Monday, June 30, 2014

Session II - Question 2

Session II - Question 2:  Select one of the other six strategies found within this reading session and create a lesson in which the strategy would be used in your class.  Give page number of the strategy.

37 comments:

  1. I love the Reading Activities Menu (Pages 104 - 106, 109) and think it would be great to use with GT kids or Higher readers. This would be great to use during literacy station time. The kids could work on the menu activities during stations throughout the week and discuss what they have done with me during guided reading and small group instruction.

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    1. As a new teacher to 3rd grade, I find this idea to be helpful for the guided reading rotation I need to have, but with more meaning and purpose. My students need rigorous choices and some would work with all levels. I hope 3rd graders will do with the vigor kinder kids do centers!

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    2. Mrs. M's Kinders...I like your idea of incorporating the reading activity menu in your station time. Many students finish their work quickly and the menu is a seamless way to enrich the students learning.

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  2. I like the Contract for Reading Skills (p.106) and Individualized Reading (p.117). I would change the Contract for Reading Skills to be a Contract for Writing a Document-based Question (DBQ) Skills. One alternate activity could be to create their own DBQ, locating documents to use and writing questions that other students might answer. Another alternate activity could be to read an article or book on a topic related to the theme of the DBQ (in our class--the Cold War).

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  3. I like the Individualized Reading Strategy (pp. 117-119). What I found most interesting about it was the explanation of the "Rule of Three." With this, have the student open the book to the middle, if there are more than three words on the page they don't know the meaning of, the book is probably too difficult for them to read independently. Conversely, if there are no unfamiliar words, the book is probably too easy. I would have weekly individual conferences with students about the books and keep tabs. When students had completed books, they would share with their classmates.

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  4. I love the Great Friday Afternoon Event discussed on page 140. I teach math and science, so I would change the types of programs to the different content units of science: matter and energy; force, motion, and energy; earth and space; and organisms and environments. I would start the year with all four categories and they can use prior knowledge or research new information for their presentation. I feel like this would benefit all of my students because the students who know more about a topic would be able to help the others who didn’t, which would give them background knowledge before we begin studying the concept. This activity would give the students a lot of choice, as well as help with oral language, writing, and presentation skills.

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    1. In response to Kimberly on July 16th, I like the idea of using a GT differentiator with all students. It would allow a GT student to do something in depth while providing other students with exposure to self-paced research. The teacher would have the ability to create different rubrics for the same project depending on the type of student.

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    2. Response to Kimberly on July 16th- I agree the Great Friday Afternoon Event would be a really great way to end the week, but also bring all their learning together from the week. It also will give confidence to those students who don't think they are great at public speaking or performing.

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    3. In response to Kimberly: Your idea of using the Great Friday Afternoon Event in another subject gave the thought of using it when we study the different types of animals. I could put kids in groups and they could rotate through insects, mammals, fish, amphibians, and reptiles.

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    4. In response to Kimberly, I like this one too. I only teach math and science also but I would still keep it literary focused by doing reading, poetry, and writing. This way I am building literacy skills through different subject areas.

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  5. I like the Teaching Reading Skills in a Trade Book Reading Program strategy on pg 115. by offering choice I think it's the type of lesson that can appeal to all students in the class. I like the idea of students changing an element to the story to match what they would have preferred to happen to the characters. It would serve as excellent round table discussion. Students would discuss the plot points of what they read, and then have a prepared piece on what they would like to change, or a discussion of how they aren't sure why the plot unfolded the way it did. That in turn leads to the problems faced by writers in avoided plot holes or being inconsistent with themselves. Having the students read a series of books by the same author would be an easy way to generate discussion about those items.

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    1. Response to Jonathan: I love the idea of alternate endings, and of how that promotes discussion of why writers do what they do. Purpose is so important with regard to STAAR and the way the state wants the kids to look at literature. Also, I think kids make the mistake of assuming that reading is solely meant for entertainment, like a movie. Sometimes it doesn't even dawn on GT kids that writers write a book for a reason, and that that reason may have nothing to do with wanting to entertain anyone.

