Stop Teaching the E R

Stop Teaching the E R phostmeyer@charter.net www.phylsquill.com Raising Student Achievement Conference 2009

Most students over third grade who have learning difficulties serious enough for placement in special programs do not have problems with basic reading skills; rather, these students lack metacomprehension skills, and therefore are unable to systematically construct meaning or utilize strategies efficiently. (Pogrow, 1993; Caverly, Mandeville, and Nicholson, 1995) www.phylsquill.com

Strategies • Visualize – make mental pictures or use the five senses • Make Connections – what has happened in your life, the world, or other texts that helps the reader make sense • Question – actively wonder and question the text • Infer – to predict, hypothesize, interpret, draw conclusions www.phylsquill.com

Strategies • Evaluate – to determine importance and make judgments • Analyze – to notice structures of text, the author’s craft, vocabulary, purpose, theme, point of view • Recall – to retell, summarize, remember information • Self-monitor – to recognize and act on confusion, uncertainty, and distractions www.phylsquill.com

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QAR Question Answer Relationship Taffy E. Raphael - 1983 www.phylsquill.com

When QAR is taught to students and practiced in class for as little as eight weeks reading comprehension improves significantly, with average and below-average students showing the greatest improvement. (Miller, 1997; Richardson and Morgan, 1994) www.phylsquill.com

Day One What is the most impressive man-made structure that you have ever seen in person? What made it so impressive? www.phylsquill.com

RIGHT THERE: What is the full name of this statue? Who gave the statue to the United States? THINK AND SEARCH: What are some phrases we could use to help others understand what the Statue of Liberty looks like? AUTHOR AND ME: What types of reactions do you think people might have the first time they see the Statue of Liberty? www.phylsquill.com

Day Two: • Shared Reading – Teacher Reads the poem as students follow along in text • Echo Reading – Students echo the teacher • Pair Reading – Students sit with a partner and take turns reading the poem aloud to each other. Teacher circulates and helps with difficult words. • A few students volunteer to read the poem to the class www.phylsquill.com

Right There: Who wrote The New Colossus? What is Lazarus referring to when she says Colossus? What other name does Lazarus give to the Statue of Liberty? Think and Search: What adjectives does Lazarus use to describe the Colossus? What adjectives does Lazarus use to describe the Statue of Liberty? Author and Me: What do you see as major differences between the two statues: Colossus and Lady Liberty? How do you think Emma Lazarus wanted people to feel when they first saw the Statue of Liberty? How might the contrast of these two statues – Lady Liberty and Colossus - affect the way people feel about the Statue of Liberty? www.phylsquill.com

Day Three: • Asked for volunteers to read the poem aloud to the class again. • Complete a graphic organizer as a team – teacher carrying the work of turning spoken word into written word • Students worked in teams to complete a graphic organizer – look at all the words – not just the adjectives. Teacher circulates the room offering support www.phylsquill.com

Restate the prompt: Lazarus wanted people to feel welcome when they saw the Statue of Liberty. Key Idea: She says the statue is a mighty woman. Explain the key idea: She is a woman not a man. Make a connection: Because she is a woman instead of a man, she seems to be friendly. Key Idea: She is called the Mother of Exiles. Explain the key idea: Because she is called a Mother, she seems to be friendly. Make a connection: Most people like their mom. Key idea: It says she gives a world wide welcome Explain the key idea: Because she is giving a welcome, she seems friendly. Make a connection: We have a welcome mat at our front door. Repeat the prompt: The poet wants people to feel welcome when they see the Statue of Liberty. www.phylsquill.com

Idea: The poet wanted people to feel welcome when they saw the Statue of Liberty. Evidence: She described it as the Mother of Exiles. Interpretation: I think that means she wants everyone to think of the Statue as their mother and mothers are nice. Evidence: She said the statue gives a world wide welcome Interpretation: I think that means that she is kind and welcomes people from anywhere in the world. Connection: When I started at a new school, I was scared. But my teacher reminded me of my mom. Extension: I didn’t feel so scared and nervous because I felt welcomed by the teacher who was like my mom. www.phylsquill.com

do you think – have you ever – how might you feel if – what do you know about www.phylsquill.com

From 2 to 24 www.phylsquill.com phostmeyer@charter.net Raising Student Achievement Conference December 2009

Sentence Patterns • Noun – Verb • AKA – Subject – Predicate The dragon roared. Noun – Verb – Noun • AKA – Subject – Predicate – Direct Object The dragon breathed fire. www.phylsquill.com

Pattern 1 Noun – Verb www.phylsquill.com

Jewelry www.phylsquill.com

Yes, You Can Teach Poetry phostmeyer@charter.net www.phylsquill.com Raising Student Achievement Conference Dec. 2009

ISAT Writing Features www.phylsquill.com

Why write poetry? • Incorporates all 5 senses • Few words needed to make a meaningful message • De-emphasizes mechanics • Vocabulary development www.phylsquill.com

