K-5 ELA Module 1 Training Understanding the K-5 ELA Vertical Alignment Narrative and Response to Literature Genres CHAPTER 6: Research on Teaching and Learning, Instructional Best Practices, and Reading/Writing Connection, Background on Reading Instructional Task

Research on Teaching/Learning  Gradual Release of Responsibility Teacher Modeling Guided Practice Collaborative Practice Independent Practice Application Source: Fisher and Frey, in Better Learning Through Structured Learning: A Framework for the Gradual Release of Responsibility

Some Research-Based Best Practices for ELA Three Part Lesson/Instructional Framework Use of authentic text Read alouds, shared reading, teacher modeling, think alouds Purposeful independent reading Connection between reading and writing genres Daily writing time to practice Balanced, integrated literacy

Reading/Writing Connection  Research demonstrates that the reading and writing connection increases comprehension.  Routman (2005) said that making such a connection leads to more authentic teaching, improved reading and writing, and higher scores on tests.

Reading/Writing Connection  As readers, we identify in text what it is that good authors do.  As writers, we then apply what good authors do to our own text. Readers think like writers, and writers think like readers.

An Example from 3rd Grade Narrative  Select an element(s) that you need to teach to the students—less is more.  ELA3R1n: Identifying story elements  ELA3W2a: Capturing reader’s interest ELA3W2d: Using sensory details  Brainstorm and create a list of possible strategies that authors use to demonstrate evidence of an element(s).

Brainstorming a List of Strategies  Sources of Strategies for Elements: Your experience as a teacher and writer Your colleagues on your grade level and at your school Considering what good authors do in quality children’s literature Samples of tasks and student work Professional resources Textbook/writing support materials Websites

Some Strategies Authors Use to Capture Readers’ Interest in Narrative Beginnings  Questions  Idioms  Descriptive setting  Quotation  Exaggeration (hyperbole)  Alliteration  Words in capitals, bold, or italics

More Strategies Authors Use to Capture Readers’ Interest in Narrative Beginnings  Talking directly to the reader  Exclamation  Noise (onomatopoeia)  Introducing the narrator  Intriguing detail  Dramatic effect

Sharpen Your Lesson Focus  Choose one/two strategies (e.g., creating a descriptive setting).  This will be a focus during both reading and writing times (whole group direct instruction).

Reading Instructional Task  Select text from children’s literature that serve as good models of writing.  Think about purposefully using a familiar text.  Share the examples with the students in a reading minilesson/opening.  Record examples of these strategies that good authors use.

Reading Instructional Task Opening/Minilesson  Share the examples by reading aloud the beginnings of several books/stories that demonstrate evidence of the author effectively using setting.  Use read aloud/think aloud strategy.  Chart findings with students (the actual excerpts that show how setting was described).

Reading Instructional Task Worktime  During independent reading time, students will practice reading narrative text with a purpose.  The purpose will be tied to the minilesson/opening (identifying the setting strategy in narratives).  Students may record their findings, but their focus is on reading text.

Reading Instructional Task Closing  During the closing/share time, students will share examples where the author used a particular strategy to capture reader interest in the beginning (e.g., creating a descriptive setting).  The students will also tell why the author used the strategy.  The closing/share time will be linked back to the focus of the day’s lesson.  The teacher and/or students will summarize the lesson.