Ahhhh…after reading strategies. I think this is the area we’re most familiar with when it comes to before, during, and after reading strategies. Of course for some folks (not any of us, of course!) the after reading is often limited to quizzes and tests. But what about the kids who can understand but struggles with the traditional tests???
Daniels and Beers give us a plethora of ideas to check for understanding as alternatives.. We’ve seen some of these strategies before and some are new. And, as usual, Beers goes into much greater detail in describing the strategy. We’re all now familiar with exit slips in our study group, but has anyone tried using them in class to see how they’ll work with your students. Before even knowing she was going to read this section, Rita mentioned in class the other night the idea of having students complete an exit slip to have them reflect on the day and what they learned. Not only do exit slips give the students time to reflect, but it can help you become aware of problems the students are having with the work and what you may need to go back and reteach. Or, it may just confirm that you did a great job at executing a lesson!
So were y’all able to try to incorporate some of these after-reading strategies in your classrooms? Do tell!
14 comments:
Subjects Matter pages 124-143; When Kids Can’t Read Chapter 8
What great after reading strategies! Some of the strategies were certainly familiar. I have used Exit Slips, Admit Slips, Written Conversations, and RAFT. Some of the strategies were new to me. One that i really liked is using scales to assess students’ thoughts at the end of reading. Both the Likert Scales and the Semantic Differential Scales are strategies I can easily use in my classroom. They seem very similar to Anticipation Guides except they’re used after reading. I think some great conversations could result from using these scales. I also liked the fact that Beers pointed out that 10 items on a scale is too many for struggling readers because the point is to defend their opinion. I know my kids are full of opinions, but they’re not so good at defending why they feel the way they do. I look forward to seeing how they work with my students.
As I read Chapter 8, Extending Meaning After-Reading Strategies, I began to think how I have used strategies in the past. I have had both SET and AP students in my classes with various reading levels. I always try to make sure that everyone understands not only the notes that they are “reading” but also the lyrics/text. We often expand upon our reading with discussions concerning the meaning of the song. My students worked together in groups when we were learning the Armed Forces Salute to determine what words like caisson, field artillery and other military terms meant.
I have used Likert scales for my SET diploma students in chorus and piano lab. I have never used the SWBS, but I think that I will try it after spring break when we finish reading Fantasia; Life Is Not a Fairy Tale. I like the way that the SWBS format is set up.
When I was teaching in the elementary school, I saw a lot of the teachers use the Sketch to Stretch strategy. This seemed to be a very good strategy for the elementary student.
In Subject Matters: After: Guiding Students to Reflect on, Integrate, and Share Ideas, I was pleased to see that I have used several of these strategies. I have used exit slips and Venn diagrams before. I have been looking for a better way to have my younger students learn their vocabulary. I like the vocabulary tree and I could see us using it each time that I introduce a new song. I also like the written conversation concept. My students always have opinions about the various songs that we sing and they want to know why I chose the curriculum that I did. Maybe if I give them the music and let them read the lyrics before I introduce the music, their opinions of the songs may differ. They could use written conversations to let me know what they think about a song before they ever sing the song. Sometimes if they understand the lyrics and where the composer/lyricist is “coming from” the music seems to have a better sound during the performance.
Andrea Baker
Blog Due April 9, 2007
When Kids Can’t Read, Chapter 8
The SOMEBODY WANTED BUT SO (SWBS) strategy described by Kylene Beers on page 145 is intriguing. I like the subtle way this strategy encourages the reader to examine characters, plot, main ideas, conflict and resolution.
EM THURKILL WANTED to be normal and happy, BUT she had such a screwed up childhood (due almost entirely to her wacky family), SO she faced her demons (especially her deceased mentally ill sister) after many years of being beaten into submission and S-L-O-W-L-Y began to bloom.
I think the simple and straightforward SWBS strategy would work K-12 and with struggling as well as gifted students.
I have seen Airport High School English and Social Studies teachers use the ABC book structure reformation strategy for years. Our teachers kick it up a notch compared to Beers strategy on p. 163 and add a technology component. Airport High School students use PowerPoint and MS clip art to create ABC books.
Strategies outlined in Subjects Matter, pp. 124-143
Daniels and Zemelman offer teachers a wide variety of choices re: during and after reading strategies. I am fond of the vocabulary strategies at the close of the chapter; they appear to offer students a concrete way of making meaning of unknown words. I wonder whether the vocabulary tree would be as successful as the word meaning graphic organizer or the list-group-label strategy since the former is done individually and the latter two strategies are done in groups??
