Effective Strategies for Teaching Upper Elementary and Middle School Students to be Successful Readers

1. As a veteran teacher, what “new”knowledge, strategies, and technologies do I need to know in order to effectively teach upper elementary and middle school students to be successful readers?Kathleen HollandNLGL PresentationMay 6, 2010

2. ECI 546 New Literacies & Media • “new” understanding: responsibility to teach online reading skills • Online reading uses incorporates offline reading skills but requires more in the way of self-directed text construction and being able to locate and critically evaluate information (Leu et al.) • TICA (Teaching Internet Comprehension to Adolescents) Phase II checklists were helpful in identifying what specific skills students need to know and what teachers need to teach www.newliteracies.uconn.edu/iesproject/documents.html • Inquiry Learning Project: How can Trailfire facilitate student understanding of how to critically evaluate the reliability of online information? http://trailfire.com/khhollan/trails/96739

3. ECI 522 Trends & Issues in English Language Arts Education (in place of ECI 523) • “new” understanding: importance of conducting action research & “refraction” (Pope) • Dialogic Daybook discussion revealed the perceived need to read orally to help struggling readers complete novels • Inquiry Learning Project: “Finding the Right Reading Balance,” action research to determine how best to support middle school readers • Student survey: 42% preferred silent reading; 36% chose following along while teacher read out loud

4. ECI 522 cont. • Results & observations indicated the need for more direct instruction of comprehension strategies for some students; review of the research showed reading processes we use as adults not the ones we “impose” on kids (Atwell); teachers are expert readers who use automatic processes (Wilhelm); time spent on assessment far outweighs time spent teaching comprehension skills • Results also revealed the need for more time for independent reading • Developed a plan for Reading Workshop pilot program that would meet both sets of needs; based on a review of the literature & interviewing teachers; implemented first as a three-week block and expanded later to nine weeks at a time • Now, thanks to being in the reading program, know how to better individualize instruction—using informal assessments & strategies to increase fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension

5. ECI 524: Theory & Research in Global Learning • “new” understanding: importance of creating opportunities for students and myself to investigate and appreciate different cultures and people around the world • Inquiry Learning Project: Personal Philosophy on Global Learning *Merryfield (2008) article: 95% of the world lives outside the US; strategy using 3 pictures; post-tsunami realizations *Simon’s “knowing”: means being able to find and use information rather than remembering & repeating it (as cited in How People Learn)

6. ECI 524 cont. *Global awareness in our local area: St. Joseph’s *Cosmopolitanism as explained by Kwame Anthony Appiah (2006) --universal concern (responsible for each other) & respecting differences (not trying to change people to become more like us) --his thoughts about the Golden Rule—”So, when I think about what I should do unto others, is what matters whether I’d like it done to me with my actual values and beliefs, or is what matters whether I’d like it done to me if I had their values and beliefs?” (p. 62)

7. ECI 524 cont. • Changes in my thinking *Pre-personal philosophy of global learning: led students through a unit on folk tales in many cultures in which they developed plays to present to the class; emphasis was on common themes across cultures *Post-personal philosophy plan: before creating plays, take advantage of the opportunity to learn more about the differences between cultures & what makes each culture unique; make that part of play presentation as well Connections to reading: to be 21st century global citizens, students need to build background knowledge about other cultures, appreciate differences, see other perspectives, and develop online reading & research skills while investigating global issues & concerns

8. ECI 508: Teachers as Leaders • “new” understanding: importance of setting up a personal action plan for professional development & lifelong learning (identify ways to expand career and broaden knowledge base; set goals) • Inquiry learning project: Literacy Coaching: What Is It, and Is It a Role I Want to Pursue? *The Nation’s Report Card: Reading 2009 demonstrates the need for literacy support at the middle and high school levels. * 75% of 8th graders read at the “basic” level (p. 25), which, according to NAEP means, they have a “partial mastery of prerequisite knowledge and skills that are fundamental for proficient work at each grade level” (p. 5)

9. ECI 508 cont. • Literacy coaches *work at the middle and high school levels to help teachers incorporate reading and writing skills and strategies into their content area curriculum (math, science, social studies, and English/language arts) *collaborate with teachers; provide ongoing professional development about skills and strategies to help with reading and writing *research indicates fewer than 10% of teachers use a strategy learned after a professional development workshop (Buly et al., 2006, p. 27), but with in-class coaching & feedback they are more likely to take ownership * “…a coach truly works with a teacher to shift understandings” (Buly et al., 2006, p. 24); an opportunity to provide other teachers with the “new” knowledge, strategies, and technologies that the NLGL program has given to me

10. Putting the pieces together • Online reading skills • In reading workshop students can choose books related to learning about life in other cultures and can also read materials online • In adopting a more intentional global learning perspective in my classroom, I can create opportunities for students to read online, to discover more about the rest of the world, and to engage in global conversations • By broadening my instructional base in these 3 areas, I am better prepared to serve as a literacy coach in the future

11. Creative Synthesis Project: Create an online summer reading module designed for veteran teachers that provides an introduction to the idea of New Literacies & Global Learning Purpose/rationale: Why is this important? Opportunity to take on a teacher leader role by “shifting understandings” and providing other teachers with the “new” knowledge, strategies, and technologies that the NLGL program has given to me Curriculum connections to core classes NC Standard Course of Study goals include for grades 3-5 strategic comprehension & expanding literacy through research & inquiry; for grades 6-8 applying comprehension strategies critically & strategically as well as critically analyzing print and non-print communication

12. NLGL Compelling Question • What “new” knowledge, strategies, & technologies does a veteran teacher need to incorporate in order to help students (in grades 3-8) be successful readers/language arts students?

13. Sources Cited Appiah, K A. (2006). Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a world of strangers. New York: W W Norton & Co. Buly, M.R., Coskie, T., Robinson, L., & Egawa, K. (2006). Literacy coaching: Coming out of the corner. Voices from the Middle, 13 (4), 24-28. Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. (1999). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. Retrieved http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=9853 Leu, D.J., McVerry, G., O’Byrne, W., Zawilinski, L., Castek, J., & Hartman, D.K. (In press). The new literacies of online reading comprehension and the irony of No Child Left Behind. Morrow, L.M., Rueda, R., & Lapp, D. Handbook of research on literacy instruction: Issues of diversity, policy, and equity. New York: Guilford. Merryfield, M. (2008). Scaffolding social studies for global awareness. Social Education, 72(7), 363-366. National Center for Educational Statistics (2009). The Nation’s Report Card: Reading 2009. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pubs/main2009/2010458.asp Pope, C. A. (1999). Reflection and refraction: A reflexive look at an evolving model for methods instruction. English Education, 31(3), 177-204.

14. Credits • My very special thanks to: Dr. Fox, Dr. Lee, Dr. Pope, & Dr. Spires