Guiding Readers and Writers Book Discussion

1. Guiding Readers and Writers Book Discussion Chapters 20 - 22

2. Chapters • Twenty: Teaching for Sustaining Strategies in Guided Reading • Twenty-One: Teaching for Connecting and Expanding Strategies in Guided Reading • Twenty-Two: Teaching for Word Solving: Phonics, Spelling, and Vocabulary

3. Chapter Twenty: Teaching for Sustaining Strategies in Guided Reading • Guided reading plays a central role in teaching students to use reading strategies to become effective readers • Two challenges facing young readers • Some students will work on very basic reading skills such as word analysis and comprehending simple texts • All students need instructional support so they can expand their competence across a greater variety of increasingly challenging texts.

4. Teaching within a Guided Reading Lesson • It is important to begin guided reading by introducing the work • Strategies before Guided Reading: • Author biography • Predictions • Inference • Genre characteristics • Connections to background knowledge • Clarify the connection

5. During Guided Reading While reading silently, instructors are conference with individual students During the conference, students Read a short piece of the text aloud softly Offers examples of interesting language Asks questions Converses with instructor

6. After the Reading • Teacher calls groups together for discussion • This discussion is used to: • Check for understanding • Share interesting language • Make literary and personal connections • Teacher mediates and steers discussion in the right direction for analysis

7. Teaching for Strategies Using Accessible Text • Choose works that fit the goal or skill that will be emphasized, as well as the amount of teacher mediation • Teacher Mediation • Show students effective reading behaviors • Support students’ early attempts at effective reading behaviors • Prompt students to engage in effective reading behaviors • Reinforce effective reading behaviors • Observe students using effective reading behaviors

8. What skills do students learn using reading strategies? • Decoding • Monitoring and Correcting • Information Gathering • Predicting • Phrasing and Fluency • Adjusting Ideas

9. Chapter Twenty-One: Teaching for Connecting and Expanding Strategies in Guided Reading • Literary and personal connections to reading increase understanding and meaning • Connection is an important step towards higher order thinking skills (Bloom’s Taxonomy)

10. Connection to Other Reading Texts • Connections between text often involve reading skills such as: • Content • Genre • Author • Setting • Characters • Plot • Structure • Theme • Language • Tone • Inference

11. Summarizing • Summarizing is taking all of the text and taking out the important ideas, events, and details from the story and reorganizing them in a shorter manner • Can be used for synthesizing and analyzing, depending on the stance of the perspective of the summary

12. Analysis and Criticism • Analysis – looking below the surface to figure out what the author’s purpose and viewpoint • Criticism – evaluation of text • Both of these skills are used to create “critical citizens” – those who question what is heard and read and evaluate accuracy

13. Critical Citizens • Theory that students who analyze text and what is read create better citizen. • Address social issues • Understand them • Address them using that knowledge • Literacy – tool for changing society, where education empowers others to improve their own lives and those around them

14. Word study isn’t about leaning individual words, but rather how written language is organized. This process involves decoding and deriving meaning. Like all learning, reader and writers learn more while actually doing it themselves. Chapter Twenty-Two: Teaching for Word-Solving: Phonics, Spelling, and Vocabulary

15. Strategies for Word Solving • Phonemic • Sounding it out • Visual • Visual patterns making up words or letter clusters that make a different sound– i.e.. -eigh (long a sound) • Morphemic • Using affixes, root words, etc. in compound words • Linking • Linking to similar words (example – equivalent is close to equal and value) • Research • Using dictionaries, word lists, thesauruses, glossaries – any tool at their disposal to find words

16. Phonics • Whole Words • Rapid, automatic word recognition • Word Patterns • Chunking words • Syllables • Close to morphemic • Letter by Letter

17. Spelling and Vocabulary • Spelling and vocabulary teach students words as well as how to spell common words and pronounce new words based on connections with other words • Spelling rules are highly useful • Always put u after q • Every syllable has a vowel • Write i before e except after c or when sounded like a as in neighbor or weigh • Vocabulary • Increasing vocabulary is basic to education • In order to know a word • Read it in different contexts, understanding every time • Use it in a decontextualized way • Realize connotations • Use metaphorically

18. Vocabulary • Learning vocabulary occurs one of two ways • Reading • Explicit teaching • Vocabulary lists • Dictionaries, thesauruses, etc. • Need to have students use the word, not just define words • Those who most need to expand vocabulary are likely the slowest and most reluctant readers

19. Active Word Study • Interactive word study is suggested one or two times a week • Word webs • Wall charts • Writing assignments • Using Phonics, spelling, and vocabulary • Types • Making Words • Word Sorting

20. Making Words • Students construct words with magnets or letter cards • Can make words that • Start and end the same • Feature silent letters • Are contractions • Are compound words • Contain prefixes and suffixes • Are homonyms (homophones, homographs) • Have the same roots (Greek or Latin) • Contain the same number of syllables

21. Word Sorting • Definition – “a way to help students compare and contrast words according to specific features.” • Enables students to form hypotheses, concepts, and generalizations about written words • Definition – a way to help students compare and contrast words according to specific features. • Enables students to form hypotheses, concepts, and generalizations about written words • Divide words into open and closed sorts • Sort these words by sound, spelling, or concept/meaning

22. Effective Word Study • Fun, not tedious • demonstrate students what they already know about words • Don’t obstruct with reading and writing time • Create discussion and negotiation opportunities • persuade students to relate their own background to knowledge • Encourage connections between study and understanding

23. Using Word Study • Students must then put what is learned into action during reading and writing workshops • Throughout literature study and then writing, such as independent, guided, and investigative writing.