Why write poetry? • Innovative use of language • Learn to use detail & imagery • Effective openings & closings • Personal voice expressed • Extends & supports reading & writing www.phylsquill.com

Simile I was dizzy as a dervish, as weak as aworn-out washer, as low as a badger’s belly,as timid as a titmouse, and as unlikely tosucceed as a ballet dancer with a wooden leg. Little Sister by Raymond Chandler Student samples: She was as clumsy as a three-legged horse, as skinny as dental floss, as pale as Saran Wrap, and as boring as a broken keyboard. On the basketball court I was as fierce as a charging lion, as fast as the winner at Daytona, as powerful as a newlyspawned hurricane, and as successful as a salesman withlaryngitis. www.phylsquill.com

Metaphor The Toaster by William Jay Smith A silver-scaled dragon with jaws flaming red Sits at my elbow and toasts my bread. I hand him fat slices, and then, one by one, He hands them back when he sees they are done. www.phylsquill.com

My anger, a burning acid, destroyed my joy, my pride, my life. www.phylsquill.com

Intangible item (is/became/ seems to be) tangible item ______________ My anger was an acid eating away at me. My anger was an acid destroying the container called me. www.phylsquill.com

Sentence Pattern 6: use an appositive Intangible item, tangible item, ___________________________________ ___________________________________ My anger, a burning acid, destroyed my joy, my pride, my life. www.phylsquill.com

Your Turn • Select one of the intangible items and one of the tangible items. • Feel free to use items that are not on the list. • Try to use Sentence Pattern 6 to create a metaphor – use the intangible item as the subject and the tangible item as the appositive www.phylsquill.com

The snow, a white blanket, covered everything I looked at. • The leaves, little ballerinas, danced in the wind. • The oak tree, a soldier standing guard, grew by my bedroom window. • The birds, attacking jets, dive bombed my cat. www.phylsquill.com

Alliteration & Assonance The Diatonic Dittymunch by Jack Prelutsky The Diatonic Dittymunch plucked music from the air, it swallowed scores of symphonies, and still had space to spare, sonatas and cantatas slithered sweetly down its throat, it made ballads into salads, and consumed them note-by-note. It ate marches and mazurkas, it ate rhapsodies and reels, minuets and tarantellas were the staples of its meals, but the Diatonic Dittymunch outdid itself one day, it ate a three-act opera, and loudly passed away. Assonance Samples: Hear the lark and harken to the barking of the dark fox gone to ground - Pink Floyd With the sound, with the sound, with the sound of the ground. - David Bowie, "Law (Earthlings on Fire)" I never seen so many Dominicanwomen with cinnamon tans - Will Smith, Miami www.phylsquill.com

Alliteration Creation This is a turkle. Turkles take turns tickling turtles. They love the taste of trout, tuna, and tilapia. This turkle made a toupee from twine and attached it to his head with taffy. He traded ten tennis balls for a trampoline. He won a trophy for tooting a trombone while traveling on a tricycle to Tennessee. Turkles will lose their temper if you tap on the top of their trailers. What makes this a good piece of writing? www.phylsquill.com

A = 4 or 5 smiles B = 3 smiles C = 2 smiles www.phylsquill.com

Onomatopoeia by Eve Merriam The rusty spigot sputters, utters a splutter, spatters a smattering of drops, gashes wider; slashsplattersscattersspurts finally stops sputteringand plash! gushes rushes splashes clear water dashes. www.phylsquill.com

A Sound Lesson • My sister screamed when the mouse scurried across the kitchen floor. • “Eeeek!” My sister screamed when the mouse scurried across the kitchen floor. • The balloon burst. • Pop! The balloon burst. • The noisy clock irritated me. • The constant tick – tick – tick of the clock irritated me. • The doves serenaded me. • The cooing doves serenaded me. www.phylsquill.com

Your Turn • The church bells called us to the funeral. • The bees swarmed around the hive. • Dad washed the pots and pans. • The sound of Willie Nelson’s guitar filled the room. • The mud hit the wall. • The peg-legged pirate walked across the deck. www.phylsquill.com

Personification Somebody Has To by Shel Silverstein Somebody has to go polish the stars, They're looking a little bit dull. Somebody has to go polish the stars, For the eagles and starlings and gulls Have all been complaining they're tarnished and worn, They say they want new ones we cannot afford. So please get your rags And your polishing jars, Somebody has to go polish the stars. www.phylsquill.com

Let the rain kiss you Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops Let the rain sing you a lullaby The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk The rain makes running pools in the gutter The rain plays a little sleep song on our roof at night And I love the rain. Langston Hughes www.phylsquill.com

Like a swing dancer, the car danced down the icy street to the rhythm of every bump and dip. The telephone at my bedside offered me a silent promise; “Yes, she will call.” www.phylsquill.com

The spaghetti on the end of my fork twirled around like a ballerina. The tired kitten on my lap slept like a baby. www.phylsquill.com

Stop Teaching the E R