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  6. I would like to try the Individualized Reading Strategy, page 117. I think I would use the computers in my class for reflection on their reading or on one of the key questions they suggested. The students would post to Edmodo-as their own group. This would allow them to 'share' with me more often, but more importantly construct and organize thoughts for when we did meet. I would be able to hone in on any challenges or pursue their lines of thinking in a deeper way. I would also have evidence of thinking with a timestamp and parents could review at anytime-critical for elementary parents. While this may seem like I would be less involved, the reality is the student would then be asking, "Did you read my response?" I would also b able to respond from anywhere ( I am horrible with papers!)

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    1. In response to skippyjohn jones on July 20, I like your idea of combining Edmodo with the Individualized reading strategy. I agree that you would be more involved with their reading because the students will be waiting on your feedback. I also like that you are strengthening the home-school connection, since the parents would be able to access their child’s work.

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    2. in response to skippyjohn jonesJuly 20, 2014 at 9:25 PM, i too like the idea of using Edmodo for students to share their thoughts. It is much easier for me to type a response to students than to sit down and write a response on thier paper.

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    3. Response to skippyjohn jones: Edmodo is a priceless resource, and it's a great way to encourage kids to use technology for the purpose of reviewing for a test, quiz, etc. And there's accountability, because the response is either there or it's not. Thus, kids find it hard to weasel out of getting work done. I think GT kids would have just as much fun with it as kids of other levels, too- it's an innovative way to promote review and problem solving, and there are a lot of GT kids that would enjoy that, no matter what the age.

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    4. In response to skippyjones and all that responded to his, I think edmodo is a great resource. Not only for GT kids, but for all (even parents trying to help their kids). Once a class is set up as a group, it helps everyone (also makes things easier for teacher). Kids know what they are responsible for and where to find the needed resources if they missed or misplaced them.

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  7. I could see how the Reading Activities Menu, pgs. 104-109, could easily be applied during Daily 5 reading time. Students already have choices on their literacy activities and this would allow GT students the option to take what they are reading a step further. Again, this may be difficult for my age group initially, but I do think there is a place for this in first grade. I could conference with students as I usually do, only discussing their extension activities rather than reading strategies!

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  8. I agree with Mrs. M's Kinders on July 15, as the Reading Activities Menu, could easily work during reading workshop time when all of the kids are independently choosing literacy activities. My kids keep track of their activities in a folder and this would be no different, only they would meet with me to discuss extensions rather than for focused reading instruction as so many of the other students need.

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  9. I would like to try the Great Friday Afternoon Event described on page 140. I teach science. I could use this to introduce topics and see who knows more about a topic while allowing these students to give the others some background information to get them interested in whatever topic is coming up.

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  10. The Reading Activities Menu (Pages 104 - 106, 109) can be used for review of certain chapters of a novel. All week there could be opportunities to choose from a list of review activities, with a test, quiz or presentation at the end of the week.

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  11. I believe that the extension menu on page 83 along with page 87 (The Product Choices Chart) would be a great extension and open ended activity to use during reading / book club. The students could use all four categories and vocabulary. This will go along with what they are reading. Once they finish the chart they can then choose one topic and elaborate and create a product.

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    1. I agree with Stacy L on July 23, 2014. The product chart on p. 87 could be used in reading groups, science and social studies. This could be beneficial to all students as well as the G/T. That way they could use their own creativity the way they choose.

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  12. I plan on using the product choices chart on p.87 with my 2nd graders. It will be a great way to extend the lesson and a fun way for them to express themselves.

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  13. I like the Reading Activities Menu on page 109. I actually think it is something that many of my students would like as a choice for an activity in literacy workstations. I could see myself using it when we have an author study like Mo Willems.

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  14. There are so many great options. I really like I like the circle of books activity because I feel students get caught in a rut and want to read the same genre and this would help them to keep track of their reading choices. The other that I really like is The Great Friday Afternoon Event. What a great way to have fun in Language Arts especially since we have to teach poetry and that isn't always so much fun for the kids, this could make learning fun. This would be a great way to practice types of poems, plays and parts, etc.

