MWP Summer institute 2006

I have done some things with my kids as far as teaching them how to use visual information in nonfiction. I am wondering if anyone has any good ideas on this subject? I liked Stead's examples in the book but I'm thinking of countless mini-lessons on different types of visual information.
One of the things Stead hasn't gone into in his book is discussing with kids the fact that we read nonfiction differently than fiction. This is something I try to hammer into all my students. I usually pick up a Bernstein Bear book or another fluffy piece of obvious fiction and ask the students why they read this book. We usually come to the conclusion that the book in question is fun to read. Then I pick up some huge science textbook and ask them why we read this. We come to the conclusion that we want to learn something. This leads into a mini-lesson on purpose and the need to change the way we read nonfiction. I then teach them the parts of a nonfiction book and how they can help you figure out what you will be learning. Titles, sub-titles, highlighted words, pictures, captions, maps, graphs, diagrams, glossaries, indexes and graphics are just some of the things we learn how to use.

Posted by Philip Sheridan at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Wow! After reading Tony Stead's chapter on Visual Literacy I am definitely going to work on addressing it better in my classroom. It is amazing all of the different visual information that children are bombarded with every day from so many sources around them. They definitely need to be able to critically determine what a picture is saying and how to tell if it has been altered or changed in any way.

I really enjoyed the way that he showed how he looked at maps with students to see what they already knew and then spent time discussing, questioning, and synthesizing information from visual sources from them. I don't believe that I was putting enough energy into this form of literacy and now that I'm more aware of it I am excited to try something new. I totally agree that with non-fiction text, even one that appears easy for a child usually isn't. They definitely need tools in order to comprehend on a deeper level with this kind of text.

I also liked how he brought up building background information and modeling to the students. It is also great to have the students construct their own knowledge and come up with questions about what they see on a map or when they look at a picture. They think of it as a puzzle to solve. The chart used for facts I can see and prove, inferences, and strong/almost certain inferences was really great. Once they understand inferences it would be really interesting to try this with students with non-fiction text.

To continue, one piece I really liked was the link from comprehending visuals to including them in ones own writing. Wow! That really shows that they've transferred knowledge to new ideas. How exciting. Of course, at first he said they overused it. How true! It also means that they were really learning and taking the knowledge to a new learning situation.

Posted by Karla Harding at 10:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I found the chapter on visual literacy interesting. This chapter illustrates how important it is to spend time teaching students how to read maps, charts, diagrams, etc. I often assume this type of literacy will not be difficult for students, but is not as easy as it appears. I liked the organizer for fact finding that was included in this section with the columns titled Facts I Can See and Prove, Inferences, and Strong/Almost Certain Inferences.

I agree that many times, students look at a visual and make a statement they believe to be a fact. The author suggests asking students to show how they knew it was a fact. This will be something I will be able to use in math when students are examining charts and graphs.

Chapter 10 focuses on guided reading and assessment. The author writes that "examples of nonfiction texts need to be part of our assessments." I believe this to be true too. While teaching 1st grade, many times the parents would hear their child was at a particular reading level and be thrilled that the child was doing so well. I had to remind them that they were with regards to decoding and fluency, but the information I was providing did not include nonfiction reading and comprehension. We need to make sure we have a well-rounded picture of a child's ability, so we know where to take them next.
I liked the idea of asking at least one question for literal, interpretive, and evaluative meanings when assessing comprehension.

On page 204, Stead discusses the advantages and disadvantages to incidental teaching. I think this is important to keep in mind. There are times you have to,"go with the flow", but you also have to be thoughtful about the concepts you need to teach to move the students forward.

Posted by Laura Cochlin at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Hi Everybody,

This is my second shot rewriting my entire entry. The blog is neat when it doesn't gobble up a person's work. I'm ready to pull my hair out. Aughhhh!

On another happier note, I am really enjoying the book Reality Checks. I continue to be pleased by the simple ways I can apply some of the theory he mentions in his book. One part of the book that I have really enjoyed is the piece about fact and opinion and helping our students seek out deeper understanding and developing critical thinking skills so that our students are better prepared for the myriad of advertising and the art of persuasion that occurs everyday in so many places. This is something critical for students to understand. It will help them in their daily lives.

One powerful piece I liked was the chart showing how easily students were persuaded from one side of an issue to another. When we have discussions after reading TFK and I have the students take a stand on what they believe I have seen how easily they are persuaded by opinions, not facts that the other students present. They just naturally believe them.

I feel that using some of his ideas for fact and opinion while looking at persuasive writing will be invaluable. What I read validated and extended the discussions and construction of knowledge I have already done with my students. I always thought it was a great step when they noticed how closely tied fact and opinion can be. If they believe it than it is a fact, automatically. I think the tools Tony Stead presented in the book will really help me facillitate when we reach the point where we talk about persuasive essays and fact and opinion. This will aid them when they write and when they read. The two are interconnected.

