Dr. Anita Archer – Improving our K-6 Reading Adoptions - Woodring ...

Dr. Anita Archer – Improving our K-6 Reading Adoptions:From Adoption to Expert ImplementationKey Components in Open Court & Houghton Mifflin English Language Arts Programs as well asany Core LA program that is in alignment w/current research knowledge re: literacy.Big 5 plus writing1) Phonemic Awareness2) Decoding/Phonics3) Vocabulary/Background Knowledge4) Fluency5) Comprehension Strategies** plus writing (and speaking/listening)** Key areas to tweak significantly in these core reading programs: vocabulary, writing,listening/speaking…Effective Instruction- What Teachers Need to Know & Be Able to DoCritical content of our current English Language Arts adoptions (Houghton Mifflin/Open Court)– much better than a few the basals of a few years back, however – key issues include:• Design of instruction: - much more needed in vocabulary/writing/strategies fordecoding/comprehension/word learning –not just assign, but teach the “how to”• Independent work – many cases too many different activities – need to provide moreteacher direction –esp. the vocabulary & need more language production – expressivevocabulary as manifest in academic speaking and writing• Management is also key – and not represented in these materials, teachers must bringthis knowledge to the table…Delivery of Lessons• Gain and maintain attention- with evidence checks – concrete student responses to the instruction• Elicit many responses from the students- engagement is a function of student responsiveness –how much “doing” is EACHstudent actually doing??• Provide passage reading practice- major problem, poorest readers read the least, best readers read the most–esp. the teacher!! – “Matthew Effects” –the rich get richer and the poor getpoorer, we need practices that insure ALL students are engaged in readingpractice• Maintain a perky pace- keep the lesson moving• Monitor student’s responses – feedback/modeling- provide additional instruction/modeling/recognition/etc. based on studentresponsesDr. Anita Archer – “From adoption to expert implementation in Core Lang. Arts” 2/06 1

• Provide corrective feedback –modeling/practice⇒ insure ALL key knowledge/skills students are practicing correctly–remember, “Practice does NOT make perfect” – it makes permanent, sostudents need to engage in accurate practice** Video #1 Preview – watched a video of Anita reading aloud to a group of K-1 students –modeling a number of “best practices” for general instruction & vocabulary/languageinstructionRead Aloud Research Summary Stories should be engaging – meaningful to students; may need tosupplement or replace some of the HM/OC read alouds w/better ones Language that is rich – a bit over the head of the students independentreading level (listening comp. is higher than independent reading comp.) Regularly stop reading & pose questions that ALL students respond to:- choral responses (e.g. thumb up if you know)- partner sharing- acting things out – e.g. being one of the characters in narrative- adding a bit of performance – esp. for ELLs is helpful Briefly clarify word meanings in context – must embed the meaning of thevocabulary without terminating the flow of the story – detailed wordinstruction would be excellent AFTER the story – or for informational textBEFORE the selection (esp. if student are going to read it on their own) Embed thoughtful questions DURING the read aloud- predict & monitor- re-tell/summarize- compare/contrast and so forth… Model thinking – with both thinking aloud & physically looking like you arethinking** key idea here – these practices are NOT directly clarified in the TE (Teacher’sEdition) of most reading programs, teachers must bring this knowledge w/them to theinstruction –how much support is, of course, a function of the need level of the studentsOther Tips Teachers Noticed- saying things together with the teacher- using the students first name to personalize – also using names inexamples- raise your hand if you had the same idea, different idea – even whenindividuals respond the whole group can respond chorally to the individual- randomly call on partners – 2’s and 1’sQuestions- what about the little boy not participating?√ last day he’d be in the back of the room!!√ would not have him on a triad – find an excellent partner√ need to catch him being good/simple recognition - includingteacher giving herself a point for good teaching (K kids unlikely tonotice when you’ve done a great lesson!!)- how about complete sentences? – often when asked questions weDr. Anita Archer – “From adoption to expert implementation in Core Lang. Arts” 2/06 2

espond in a word or phrase in regular conversation – it is in writingthat we use complete sentences – so help students make thisdiscernment – we are going to practice saying it like we’ll write it – sostudents see the difference…- if it is a formal “academic discussion”, then require students to usecomplete sentences w/the target academic vocabulary…- why did your restate? may not want to do this all the time? –with ELLs becautious to not do the work for them, meaning – if they don’t have thesyntax and grammar – honor their response but model the propersyntax/grammar and guide them to restate it… “I pronunciation it wrong”– “Yes, very good Carmen, how we would say that is ‘I pronounced theword wrong.’** Core program suggested the book and the questions – but all the instruction to makeit work, esp. for ELLs and students at/in risk the teachers must add! In other words,we as teachers must insure ALL students understand and respond to the questions inthe TE we pose… this requires thoughtful scaffolding so each student is involved.Q: Are you are “constructivist”?- all learners must ultimately construct their own understanding – however, the issue isare we a “spray and pray” teacher -random acts of instruction? or are we going to beintentional??- the research here is NOT either or – black and white – it is situational:key ideas for teachers to understand:Question: should I be explicit in my teaching or set up an environment where students discoverthe important information/skills/strategies on their own? Below are key generalizations fromthe instructional research literature.ExplicitDiscovery- no/little background knowledge - high background knowledge* reflect on when you needed a teacher - high motivation/maturity- student history of failure - history of success in the area- younger students - older students* again, probably a function of background knowledge not age per seSo, bottom line – it is not either/or – we need to be appropriate… remember, inelementary programs most of what we teach is so important we need to be explicit, --- -- However when we use discovery strategies sometimes they won’t get it – that’s why when wedo use discover activities, be sure to follow up with a check for understanding –so if they didNOT discover it we then explicitly TEACH it – so everyone winds up learning what is criticalfor them to know… regardless of which instructional path we take, we are responsible for theresults produced!Question: But is it Developmentally Appropriate? This is hot button issue in PreK & K:- there is not master list of is/is not for young children for exampleDr. Anita Archer – “From adoption to expert implementation in Core Lang. Arts” 2/06 3

