Literacy Strategies for Elective Courses

1. Literacy Strategies for Elective Courses

2. On a scratch piece of paper, write an “A” for agree or “D” for disagree • I love to read and read often for entertainment • I am a good reader • I often have to read something more than once to understand what I’m reading • Good reading skills are important for everyday life • I’d rather be on the beach…

3. Expectations • Turn cell phones to silent. Please keep texting to a minimum and step outside to answer phone calls • We will have a scheduled break, but feel free to take care of personal needs when needed • Please have an open mind. We MUST increase literacy, and we need your help to do this • Ask questions as they come about

4. Discussions • We will have many table discussions • Please sit with teachers who teach a similar subject if possible

5. Why are we talking about this? • The STAAR test is a literacy based assessment • Students across the board are reading below grade level • YOUR kids have to be successful, too. • There are too many gaps for the reading to be left up to the English teachers. We’ll never fill them.

6. 9th grade ISIP results

7. Level 1, 2, 3 • Not prepared, Sufficiently prepared, Well prepared • Only 4% of Birdville students scored “well prepared”

8. Resources • http://www.franklindataconsulting.com/literacy/electives.html • http://www-tc.pbs.org/teacherline/courses/rdla220/docs/fisher.pdf • http://www.projectcriss.com/pdf_files/24_W02_LITERACY-MUSIC.PDF • http://www.psmla.net/sites/default/files/4RdgStrat%202012%20Forum.pdf

9. Think back… • What were your assignments in middle school and high school? • We read chapters and answered questions…although this was not necessarily best practice for retaining information, WE LEARNED HOW TO READ ACADEMIC TEXTS • Our kids are missing this practice

10. Strategies • Anticipation Guide • Direct Reading and Thinking Activity (DRTA) • Gist • Jigsaw • Making Connections • Cornell Notes • Quick Write

11. Anticipation Guide • Builds background • Peaks interest • Serves as a pre-assessment • Focuses reading • Gets students to form opinions

12. Anticipation Guide • How could you use this in your content area? • For example, you could ask questions about… • Health • Different types of art • Computer use

13. Direct Reading and Thinking Activity • Purpose • Prereading • Making predictions (focus reading) • Access prior knowledge

14. Direct Reading and Thinking Activity • Procedure • Provide a brief summary of topic • Have students access prior knowledge and discuss ideas/vocabulary • Make connections • Walk through text and identify features (illustrations, titles, subtitles) • Students write predictions on post-it notes • Read text • Revisit predictions and adjust according to outcomes

15. Direct Reading and Thinking Activity • When can you use this? Discuss with your table. • Use this before reading… • Newspaper article • Text book • Online article • Story

16. Gist • Purpose • Summarizing main points • Identifying key words

17. Gist • Procedure • Explain the meaning of “gist” (the main purpose or idea) • Model with an article. Read a paragraph or article out loud. Gather 20 words that cover the who, what, where, when, why and how. • Write a summary using the 20 words. Discuss • Students continue doing this in groups or individually as they read the text

18. Gist • How can you use this in your content area? Discuss at your table. • Examples: • Biographies on famous athletes, artists, inventors, etc • Articles • Text books • Descriptors or pieces of art or styles of art • Trade manuals

19. Jigsaw • Purpose • Students work cooperatively • Breaks apart a reading assignment • Makes students become experts on certain parts • Engages students • Students held accountable • Teaching is the best way to learn!!

20. Jigsaw • Procedure • Divide class into home groups • Provide different color-coded reading to each member in group • Students read assignment and organize notes into an outline or visual organizer • Regroup students by color-coded readings. Expert groups discuss learning and collaborate on collective notes or assignment • Students return to home group and share notes

21. Jigsaw • How can this be used in your content area? Discuss with your table group • Examples: • Different types of exercises and their effects • Descriptors of different styles of artwork • Descriptors of different types of computer systems and their purpose

22. Making Connections • Purpose • Build background knowledge • Activate prior knowledge • Connect to personal experience • “This strategy leads students to realize that most written work reflects real life events and issues.” Stratiques, 2010

23. Making Connections • Procedure • Build background of a given topic (YouTube, pictures, ect) • Ask students to share their examples: • Personal experiences • Other texts • Real world examples • Use post-its to label connection points in texts

24. Making Connections • How can you use this strategy in your content area?

25. Across the board… • Cornell notes/t-charts • Way to organize notes • Used by Avid students • Quick writes • Share opinion • Summary of content learned

26. Quick Write • Your child is an AMAZING athlete. He has size, ability and a drive to win, practice and improve his skills at any cost. However, he struggles with reading and writing and will have to retake the English 1 EOC test, not to mention that he almost failed English and World Geography every six weeks last year, which almost made him ineligible to play ball and caused a lot of stress. • He doesn’t feel comfortable talking to his English teacher, but he loves his coach. How would you want the staff at your son’s school to work with him? • Write for 3 minutes without stopping.

27. Closure • Literacy affects every other aspect of education • We are all on the same team with a common goal: to make students successful. • We learned 7 strategies to increase literacy with our students, and we incorporated them into our classes.

28. Email Us! • Beth Anne Preston • Bethanne.preston@birdvilleschools.net • Jennifer Young • Jennifer.young@birdvilleschools.net