-Karla Harding

Posted by Karla Harding at 12:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Chapter 7 of Reality Checks explores teaching students to evaluate what they have read. I think the connection between having students read persuasive text and writing persuasively is important. In the past, I have not considered focusing on the different ways writers persuade. I have only focused on making sure students provide some reasoning for their arguement. Emersing children in this genre and then having them discuss why their thinking was affected and listing these reasons was a good strategy for teaching evaluative reading. Some things the students noted were: using math, facts, shocking information, using emotions, using photographs. Analyzing the text this was is reading like a writer. Now when students are asked to write to persuade, they are better prepare with a wider array of tools they can use to write a convincing piece.

Chapter 8 explores developing evaluative understanding with early readers. A problem that was noted was the lack of resources available because text levels are usually too high. The author said to solve this problem, he created his own pieces to use with the children. What a great way to share your writing with students! It was mentioned that the author did not tell the children at the start that he wrote the essay. He was concerned this knowledge might influence their opinion. He did tell them after a discussion though. I liked the bibliography of read-alouds that was provided. Including the comments about ways to use to develop evaluative understandings will be helpful.

Lauren Benjamin, a first grade teacher wrote: I want my learners to always question what is before them so that they don't end up as passive readers who believe everything they read because it's in published print.Something I will keep in mind.

Posted by Laura Cochlin at 1:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Hey All,

I read Chapter 7 yesterday and thought I would comment on it while I had a little time before class.

I am liking the clear way in which Stead lays out his plans. The student examples and stories of the classroom keep me engaged.

I feel it is pretty important in our society today to be able to differentiate between fact and opinion and recognize the persuasive tactics that we are bombarded with everyday. I feel that a teacher should eleborate about the tools he mentions that nonfiction authors use and inform the students that these are the very same tactics that advertising firms use to get them to buy sugared cereal and Playstations.

Just my two cents,

Phil

Posted by Philip Sheridan at 8:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I have finished reading the book Reality Checks. I think it will be a good resource to use when helping children comprehend nonfiction.

I made many connections between occurances in my classroom and those in the book. One specifically has to do with the use of K-W-L chart. Many times my students would share a fact they thought they knew. I was never quite sure how to deal with that. Using the RAN strategy, which was discussed in the book, makes sense in place of the K-W-L chart. This chart begins with a column; What I Think I Know, and continues with Confirmed, Misconceptions, New Information, and Wonderings I look forward to using this with my students. What a great idea too to have students manipulate the text on the charts by putting what they've said on post-its, so they can move the text from column to column.

A constant throughout the book is the way the teachers taught concepts with the different understandings. They modeled a lot, and it was not limited to just one time. Another was the idea of teaching some of the lessons in steps rather than all at once. There is also the idea of summarizing and reflecting at the end of a demonstration. As an adult, I have learned that I retain infomation if I take the time to reflect on what I have done.

There is a reference to Brown and Cambourne' s book, Read and Retell I have read and used some of the strategies in this book. I thought this was a good resource.

While reading, I was thinking of ways these strategies could be used in math. On pages 46 and 47 there is a description of locating specific and relevant information. Many of the problems students encounter in math contain information that is not needed to solve the problem. Ways that I have had students do this in the past was to highlight or underline the information. I will now add color coding. This could also possibly work with multi-step problems.

On page 68, in the first paragraph, there is a description of visualization. What do you think about making this part of writer's workshop, if the student author chooses. My thought was to have a student share their piece of writing. While doing so, the other students draw their vision. This might be a way for students to think about parts of their writing that may not make sense or does not create a picture. It will also let students know what parts are working well. Close to the bottom of the page is a quote, "When we visualize, we create pictures in our minds that belong to us and no one else. " I don't know if using this in writer's workshop would work or not because we do create out own pictures.

Posted by Laura Cochlin at 5:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

I am really enjoying this book so far. I have read books such as Strategies That Work and Nonfiction Works. Both are great books and this book really builds off the two of those. I found a lot of my questions were answered. It also affirmed many of the practices I have already been using in my classroom.

For one thing, I really enjoyed how they changed the KWL chart. It never seemed to really work if it was something the students didn't already know a lot about. I would use it when teaching a unit on the Civil War. I loved the way he changed it. I was so frustrated that my students would never be able to put any questions down because they didn't have any background knowledge yet.

I am also very eager to try using more non-fiction read-alouds. I must admit that from time to time I would pick up a National Geographic for Kids or a picture book on a real topic such as storms and read it but I can see now how I can make it more meaningful for students. My students love read-aloud but were a little wary the first time I read non-fiction. I think I need to do more of it so that it is a routine that they are used to, expect, and enjoy.

Posted by Karla Harding at 4:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Hey All,

I've been pleasantly surprised so far reading Reality Checks. It's pretty easy to read, very specific and easy to understand, if not a little redundant. I'm a big fan of using real examples of classroom lessons to illustrate the concept. I'm planning on using the RAN instead of a standard KWL next year. The retelling chapter had good ideas in it too. My favorite chapter was the one on inference. I loved the conclusions that the kids came up with and the "Fact/This Makes Me Think/Why I Think This" worksheet in the appendix.

Posted by Philip Sheridan at 4:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)