- key question is; IS IT APPROPRIATE TO Develop ?, and of course wedo it in ways that are appropriate for young kids…Unpacking the Video DemonstrationDelivery of Instruction: Gain and Maintain Attention** The teacher – what they do or don’t do –is the key predictor of studentattention/engagement! Procedures for Maintaining Attention1) Gain Attention- some signal –“eyes on me, we’re going to begin, must do this constantly –very often we see teachers teaching away and the kids are not evenfaking attending!2) Elicit responses from the students- the most important key to maintaining attention3) Perky Pace4) Maintain close proximity to the students- that’s why folks designed the “kidney shaped table”5) Connect with students- eye contact- smile- use their names – properly pronounced- monitoring – “inspect what you expect” as students are working6) Add delight and humor- students mirror us, if having difficulty w/teaching –deeply bored, maybetime to find a new career!! students need some joy and levity in theirlives, so do we!7) Teach with enthusiasmKey “tool kit” strategies for engagement:ACTIVE PARTICIPATION: Tools for Your Engagement Tool Kit“It’s not what you say or do that ultimately matters... It IS what youget the students to do as a result of what you said and did that counts.”1) Choral responses -all say it together-wakes kids up -gives thinking time - very helpful toprovide a cue such as holding your hands up - then drop to signal it’s time to respond* cue students to show you they are ready...e.g. ”thumbs up when you know...”* non-verbal choral responses too, “touch the word... put your finger under...”2) Partner responses – one of the most potent strategies we have to increase activelanguage use, attention, higher order thinking, etc. during instruction.√ teacher chooses partners – alternate ranking based on literacy/social skills√ assign roles – A and B, one and two (“A’s tell B’s 2 things we have learned about...)√ specific topic – “what do you predict___; two things we’ve learned about___”)Dr. Anita Archer – “From adoption to expert implementation in Core Lang. Arts” 2/06 4

√ thoughtful questions/prompts – from literal basic information toinferential/evaluative√ short time periords – 15 seconds, 1 minute, etc.√ call on students AFTER they have practiced with a partner3) Written responses – especially as your move up the grades (3 and above)- writing first increases thinking, accountability, focus etc.- provides the teacher with concrete feedback (e.g. “do I need to clarify this?”)- connects written language to oral language4) Randomly call on students (or “faux randomly!!)NO hand raising questions (“Who can tell me ____?”) – If it is worth doing ALLstudents need to be “doing the doing” of learning – NOT just watching others!- increases accountability, attention, focus, involvement – is more fun/lively...Academic Language Teaching- Provide students with the language tools (vocabulary and syntax) neccessary tocompetently discuss the topic (“One consequence of the invention was rise in___________________.”)- Model for students fluent use of response starters and have them repeat prior topartneringMultiple - benefits of Partner Pratice BEFORE Whole Class Discussions Include:1. increases number of students actively “doing the doing” of learning1. all students get feedback/clarification/support from their partners2. more time to think and rehearse - encourages reflection & thoughtfullness3. students likely to be more confident and willing to share with the group4. all students have an opportunity to utilize target academic language5. increases the odds students are attentive, engaged in the instructional conversation6. teacher has written/spoken “evidence checks” of learner engagement7. informal assessment – teacher can listen in or “dip stick” 2 or 3 pairs, provide reteaching/clarificationandelaboration if necessaryKey Idea – is not what strategy you use most often, should reflect the instructional goals –but the frequency is key – find tools that work for your environment, so students are usinglanguage ALL the time during instruction – actively responding to everything!A few more details:Choral responses- both OC/HM use choral group responses- works well when answers are short and the same** variations here can be physical too – using white boards, touch under, thumbs upwhen you know, many ways of having students indicate…Dr. Anita Archer – “From adoption to expert implementation in Core Lang. Arts” 2/06 5

