Rules for Producing Questions 3. Producing Questions 4. Categorizing Questions

The Question Focus (QFocus) Teacher Developed A springboard students will use to develop questions. The QFocus can be a topic, image, phrase or situation that will serve as the“focus” for generating questions. An effective QFocus should be clear, should provoke new lines of thinking, and it should not be a question.

The Rules for Student Producing Questions Each of the four rules supports a behavior that aids in effective question development. Students write down as many questions as they can during the given time (5,10, 15 min.) Do not stop to discuss, judge, or answer any questions during this time Students write down every question exactly as it comes to them After time is up, students change any statements into questions

Student Produced Questions Are to be used to help guide teacher instruction, and deepen student understanding of the topic being discussed.

Improving the Questions Once students have a list of questions, the next step is to identify the two different types of questions they might have on their lists: closed-ended questions– questions that can be answered with a “yes” or “no” or with one word open-ended questions –questions that require and explanation. Students should try to have only open-ended type of questions on their lists.

Sketching Through the Text—What is it? Sketching Through the Text is a process of decoding and graphically representing ideas and thoughts. This strategy asks students to draw their thinking in the margins while reading the text, rather than jotting down ideas in words. Students can create a sequence of sketches to illustrate thoughts, steps, or stages of a process described in their reading.

Benefits of the Strategy Visual Literacy Links ideas and concepts Fosters creativity Expands comprehension

Steps to Follow Teacher Model Give students a photocopy of an article. As students read, they should draw pictures to help them remember important events or facts they learned. Pair students with a partner for a discussion about the article. Partners should compare and contrast what each other sketched, connecting their thoughts to the sketches.

Examples

Reflection Reflecting on work enhances its meaning. Reflecting on experiences encourages insight and complex learning. We foster our own growth when we control our learning, so some reflection is best done alone. Reflection is also enhanced, however, when we ponder our learning with others. In the end, reflection means applying what we've learned to contexts beyond the original situations in which we learned something.

Ideas for Classroom Reflections Journaling: students keep a notebook to record their ideas, thoughts, and feelings. Audio/Visual Journaling: Similar to journaling, but without all the writing, students can still state their thoughts, feelings, and responses to questions / prompts, but in this instance they will use various media to communicate their ideas. Beach Ball Reflection: Use a beach ball to write the reflection questions you would like the students to consider. Have students stand in a circle, and toss the ball to one student. That student selects a question from the ball, reads the question aloud, and answers the question for the other students to hear.