Subjects Matter lists variations on these strategies that encourage students to draw or record lists on newsprint and then hang the newsprint throughout the classroom for later reference. What a brilliant, inexpensive, time-efficient way to reinforce learning!
When Kids Can’t Read – Chapter 8
Subjects Matter – pg. 124-143
April 9, 2007
I really like the way this chapter is set up because it makes it very easy for me to learn about the strategy, read about it used in an actual classroom, a quick summary, how to put it to work, and finally, questions and answers about the strategy. Although I have heard a few of these strategies before, I had not heard of the “Somebody Wanted But So” strategy or the text reformulation. The SWBS strategy seems as though it would be very easy to model and then move into more difficult texts. I agree with Andrea – the students are learning to examine characters, plot, main ideas, conflict and resolution and they may not even know they are doing it! I will definitely figure out ways to use them in my classroom.
Although I don’t teach global studies or US history, I really liked the way the Beers gave an example of the text reformulation strategy for that subject area. The “repetitive book structure” for the information about the Civil War was great!
In Subjects Matter, there is a strategy to use when learning new vocabulary called “Word Meaning Graphic Organizer”. This would be a more effective way to “learn” vocab for a unit rather than just copying definitions out of the book. This gives students multiple ways to remember the word and make connections to something about the word in order to help them remember the new word.
When Kids Can't Read (Chapter 8) - My sophomores finished reading Breaking Point by Alex Flinn right before we left for spring break. One of the after reading strategies that I used was the "Most Important Word." They did a great job with this, and a number of different words were spotlighted as the most important word including manipulative, breaking, used, bully, outcast, bad, bomb, life, and friendship. I would think that this activity could be easily adapted and used for any content area.
Subjects Matter (pp. 124-143) - There are a number of strategies in this section that I have used before: exit slips, admit slips, RAFT, and list-group-label. In fact, I think that a RAFT writing that I used with The Outsiders when teaching eighth grade at Fulmer was one that I borrowed from Claire. Students like this activity if they have some choice in the different categories.
I love Lola's idea about an Airport version of Barnes and Noble. Students will talk about their reading given the opportunity. I also agree with Lola's suggestion about all teachers getting a copy of Ch. 8, but I would propose that instead of just this one chapter that we use Subjects Matter as the faculty read for next year if we are going to read another professional book.
March 26, 2007
Subjects Matter: Pages 124-143: When Kids Can’t Read: Chapter 8
After studying the many different reading strategies, my favorite two are the admit/exit slips and the written conversation. I think these two would be very easy to use in my math classes. The admit/exit slips will give every student an opportunity to let me know if they understand a lesson or if they need some additional review. I believe the students would enjoy the written conversation strategy. I could have them explain a math process they have learned. I could also have them solve multi-step word problems by completing one step and then passing it to a partner to continue the process. This would give them an opportunity to check each other’s work and continue until the problem is solved. I’m convinced that by giving the students more opportunity to write in math, this will greatly increase their understanding of math word problems and hopefully alleviate some of their fears associated with those word problems.
Chapter 8 When Kids Can’t Read
This chapter was rich in ideas AND strategies that were valuable and quick to grade which excites me at this point in the school year particularly! I can see me using the Likert Scale and Semantic Differential Scales with both my upper level students and my gifted and talented crew. I LOVED the Somebody Wanted But So (SWBS) strategy and plan to use that strategy with my US History class today with articles on the Progressive Era. The text reformation example on the Civil War was also an easy way to allow students to demonstrate what they do know rather than testing or assessing what they don’t know.
As a story-teller of history, I thought the Retelling method was also a way to avoid just saying ‘summarize what you just read.’ I already utilize the ABC book method but usually used it in projects rather than daily assignments simply because of the lack of time we already had in US History and even more strained with the EOC in place now. I, like Joni, wish teachers had used the It Says-I Say-And So method among others, rather than the illustrate and summarize with required 11th grade Bewolf (which I can’t even remember how to spell let alone the characters or plot).
As Lola mentioned, I think all teachers ought to have copies of this text and be encouraged to think outside the box like teachers are always telling students to do, but do it when planning their lessons and assessments.
Subjects Matter pgs.124-143
Exit slips are a wonderful way to assess the students and are quick to grade. Being able to use them as exit slips or admit slips allows flexibility to use them as a review connecting past and present lessons or as a way to simply assess the knowledge gained from the current days lessons. I use them both frequently and recently had the students reading The Jungle by Uptain Sinclair. I am also a big fan of the graphic organizers and Venn Diagrams because both require the students to really understand and relate key concepts. I plan to use the dialog journals and think like me, those that like to talk with their peers, the students will enjoy this written conversation. Save the last word for me proved to be difficult when we were asked to do this in class with pictures but with passages I have found the students do really well. Another method I thought would be neat to try was the vocabulary tree; what a neat way to make sure that students truly understand.