- need a consistent response for cueing students to respond – can use hands, auditorysignal like – “everyone ____________”- must curb the blurters – for this deprives learners from making their ownconnectionsTips for choral responses:- give adequate thinking time – reward reflectivity NOT impulsivity – no “CollegeBowl”!!- have students put their thumbs up or look at you to indicate enough thinking time- e.g. “thumbs up when you have one” – also an indication to the teacher,students may need additional support/examples etc. thumbs up also serves as a “blurt inhibitor” –one teacher added handover the mouth – definitely a higher level!- there is a rhythm to good instruction – choral responses one of the ways to createthisTips on Partners- teach students HOW to be good partners – “look – lean- whisper”- teach students how to give and receive feedback, encouragement, compliments- teach students that cooperative practice relates to the work place, friendship, etc.– not just in school- change partnerships to form cooperative teams of 4-5, if you plan to usecooperative teams often, give students team numbers 1,2,3,4 Make 1-2 partners and3-4 partners. When requesting responses from partners – refer to even/odds.Uses of Partners- say answers to a partner- retell contents of a lesson, summary, graphic organizer- review content (“tell- help – check”)- brainstorm – (think/write, pair, share)- explain a process, strategy, algorithm using examples (e.g. how did you know?why is A a better answer than C?)- read to or with a partner – see formalized partner literacy programs like PALS:http://kc.vanderbilt.edu/pals/ and for commercially published PALS in K & Gr. 1 see:http://www.sopriswest.com/- monitor partner to see if directions are followed (e.g. “1’s check your partner to seethey have a heading on their paper…”)- share materials w/partners- assist partners during independent work – many of the activities in OC/HM would befar more robust if done/explained orally (e.g. word sorting – say the word and whichcolumn it would go in and how you know – take turns)- collect papers, handouts for silent absent partners- provide feedback on written products- study/quiz each other (e.g. take turns w/spelling words dictating and writing,vocabulary words, high frequency sight word practice)Dr. Anita Archer – “From adoption to expert implementation in Core Lang. Arts” 2/06 6

• instead – used a simple routine that works to get them all engaged;√ broken, closet, stranger, scream* model – my turn first* sound out the word, thumbs up when you have it* 1’s say the word to 2s* everyone the word is __________√ key – do the same routine within each activity – so the students can put theircognitive focus on the content – NOT what the teacher is going to do next!!• sidewalk, stickball, grandmother- read the word to yourself – thumbs up when you have it- read the word chorally part by part- Compound words - show students how to figure out the meaning from the2 nd word and ask how it relates to the first word, e.g. mailman is a manwho delivers the mail:mailman- then ask students to individually generate additional compoundwords on their sheet of paper, teacher monitors and gathers onthe overhead, briefly report** keep the essence of the lesson in OC – but add active participation (choral, partner)with more modeling and feedback = true classroom equity – equity in terms ofopportunity to learn!Houghton Mifflin – K – Daily Phonemic Awareness√ TE says to “tell children you will say some sounds, and blend them together to makethe name of the picture, model with the example of /k/ /u/ /p/ cup!, continue with the picturecards above, now have kids work in pairs – one segments the other blendsFar Better: I’ll say the sounds – you say the word chorally - so all saying the words Modeled how to teach the students to be partners – routine w/their pictures,saying the sounds –one partner blending one segmenting –kids did it standing up,changing roles in two lines – so each kid did both segmenting and blending May have to go through and label the cards before hand – esp. for ELLs – anticipateproblems you children may have and “pre-correct”Kinder – OC Read Aloud – The Lonely PrinceTask – look at the story on pg. 5/6 – what would you need to add to insure ALL studentsresponding and benefiting from the instruction?TE called it “Introducing Strategy Use: essentially did vocab by modeling usingcontext/guessing and modeling (“Does anyone know what a castle is? When I am not sure Iknow what a word means, I try to clarify…”) a think aloud strategy for making connectionsDr. Anita Archer – “From adoption to expert implementation in Core Lang. Arts” 2/06 9

etween the story and personal experience; there was NOTHING in the TE that asked foractive participation – tons of teacher talk but no structure for student talk…• Read the title together – clarify a Prince is a boy, contrast w/Princess – girl• Read focus questions out loud – Why is the Prince so ____ - used close so all said “sad.”• Used brief questions to focus thinking… be thinking about why the prince is so sad… asI read this aloud to you, pause when context is clear – pose the question, all think,partner response, teacher clarifies whole group as needed- model the thinking for using context clues• Just adding some active participation… makes all the difference.Day Two – Explicit Teaching of Strategies and ConceptsReview- asked pairs to look at the slide on Gaining/Maintaining attention – gave them 30 secto study, then closed notes, one partner named as many as they could while theother partner counted how many – fun, perky, and useful –Review is essential toretention – and when done interactively it makes a real difference! DO NOTDEVOLVE INTO THE HAND RAISING REVIEW WHERE THE ONLYSTUDENTS REVIEWING ARE THOSE WHO DON’T NEED TO!- keys to active participation – use of key “tool kit” strategies; choral, partner,written responses -“if it is worth doing –we need to insure ALL are doing thedoing”…- we need to TEACH behavior as well as teach academics – too often we teachacademics and pray for behavior!! No no no, we need to TEACH want we want tosee… as well as reinforce it when we see it!Video #3 – Anita introducing a lesson to 5 th graders and teaching students how to be herstudents – introducing the engagement tool kit…• told the students about active engagement – “sit up, look at me, and look as smart as youcan look” - no hand raising except for questions – distinguished between public andprivate questions – rest of the time we’ll do things to get us all involved• choral responses – hands up, think – don’t blurt –then say – in each case she describedthen they practiced as a class• partners – assigned partners –gave them a numerical identify of 1 or 2, again kidspracticed using the “look – lean – whisper” approach to how partners should interactIn each case it is essentially the instructional routine is the same as in academic strategies:√ what is the strategy?√ why are we doing this? - rationale√ how to do it - model/practice it?√ taught a simple routine for doing it• need routines for all the daily stuff: e.g. sharpening pencils, bathroom, asking questions,etc.o public and private questions – so “can I go to the bathroom?” is NOT askedpubliclyo private questions are responded to individually when you can get thereDr. Anita Archer – “From adoption to expert implementation in Core Lang. Arts” 2/06 10