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    1. In response to bratliff, I agree about the Friday Afternoon Event. It sounds so fun. I could totally see the ALL the students really getting on board with this. I will most definitely be implementing this activity in my room this year.

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    2. In response to bratliff, I agree too that the Friday Afternoon Event sounds great! I think it will be engaging for the students, but I also like that fact that you use the same activites for 4 weeks!

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  15. I saw a lot of neat strategies that I would like to try in my room. Some would have to adjusted more than others to fit my first graders. I think the one that is the most versatile is the extension menu. It could be used in every subject. We do a study on fairytales and I could think of a few reading responses or writing activities to coincide with our unit as well as using some of the ideas on page 114. There were many more strategies that I like as well: Reading response sheet p. 121, Vocabulary web p.115, Great Friday Event P. 141.

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  16. Catherine Roth:
    The section of chapter 4 titled ‘Teaching Reading Skills in a Trade Book Reading Program’ basically describes Readers’ Workshop and Book Club. I would definitely use both of these instructional strategies for reading in any classroom-once students are able to read independently. Perhaps that is with gifted students in first grade or later into the middle of second grade all the way up to fifth grade. Students can read the same novel or text, different novels by the same author [an author study], different novels or texts all of the same genre [a genre study], or they can can read totally different texts. The trick is keeping tabs on all of the reading, so the strategies on pages 118-126 are especially helpful. I like the ‘Circle of Books’ strategy so that students can keep track of what genre they are reading-a great visual. The record keeping sheets-Books I Want to Read & Recommended Books are a huge help to both the student and the teacher to focus the daily reading event.

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  17. margaret goodwin-griffinAugust 17, 2014 at 10:24 PM

    Response to Stacy L (7/23): I agree, The Product Choices Chart (pg87) could be used (for all students) after a reading lesson or any chapter/unit. It gives lots of choices for every learning style.

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  18. margaret goodwin-griffinAugust 17, 2014 at 11:05 PM

    Response to Bratliff (8/4): I couldn't agree more -there are so many strategies listed in this section. For high school, I like the idea of book sharing with some sort of differentiated verbal report that allows students to question peer reports. Bibliotherapy is also a wonderful way to capture students' interest and helps individual readers as well as the class to self-reflect, empathize and to make real world connections. The other strategy I would consider using in my lessons is the vocabulary builders (pg129). So much of psychology is terminology that I would incorporate some aspect of the vocabulary builder in my present assignment of creating real-world examples at the application level (Blooms) using terminology from each chapter as a wrap up or reinforcer to the unit or chapter.

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  19. The " Great Friday Afternoon Event" strategy is one that I would like to try in my classroom.I really like the idea that the entire class is included and that each team stays together for 4 weeks. That gives them ample time to prepare and give an informative presentation on a topic that they are interested in.

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  20. I believe the individual reading method is a great way to encourage all my students to find a love for reading (pgs.117-122). The circle of books is a great visual for the students to evaluate their reading choices (pg. 120). I would use the book sharing strategy every Friday. As the students share their excitement about a book…other students will want to try it. After several students have read the same book, I would allow them to meet and critique the book. They may “agree to disagree” about the book…but the academic talk to get to that point is priceless.

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  21. I like the "Super Sentences" activity on pages 127, 132, and 133, but after my students completed it once, we would do it differently. I will assign a theme. Each student in my class will search through the dictionary and find a challenging word (related to the theme) to contribute to the next "Super Sentence" activity. This will give students ownership in the activity and it will expose them to more words and definitions.

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  22. I am going to use the reading activities menus p. 106 - 114. This would be fantastic for my higher readers. I often struggle to find activities for them to do that relate to their books, while i am meeting with my struggling readers. The generic menu on page 109 is perfect!

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  23. I would definitely use The Great Friday Afternoon Event in my classroom. My partner and I have already started to develop such a plan. We implement the first one in October. We are developing activities that focus on Mysteries. I am creating creating activities with mystery numbers and Science mysteries. My partner is creating reading and writing activities. I particularly like this strategy because everyone gets to participate and extend their learning.

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