Overall, I found this chapter had a wealth of ideas and strategies to use which would deviate so much from worksheets and making students dread reading. After doing book clubs this year I have found that my students are anxious to read ‘interesting’ materials. There are books like The Lost Child (which I use in psychology dealing with child abuse) that fly off of the library shelves that student really love to read. Teachers take the time often to find things of interest for students to read and I think taking the time to use different strategies to assess reading such as those aforementioned is also essential for the learning process to truly benefit our students.
While reading Subject Matters, I saw many things that I have tried in my classroom. I have tried using exit slips in my classroom and they don’t seem to work. Many of my students would rather sit in the classroom and not do work than to go to their next block. This isn’t a positive thing. However, I did like the concept of mapping. I think this is a good way for our students to compare and contrast different things. I also enjoy doing written conversations in the classroom. The students enjoy it too because it gives them a way to communicate about a book and it’s like passing notes with friends.
In the book, When Kids Can’t Read, Chapter 8 talked about the It says, I say and so chart. I have used this with my students while they work on word problems in math. I stole the idea from Rita. It works very well. It gets the students to restate the problem, work it out, and show their work all at the same time. Of course, students might complain about all the steps, but it really does help them understand what the problem is saying. My students were very successful using the It says, I say, and so method.
Subjects Matter: Pages 124-143
I have used List Group Label to help students organize thank you letters for speakers. I tell them to listen to the speaker and jot words or brief comments without as they listen. Next I ask them to look for patterns of organization...or groups of words about the speaker's career, answers to student questions, or questions they still have. Then I have them use their notes to make the letter personal. This is thinking about thinking--metacognition.
When Kids Can't Read: Chapter 8
Sketch to Stretch page 171: I first learned about this strategy in the gifted and talented courses. I use this method when we begin a new book or as a comprehension check. Recently when we started A Lesson Before Dying, I asked students to draw the setting, New Orleans in the late 40's. PowerPoints are extended sketches, and I use them as culminating activities. When we begin our bare books, I encourage students to use storyboards to plan their work.
This chapter has been and will be extremely useful as I continue to teach. There have been so many times that I have taught my heart out and when I ask review questions all I would get from my students was 'dear in the headlight stares'. These teaching/reading review tips will help all students further their knowledge and comprehension. I like using the exit slip because it helps me see where I went wrong in my teaching. I like using the written conversation after posing a question on content that the students were to have read for homework or to check their prior knowledge. Another thing I like about this chapter is that all of these strategies are all easy to read and try in class at any time.
Subjects Matter pages 124-143
In the past I have used Extended Projects (page 136), and some of them are worth noting. The first year I taught at Airport, I taught Romeo and Juliet, and I videotaped students performing vignettes of problems students must face today. Don't ask me why I was looking at tapes from 2000, but I have to admit, those ninth grade students grasped the ideas (the wrong boyfriend, asking a friend to keep a secret, starting a fight between cliques at school). Students understood these "universal" themes as we read aloud, but unfortunately, I used "canned questions" to monitor comprehension--not as detailed as the color of the shirt was as Lola wrote, but close. I like the first sentence under the bold topic, "Why Use It? "It's essential for our students, at least some of the time, to dig deeply into a topic, to reflect, live with, and let important ideas really sink in, rather than always rush from on item to the next on our mandated standards list."
On this same tape, I watched a group of seniors perform their updated versions of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion. One group of football players sat in their desks as a "teacher" drilled them on spelling. They made obvious mistakes, and they accentuated their accents. They had written their scrip around the line, "Why can't the English teach their children how to speak?" And, they had picked up on Shaw's belief that we should eliminate those phonetic problems like "ph" pronounced like "f."