** KEY in teaching: PRECORRECTION !! ALL good teachers anticipate errors children willmake, behaviorally and academically – and TEACH it before hand… e.g. a group of Kinder kidswalking down the hall to the lunchroom, of course they may want to push/shove/touch eachother etc – anticipate that, pre-correct these behaviors by teaching what you want and don’twant… increases the chances kids will behave appropriately, and when they don’t and yourredirect them – it will strike them as fair, more likely to comply… we all hate it being correctedfor what was not explicitly stated…Delivery of Instruction: Passage ReadingWe know round robin reading doesn’t work, silent reading only w/no accountability leaves poorreaders likely to not be reading – so what works better?? Asking students to read one at atime IF it is a small guided reading group of 2-4, no problem, but with a whole classroom – it isa disaster, especially for the lowest readers.Far Better Options for Passage Reading Include:Choral Reading read the selection with your students read at a moderate rate tell your students, “keep your voice with mine”√ may wish to have students pre-read the material silently first before choralreading, especially helpful for younger students & students who are less skilledreaders• works well in primary grades for short passages, for upper grade does well for intros,summaries, etc. NOT the whole chapterCloze Reading read the selection out loud to students pause a meaningful words, and the students supply the word chorally works best to leave out words at the end of a phrase or sentence to preserve theflow or the prosody√ great practice when you want to get through something quickly – for example, readingdirections, reading the story problem in math or want to read something more thanonce…√ don’t delete words that are short/simple words (e.g. to, and, a, of) – blows the flowtotallyIndividual Turns use with small groups call on individual students call on students in random order vary amount of material read√ randomizing the amount read and who reads keeps them on task√ can also add a focus question to be thinking about as we readDr. Anita Archer – “From adoption to expert implementation in Core Lang. Arts” 2/06 11

Silent Reading w/a Clear Task Pose a pre-reading question(s) to focus attention tell students to read a certain amount ask them to re-read the material if they finish early (“eternal task) monitor students, as you come by a hand on the back means whisper read to theteacher respond to pre-reading question in pairs then whole group√ remember, every class has a number of silent reader fakers!! we need accountability!** always model what you want to see (e.g. whisper read) – if you don’t model it, you havechosen to model it many times!! (in other words, assume nothing –model everything!!)Partner Reading• works great in primary grades as a 2 nd or 3 rd reading of a story or selection• can be used in upper grades for a first read – you’ve introduced the selection wholegroup and then read the rest w/your partner Assign each student a partner Reader whisper reads to their partner, students alternate by sentence, paragraph,or page or even by time in the upper grades (e.g. 5 min. for 1 st reader, then 5 min.for next reader)√ amount of reading will vary greatly by grade & skill level of the students Assign roles – first reader and first coach Teach students how to be very NICE partners – a little “niceness review” Coach corrects errors:Ask: Touch the word, Can you figure out this word?Tell: This word is _______, what word?Re-read the sentence – not just correct the word… why do you supposestudies consistently find re-reading the sentence, not just correcting iskey?- more practice on the word reading it again in context- re-reading improves fluency- re-reading also helps them regain context & comprehension- motivation – students are more careful if they know they have to re-readthe whole sentence – called “response cost” in the literature, sort oflogical consequences idea…√ helpful to teach students that if it is an unusual personal name or place –foreignderivative, teach students to simply use the first letter, so Pele is “P’…Alternatives to support lower readerso lowest readers on a triado first reader (better reader) reads the materialo second reader reads the SAME material (as in the PALS model)o students read the material together** Also the issue of too wide a range in reading in a class – many schools will regroup forreading or a portion of the 2 hr reading block to insure students are reading books they canDr. Anita Archer – “From adoption to expert implementation in Core Lang. Arts” 2/06 12

