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Best Practices: Comparing Reading Check Methods

Best Practices: Comparing Reading Check Methods. TE804 Inquiry Project. My Classroom. I am placed in Holt Senior High School I teach ELA11 I have 24 students, and about 5 struggling readers I taught Honors ELA11 during our Maus unit & will refer to them in this inquiry. Context.

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Best Practices: Comparing Reading Check Methods

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  1. Best Practices: Comparing Reading Check Methods • TE804 Inquiry Project

  2. My Classroom • I am placed in Holt Senior High School • I teach ELA11 • I have 24 students, and about 5 struggling readers • I taught Honors ELA11 during our Maus unit & will refer to them in this inquiry

  3. Context • We use reading checks in our classroom in the form of quizzes and question packets • I have used a question packet and a reading log to check reading • Reading logs were modeled after our PCW Activity logs for ENG408 • Also used Burke’s activity suggestions • There were two versions for the reading logs: • V1: Structured • V2: Multimodal

  4. My Inquiry Focus • I wanted to check which reading check would: • Produce higher completion rates • Lead to higher-order thinking • Facilitate Discussions • Be preferable to my students

  5. How It Was Done • During our Of Mice & Men unit I gave students a question packet • They submitted their answer on a separate piece of paper for each chapter they read • During our Maus I unit I gave students V.1 of our reading logs • They submitted a log for each chapter they read

  6. How It Was Done • Our Honors class used V.1 & V.2 of our reading logs • They also submitted a log for each chapter they read

  7. Completion Rates • Completion rates are higher for reading logs (62.5%) • Submission rates may be tied to text or workload

  8. Higher-Order Thinking • Logs produced many instances of higher-order thinking • Question packets did not • Possibly due to the type of questions: • Open vs. closed • My Interpretation vs. Text based • Student-led vs. Teacher-led

  9. Facilitates Discussions? • Both facilitate discussion by providing a framework • Logs provided a flexible, student-led format • however… • More students preferred using question packets, because: • Easier and familiar • Focuses on important events

  10. Facilitates Discussions? • Still, some students preferred logs, because: • Helps form an opinion • Freedom to share own thoughts • Allowed them to discuss feelings not just facts • Most Honors students cited freedom as the reason behind the log being helpful

  11. Student Preferences • Students liked the question packet because: • They were easy to answer (skim for answers) • Prepared them to take a test on the text

  12. Student Preferences • Students liked the reading logs because: • No wrong answer • Easy to fill as you read • Allowed them to share what they felt • Honors students preferred it overwhelmingly • Discuss what they wanted!

  13. Recommendations • Either format: • Supports comprehension • Can be used to prepare students for discussions • Ensure students actually complete reading • My results show: • Most students prefer reading logs • Complete them more often • They support a more dialogic and free-form student-led discussions • Don’t discount reading packets!

  14. My Recommendation: Thinking About Your Class • Use a reading log if you: • Want a more reflective approach to reading • Have enough time to grade potentially longer writing • Have stronger readers who have time to complete a daily task • Other Considerations: • Single sentence answers may occur! • If you intend to quiz students about specific events, make sure to include in activities

  15. My Recommendation: Thinking About Your Class • Use a question packet if you: • Have many preps • If your students value and need structure • To point to specific events in the novel • Guide struggling readers* • To improve question packets, consider: • Including higher order thinking questions • Submission frequency

  16. Final Thoughts… • My question packet was problematic: • It didn’t include enough higher-order thinking questions • Submitted too often? • Our discussion progressively became more dialogic • Logs facilitated that! • Motivation could have been increased by using logs: • They were free to choose a response • Were always “right” • Focused on their understanding of events • Highly recommend using with Honor students!

  17. Currently… • As we are reading The Catcher In The Rye • we are using an online discussion forum as our reading log • Completion rates are in the 95% • We are using CollaborizeClassroom.com • Our discussions are based solely on their forum responses

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