When Kids Cant Read Chapter 8
Beers writes on page 175, "I'm most frustrated when I visit classrooms in which the teacher obviously still views comprehension as a product and not a purpose." This is a "Reflection" of the pages in Subjects Matter, but I have a more current example of how this has worked for students. Ms. Caulder's 10th grade class (Ms. Johnson is the sub now in room 208)has been assigned to read Speak. While Ms. Johnson has been out this week, I've stepped in during first block. I've worked with these students off and on all semester, and that must be why they trusted me with Speak (Laura Halse Anderson is the author of Prom, too.) Yesterday we went to the Commons to begin the book, and they read aloud in small groups. When they asked me how many more pages they should read that night, I was stunned. I pulled a page number out of the air, and today I asked who had read through page 64. One student said he had almost finished the book, and others said they had read ahead, too. The plot of this book is that a ninth grader is raped at a party just before school starts, and in a daze she calls 911. The teenagers don't know why she called 911, they just know they had to run when they heard sirens. The main character chooses not to tell anyone what happened to her because she's already been exiled from her clique. I connected the theme to Emily Dickinson's poem "I'm Nobody," and when I asked students how this applied, they nailed the main character's feelings of isolation. I asked them to pick a quote and "explode the moment." By the time Ms. Gandee had found a sub and Ms. Webb had contributed her handouts from Speak, we were well on our way with markers, colored pencils, and quotes. I sent home a character map today, and I can't wait to see how they did. We're already planning how we'll display their work in the hallway.
Subjects Matter- page 124-143
Overall, a valuable chapter full of ideas. I have actually used some of these techniques before although I have never used an admit slip. I find that exit slips are easy, quick, and the information retrieved is valuable to assess student understanding. I have also used written conversations. My students love it because they can legally pass notes. It also allows all students to have a voice in the discussion. I was intrigued by the RAFT method but have never used it. I would like some practical advice from some of the experienced RAFT users! I recently began using vocabulary webs in my classes because I wanted to give my vocabulary more value to my students. Most of the words are ones that they will use throughout their career in the Social Studies Department so I want to make sure that my students remember them!
When Kids Can’t Read- Chapter 8
As usual, Beers gives us tons of ideas. I have used Likert scales before but I think that I liked the semantic differential scales better. I could easily substitute historical figures for characters names. Beers’ strategies encourage us to think outside the box (borrowing Jamie’s phrase) and we need all the help we can get to get our students excited about reading. Even my student teacher used some of the techniques mentioned. She used sketch to stretch in a lesson and it was very successful. It is funny to watch kids get excited about drawing a simple picture. I agree with most of you- these are easy and simple strategies that every teacher could use in their classes. I think we would see a higher success rate with reading if every teacher was familiar with some strategies.
Reader’s Respopnse
Harvey Daniels and Steven Zemelman
Subjects Matter: Every Teacher’s Guide to Content-Area Reading, pp. 124-143
Kylene Beers
When Kids Can’t Read: What Teachers Can Do, Chapter 8
These texts are so full of practical ideas that are easily accessible. Daniels and Zemelman have organized this entire “Tools for Thinking” chapter so that teachers can quickly find strategies to fit immediate needs. This last section addresses after-reading strategies. The description, rationale, and directions for using each strategy allow the teacher to choose, plan, and prepare. The depth of Beers’ discussions, including the “Questions and Answers” sections, provides teachers with the confidence to try new strategies. Inclusion of examples students have produced as well as Beers’ “Step Inside a Classroom” descriptions enliven the texts.
I really like the advice the Daniels and Zemelman offer: “Don’t let the cards become a grading burden or you’ll just tire of assigning them.” (This advice is about exit slips and admit slips.) I remember the brilliant assessment strategies I abandoned because of “burden” of grading so many.
The rationale for mapping illustrated the importance of connectivity to students’ learning.
I really like the idea of “written conversation.” I agree with Daniels’ and Zemelman’s description of whole class discussion. “[I]t is a pretty passive form of instruction, since most kids at any given moment are not actively engaged in the material.” In my observations of discussions in large classes I have seen teachers answering their own questions. Also, the same students answer most of the questions. Many rarely speak. Written conversation holds all accountable for engaging in the material.
“Somebody Wanted But So” seems like a great way to dissect the plot. I loved Rita’s use of “It Says—I Say” to help students determine what word problems ask and how to answer them. “Sketch to Stretch” helps students visualize.
I read Freedom Writers shortly after I read this section of Subject Matters. Ellen Gruwell used many of these strategies to engage her students in thinking. It’s exciting to read how many of you have used many of these strategies.
I wish, like Lola, that I had known more of these strategies when I was in the classroom. I also wish, as I have written on all of my Exit Slips, that this class could be required of all in-service as well as pre-service teachers.
The strategies discussed in these chapters/pages are for the most part very practical for most teachers. The somebody-wanted-but-so strategy seemed very cool, although something that I don’t think that my students would ever be able to grasp enough to totally understand and actually do. I also like the It says-I say strategy. I think this strategy would be especially useful in various content areas. I in the past have used the exit slips and loved how they gave me a final piece of information from each student so that I could prepare best for the next day. They always were helpful and always informative – something many teachers would benefit from using.
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