ead – a “walk to reading” kind of model, used in SFA (Success for ALL), many schools find ituseful to do this for 45 min. of the 2 hr block in the skill domains where homogeneity is mostimportant…Application demo from HM – added more active participation, partner re-reading for fluency.2 nd Application demo from HMPreparing to Read: Connecting to the Theme- pre-teach habitat using our process: say the word, simple explanation,example, say it one more timeArticle is about Deer – HM says, ask students “have you ever seen a deer, describe what yousaw?”• Don’t do this – would get too many stories – intent is to activate prior knowledge aboutDeer – so instead – ask students, “What do we know about Deer?” (NO hand raising!!ALL students engaged in thinking about the question)• then provide 2-3 things up front to prime the pump, provide everyone w/a jump start• then brainstorm w/a partner – list as many things as you can in 2 minutes• then call on kids randomly – check w/class – raise your hand if you had that idea –justlike when it is a vocab word – we all say it together• throw in the key vocabulary in the discussion BEFORE you introduce it, increases thelikelihood they will learn it…Next: TE says, “Have students read aloud “Deer” – go over the photographs of Deer and readthe captions** this is a total waste unless we use active engagement practices/passage readingpractices… For example:- first read the captions using Cloze reading – model thinking about whatwe’ve learned- briefly teach the vocab used in the captions –grazing,- read the first paragraph – choral or cloze reading – pose a question,partner responses – whole group brief discussion- same in 2 nd paragraph – teach wander, using same process -forterritory – use context because it tells us, re-read the sentence, tell yourpartner what territory means – confirm whole group – a territory is alarge area, so Deer graze in large area, we call that area a ___________.** need to Prepare – focus on the vocabulary/questions to ask/possibly reframe the question inHM/OC…Explicit Vocabulary Instruction – Selection of Vocabulary** key area in HM/OC that needs major tweaking – Direct vocabulary instruction, there isessentially NONE – we MUST add this as thoughtful teachers!!“preliminary evidence suggests that as late as Gr. 5, about 80% of wordsare learned as a result of direct explanation, either as a result of thechild’s request or instruction, usually by a teacher”• Biemiller, 1999Dr. Anita Archer – “From adoption to expert implementation in Core Lang. Arts” 2/06 13

Which Words to Teach? select a limited number of words for robust vocabulary instruction 3 – 10 important words to directly teach other words just mention briefly at point of use choose words that are unknown & clearly useful in the futureEx: Story – Enemy PieWords to briefly teach – curious but not central to meaning/use, but kids likely know or learneasily so they can apply them often:perfect, trampoline, earthworm, boomerang, horrible- earthworm – do as a compound word “a worm that lives in the ground or earth isan ____________”Words to robustly teach – useful in the future and/or key to comprehension of storyinvited, disgusting, enemy, relieved** don’t trust HM/OC – they provide word list –no differentiation in terms of which words aremerely novel and which are important – we need to do this every time we teach words from ourprograms!!Ex. Protecting Animals storyappreciate, grazing, population, starve, surrounding, territory, wander- others just quickly tell** Pick for more robust instruction (not an exact science – but needs to be thoughtful!)√ appreciate – have heard, but most kids don’t use, could use across many manycircumstances (e.g. Beck’s “Tier 2” words√ population – important for the reading but not too much emphasis√ surrounding – important to today – and useful in the future√ territory – like population –helpful for the story today, and useful in geographyEx. profusely, dismal, terrain, ordeal, peril, esteem• here HM picked pretty good words, they are likely to be unknown and are useful• all of these would warrant instructionEx. Rodeo words – rodeo, experts, performers, ceremonies, exhibition, celebrity** words for extra treatment: rodeo and celebrity could teach quickly – easy to get it√ expert – good word to teach, very useful, good tier 2 word√ performers –started w/perform – linked to performers√ ceremonies* could teach exhibition –but begin with the verb form, exhibit –then link to thenoun form exhibitionExplicit Instruction of Words – Teaching Idioms “The car rolling down the hill caught my eye. “Soon we were in stitches”Dr. Anita Archer – “From adoption to expert implementation in Core Lang. Arts” 2/06 14

• teach the same way you teach a word…Explicit Instruction – Prepare Student Friendly Explanations – NOT DefinitionsDictionary Examples of Definitions: Relieved; “to free from wholly or partly pain, stress, pressure” Attention “the act or state of attending through applying the mind to an object ofsense or thought”… give me a break!Explanation by contrast: Student friendly:1) uses known words2) uses examples kids can relate to When something that was difficult is over or never happened at all, you feel better oryou feel ________ (relieved). When the spelling test I had not studied for wascancelled, I felt ______. or Attention: - Looking or listening carefully and with interest…. when the Olympic halfpipe was on TV I watched intently with great _________.** here’s where ELL dictionaries like Longman and Heinle are so helpful –including theironline free versions: http://nhd.heinle.com/ and http://www.ldoceonline.com/These are very useful, especially to support teachers in planning instruction of “Tier 2”words (especially if the words are abstract – we really need some thoughtful preparationhere – not just an off the cuff spontaneous version!!)Ex. profusely – teach profuse first – adj form – more concrete, ask if there is an easier ormore concrete version to teach firstesteem – easier to first teach ‘self esteem’ – this is far more common, and relate it to thederivative, very helpful in OC and HM** OC needs major tweaking – they basically open the dictionary and wrote them down!Video #5 Vocabulary Instruction – 2 nd grade -Wolf! by Betty Bloomconcentrate- say the word together- say the word by parts- explain the word using language the kids know“ to think really hard , to focus your attention on something you ______”- provide and example and a non-example where kids say the word“ I read very carefully, I didn’t think about anything else, had to ______ onmy reading.”impressed- same routine- followed by kids coming up with an example – provided the sentencestarter,“I was impressed because __________________(she had lots of toys)”- kids share w/ their partner- Anita call on kids to share randomly (or faux randomly – no hand raising)** did the same thing for:Dr. Anita Archer – “From adoption to expert implementation in Core Lang. Arts” 2/06 15

educated** then did the “I am thinking of a word that means game” -thumb up when you know the word– say the word to your partner, “I am thinking of a word that means to think really hard” -whisper to your partner, yes a word that means to think really hard is____________(concentrate!).** reviewed the words and forecast where they could use the words… todayAnalyze: What did Anita do each time to teach these words?Note: teach words after you have read a story to your students and before studentsread a selection1) Introduce the word- write the word on the board/overhead- read the word and have the students repeat the word- if the word is long or difficult to pronounce, read it a few times, andbreak it into syllables –make sure kids can say the word accurately!* if you can’t pronounce the word with ease – very difficult to attach meaning to it….2) Present a student friendly explanation- tell students the explanation or- have them read the explanation to you- rephrase so the students say the word againe.g. so if you feel better because something bad didn’t happen you are very_____” (relieved!)3) Illustrate the word w/Examples (make connections – new to the known)- concrete examples- visual representations- verbal examples* link to student experience as much as possible,“When you have finished giving the speech that you dreaded, you feel______(relieved).4) Check students understanding#1 Ask students deep processing questions- not just mimic a definition but you have to think about it …e.g. “If you walked into a girl’s bedroom think of why you might be impressed.”- even if you have to coach/scaffold it – don’t let anyone off with a “Idunno”,e.g. “When the students lined up for morning recess, Jason said, “I am sorelieved this morning is over”. Why might Jason be relieved?- Think – Pair – Share…. brief group check inDr. Anita Archer – “From adoption to expert implementation in Core Lang. Arts” 2/06 16

#2 Have students discern between examples and non-examples“If you were nervous signing in front of others would you feel relieved when theconcert was over? Why? – again, use Think-Pair-Share to explain your reason toyour partner, check in as a whole class.** Finding we need to do this in Math – students learn the algorithms but don’t know theconcepts – so can’t apply them well in story problems and other contexts. So be sure to usethis instructional process for other content areas like Math, beyond the language arts!#3 Have students generate their own examples“Tell your partner a time when you felt relieved – begin by saying,I felt relieved when____________Suggested Poster for the back of your wall to remind you to use this routine until it isautomatic…Directly Teaching a New Vocabulary Word1) Introduce the word2) Present a student friendly explanation3) Illustrate the word with examples4) Check students’ understandingApplication activity:Partners take turns teaching words including the checking for understanding using examplesand non-examples and explaining why.“If I had lunch today and said, oh it is so so so good, did I appreciate the lunch? Yes, how doyou know, because it had chocolate in it – Restate it so kids connect to the word, “Yes, youreally appreciated the lunch because you love chocolate”!Ex. come up w/a sentence starter for the word appreciate:“I appreciate recess because ______________“ I appreciate assemblies because___________Homework:√ bring in one word you taught – and teach it to your partner√ apply active participation and bring in examples of what you’ve done…Day #3 Review w/Video in K – teaching 3 words from HONK!o furious, previous, graceful (selected tier 2 words – many uses beyond the book)Best Practices modeled by Anita in the video:√ students acted words outDr. Anita Archer – “From adoption to expert implementation in Core Lang. Arts” 2/06 17

√ used examples and non-examples –acted out both√ choral responses√ partner responses√ linked meanings to context from the story√ each example she gave – students said the word√ much praise/validation/honoring them – also changes teacher attitudes, webecome what we focus on in some very concrete sense…√ gradually faded the support during the review section – delayed the teacherresponseReview – Keep Words in the Teacher and Students Consciousness:Word Walls for Vocabulary- copy cover of the book w/3 words up- take first page from HM or OC – Xerox it – post picture w/words…- helps for the teacher as well – reminder to use themUpper Grades – reflect –“you have 30 sec. look around the room, think of our“smart words” we have used, have one kid create a tally sheet for number of thewords we used in our class – quick vocabulary game at the end of the day –conscious effort to keep the words in the student’s consciousnessVocabulary log – keep a vocab notebook or log w/the words and student friendlyexplanations :√ go through words and put them into categories - word sortw/justification of the category - list/group/label** BE sure to separate the vocab word walls from the spelling/decoding word wall :- spelling/decoding words are organized by phonic pattern- vocab words are based on context and utility/meaning – NOT spellingpattern- may also have a high frequency irregular word wall (words that occur veryoften but don’t follow the phonic patterns – not decodable)How about the Academic Word List? – CoxheadFor a copy of the list see: http://language.massey.ac.nz/staff/awl/awlinfo.shtml• look at them as a suggestion – the kind of words we need to be sure we teach, thesewords are almost never called out by publishers, these are what Beck calls “Tier 2”words… very important to be sure we teach these and structure opportunities forstudents to use them in their academic speaking and writing.Example AWL words: analysis approach area assessment assume authority available benefitconcept consistent constitutional context contract create data definition derived distributioneconomic environment establishedQ: use of overheads provided in HM/OC:- need to add much instruction to these – not just say “use context”Dr. Anita Archer – “From adoption to expert implementation in Core Lang. Arts” 2/06 18

Word Learning Strategies – Compound Words Teach students that the meaning of compound words can often be derived from themeaning of the two smaller words√ birdhouse √ waiting-room√ starfish√ mailboxe.g. the word is birdhouse, so a house for birds is a __________ But not always! hotdogs, butterflyWord Learning StrategiesWord Families A group of words related in meaning If you know the meaning of one family member you can infer the meanings of relatedwords- collect educate- collecting educated- collection education- collector educatorDon’t just teach one word, teach the surrounding family, as students get older be sure toclarify the part of speech and how they function in various contexts.Vocabulary Activities in OC and HM** key –far better to NOT have students do them silently – no oral language- much better to do combinations of whole group and partner instruction, so there is much orallanguage used around the activities- do a group version of “I do it, We do it, You do it”- side benefit – you don’t have to grade it!!** at least do the first 1/3 to 1/2 as a class – and then the kids do the rest independentlyPractice Activities – Big Picture : HM/OC need far more practice on important terms Practice activities should be:o Be engagingo Multiple exposureso Encourage “deep processingo Connect to student’s prior knowledge** Provide practice over timeYes/No- Why?1) Can a rainforest be transformed into a different biome in a day?- key, the “Why” – requires thinking/application2) Is it possible to marvel enthusiastically when you see something new?Silly Questions – an extension of Yes/No –why?1) Could a disgusting enemy be horrible?Dr. Anita Archer – “From adoption to expert implementation in Core Lang. Arts” 2/06 20

2) Could a disgusting enemy be relieved?3) Could an enemy be perfect?4) Would it be disgusting to eat earthworms.Completion Activity1. stress – when you have a lot do or many things are happening in your life and youfeel you can’t do it all you feel stress• One time when I felt stress was ____________________________•Word Pairs Activity* provide a chart :Header: same – opposite – go together – no relationshipword:kids discuss in pairs – focus on how they know… then confirm whole groupSentence Substitution1) The events are in chronological order.The events are in “order of time”2) The house was transformed from a shack to a charming home when it was painted.** this is great for a quiz – goes beyond mere association like a matching task – must know thewords, same for Yes-NO-Why? and many of these practice activities that require actualgeneration of word meaning – not just association (matching) or guessing (multiple choice).Meaningful Sentences Students write a sentence answering three to four of these questionswho, what, when, where, why, how NOT OK “It was meager.” OK“At the end of the month, our dinners were meager because we had little money.”• one school put these five words on a little “think sheet” – to organize their thoughtsfirstActivity: review the practices activities – pick 2-3 that would be the best fit for yourclassroom.Strategy Instruction• All teaching in some sense comes down to either:WHAT: vocabulary, conceptHOW: strategy, task, skillDr. Anita Archer – “From adoption to expert implementation in Core Lang. Arts” 2/06 21

• What is the main idea – that is a what, if I teach you a strategy for figuring out a mainidea is a HOW…, what an inference is – would be a what… how to figure our an inferenceis a “how”• Often teach What it is first, then teach how to figure it out… totally generalizable tomath, first we learn what perimeter is, then how to figure it outStrategy – Preparation Is the strategy explicit? Are the steps few in number? Are the steps clearly stated Could the strategy be visually presented?** in our materials we often need to make it far more explicit, clear, add a visual….How to Teach Almost Any Strategy:1) Model “I do it”Show- proceed step by step- exaggerate the stepsTell- tell students what your are doing- tell students what you are thinkingGain Responses- structure active engagement/student response2) Prompt “We do it”Scaffold to reduce errors by the students:1. Doing it at the same time , but usually we use;2. Prompt verbally to guide or lead them through the strategy“Step- do, Step – do, Step – do”- gradually fade the prompt** the key to strategy instruction is the “we do it” the guided practice3) Check “ You do it”- check for understanding- verify student understanding before independent work is given- carefully monitor & continue until students are consistently accurate** across the lessons fade out the I do it and we do it so students becomeindependent, in the jargon this is called the “Gradual Release Model”• in this “deep simplicity” it captures the very heart of teaching, from learning a soundto making an inference, to writing a Ph.D. dissertation!!Ex. Making an Inference –Story clues + what I already know = make an inference/best guessDr. Anita Archer – “From adoption to expert implementation in Core Lang. Arts” 2/06 22

Explain inference as a “best guess”Anita then modeled the process using the “I do it, We do it , You do it” process forstrategy instruction…Strategy/Skill Instruction Summary What – did you clarify what the skill/strategy is? Why – did you provide a clear rationale –connection to student reality about why we arelearning this? How – did you use the “I do it, We do it, You do it” to explicitly teach theskill/strategy?Example – teaching the Pronoun – Referent from Harcourt:What?Needed to teach –Noun – Pronoun directlyMaria – SheCat – itNo “we do it” at all in the teacher’s editionNo active participationNo teaching of the word “referent” – link to referWhy?How?TE did mention this – so we don’t repeat the noun over an overTE had basically not “how to do it” instruction- need to do the I/We/Do processUse “show and tell” to modelWriting Instruction in our Core ELA programsBig Ideas in Writing Teach a limited number of genre or domains of writing Have students write many products of that type or genre, not just one** Big problem w/OC and HM – they only do one or two products in the genre,no way this is enough practice to establish mastery… Scaffold writing instruction over time:e.g. I show you – We do one together – We do another – We do another –each with a littleless support as the students to more of it – the shift from We to You do it…- this means must cut out the “fluff” in the core program, and teach the “stuff” –meaning,more writing!Dr. Anita Archer – “From adoption to expert implementation in Core Lang. Arts” 2/06 23

Consider Motivation* many students resistant to writing, so a quick review of motivation is helpful Success – linked to perceived probability of success (here’s where the whole idea ofappropriate scaffolding and doing the same genre many times relates directly) Interest – a topic students have some interest in, some of the topics in OC/HM are notnecessarily thrilling, can keep to the big idea (e.g. persuasive essay) but choose a bettertopic students may care about Choice – provide a narrow range of choices when possible, true for us as adults too – bigissue here, broad choice is not motivating for most students – it is overwhelming andinefficient (e.g. not write about any event in your life, but think of a time you werereally embarrassed etc.) – this is a big issue in our Core programs- e.g. Descriptive paragraph - program said you could describe an event, person,place, etc. – way too overwhelming… better to say, you’re going to write adescriptive paragraph today, describing a person in your life who is important toyou, it could be a friend, family member, etc. – you have 45 sec. thinking time…(so students spend most of their time writing NOT picking a topic!!)Teaching a Genre:Big IdeasWHAT What – what is a friendly letter, what is a persuasive paragraph? etc. What are thecritical attributes of the genre Rubric – which is based on the attributes of the genreSee: http://www.scoe.org/content.php?SubsiteId=10 for a set of sample rubrics and detailednotes from a writing workshop w/Dr. Archer Illustrate with an example – don’t just “go over it” as the programs suggest, be moreexplicit in your teaching. Read the example together (e.g. choral, cloze passage reading) Link the rubric to the example, read the first element out loud andprompt students to answer it –and show in the example how they knew,“The first sentence tells what is being described.”o share w/a partner, check as a group Do this with the rest of the rubric questionsApplication –looked at a HM example – found they confuse the content – asked questions about“catching a Halibut” but not about the content of the rubric…√ need to tweak it – so change the questions from “What is the paragraph about?” (contentfocus) to “Does the first sentence tell us what the paragraph is about?” (process focus).√ want students to focus on the process of writing the “ A How to Paragraph” – not just thecontent of the example, and then tie the elements of the rubric to the example explicitly… sothe students don’t lose the proverbial forest for the trees.• so the program did have a rubric and an example, but we need to tweak it so they relateclearly in the mind of the students…• another program provided a rubric but at the end as an assessment - FAR morepowerful to introduce the rubric up front to help students grasp the WHAT of thewriting…Dr. Anita Archer – “From adoption to expert implementation in Core Lang. Arts” 2/06 24

HOWWriting Processo Prewriting P = Prepareo Drafting O = Organizeo Revising W = Writeo Editing/Proofing E = Edito Publish R = RewriteP = PrepareT – TargetA – AudienceP – PurposeP = Prepare- think/reflect/brainstorm- research to gather informationO = Organize** Support for organization of a producto Writing frameso Strategieso Think Sheets** Research on Writing Frames – especially good for struggling readers, ELLs, and Spec Edstudents who need more scaffolding• Most common support in our ELA programs comes in the form of Think Sheets orGraphic Organizers – but the programs usually leave it at: “have your students fill in thegraphic organizer provided before they write their papers…”• MANY students will need some “ I do it, and We do it” before we turn ‘em loose – greatway to do this; fill out the first part of the Organizer as a whole class using I/Westrategies (modeling, partner application) – and then students do the rest on their ownas you provide additional support as you monitor the class…** None of the programs model how to go from the Graphic Organizer or Think Sheet toactually writing…Demonstrated a number of application examples of how to improve the writing instruction inOpen Court and Houghton Mifflin:For an example of a good commercial writing program see Step Up to Writing fromwww.sopriswest.com (but you will need to add this active/engaged participation to it as well!)For more on Dr. Anita Archer see: www.scoe.org/reading - click on resources and download thevideo demonstrations order form to get “at cost” videos at various grade levels K-5. You cancontact Anita at: Archerteach@aol.com Best to you in your teaching! KevinDr. Anita Archer – “From adoption to expert implementation in Core Lang. Arts” 2/06 25