Conference/Question and Answer Interview between Lynn Brydebell and EDRS 610 (Dr.

Garin, Summer 2013, UMUC) (Student Questions in Bold) Note: My personal questions and dialogue with Ms. Brydebell are in red. 1.) Are there strategies that are more heavily used by elementary versus middle/high school? Or strategies that are more beneficial to specific learners or learning situations, based not only on grade but also special needs, learning styles, etc.? Although these strategies tend to be introduced independently, readers rarely use these in isolation when reading. These thoughts interact and intersect to help readers make meaning and often occur simultaneously during reading. (Harvey and Goudvis) These are not something that can be taught on Monday and tested on Friday. They must be interwoven throughout ALL curricular areas. The strategies should be introduced, modeled, and supported in Kindergarten through 12th grade. Having said that I believe the first thing that students must be taught is to monitor comprehension. When readers read, they have an inner conversation with the text. They listen to the voice in their head speaking to them as they read, which allows them to construct meaning. Students must first HEAR that voice and realize when they stop listening to it. Readers take a giant leap toward independence when they develop the ability to monitor their comprehension. We teach readers to (from pg. 27): Become aware of their thinking as they read Monitor their understanding and keep track of meaning Listen to the voice in their head to make sense of the text Notice when they stray from thinking about the text Notice when meaning breaks down Detect obstacles and confusions that derail thinking Understand how a variety of strategies can help them repair meaning when it breaks Know when, why, and how to apply specific strategies to maintain and further understanding The authors believe that teaching students to monitor their comprehension should come first. You should begin by explicitly teaching students to think about their reading and leave tracks of their thinking. Other than that, teaching a student, especially one that is below grade level all the strategies, will help them be more aware of their thinking and understanding which will help them be more successful when reading. Remember the first step in teaching any strategy is to model and demonstrate to the students how being a strategic reader looks and sounds. My response to Ms. Brydebell: I wonder if multi-sensory techniques in this case would help any--that way the students are being stimulated on many levels to try and connect with the text. I was reading an article from PBS.org on reading strategies, specifically for children with learning disabilities (I work with a lot of students with disabilities, so this is of interest to me). However, I think a lot of these techniques can apply to all students. One of the strategies was "engaging childrens senses while learning." Although the article was initially geared for elementary and had tips such as tracing and shaping words (like with shaving cream on the desk--I loved that

activity in elementary school!), I think there can be plenty of ways to engage secondary students with this type of idea. Maybe having informal short plays of scenes in a book where students act? Or having them draw on paper (or electronically) what they visualized after reading a passage/short story/scene? I think a class collage of these drawings would be interesting--I am sure there would be many different interpretations of the same text. (Like when Dr. Schwartz Bechet described what she "saw" while listening to the passage at the baseball field) 2.) Are there any tricks to determining importance in expository text? For example, can a student benefit from paying attention to the first or last sentences in a paragraph. Are there any particular words a reader can look for that will help them sort out critical form non-critical information? How can a student use the internal organization of the text to help them prioritize? What we determine to be important in text depends on our purpose for reading it. We teach readers to: sift important ideas from interesting but less important ideas target key information ( using text features such as headings, captions, graphs, illustrations, and different fonts) distinguish between what the reader thinks is important and what the author most wants the reader to take away construct main ideas from supporting details Having students focus on certain parts of a text is much more acceptable than a teacher telling students to read a chapter and not giving them a purpose. The authors of Strategies That Work emphasize the importance of giving students engaging, interesting, and thought-provoking text. If all you have to work with is a dry textbook, it is up to you to ensure that the students can engage with the text in a way that is motivating to them. The best way I have found for students to keep track of their thinking as they read is by using post-it notes. Students may overview, highlight, and code the text. They must find signals such as fonts and effects, signal words and phrases, illustrations and photographs, graphics, text organizers, and text structures that signal importance. Using two or three column think sheets is also a helpful tool. 3.) Are there any types of technology (applications, software, websites) that can be used by the students that would enhance any or all of the learning strategies? When students are using technology as a tool or a support for communicating with others, they are in an active role rather than the passive role. The student is actively making choices about how to generate, obtain, manipulate, or display information. The teacher's role changes as well. The teacher plays the role of facilitator, providing guidelines and resources, moving from student to student or group to group, providing suggestions and support for student activity. Some ways that technology maybe used are: creating stories online (Photo Story, Movie Maker) draw/sketch a scene, character, or event in a story using different media

 use a Smart Board to create and display individual or group thinking make music using online applications to enhance what has been read. Use and create Thinking Maps or other graphic organizers on the computer Teachers frequently cite technology's motivational advantages in providing a venue in which a wider range of students can excel. Compared to conventional classrooms with their stress on verbal knowledge and multiple-choice test performance, technology provides a very different set of challenges and different ways in which students can demonstrate what they understand. Experiences in developing the kinds of rich, multimedia products that can be produced with technology, particularly when the design is done collaboratively so that students experience their peers' reactions to their presentations, appear to support a greater awareness of audience needs and perspectives. Multiple media also give students choices about how best to convey a given idea (e.g., through text, video, animation). In the new Maryland Common Core State Curriculum Framework it is expected that teachers use technology to have their students create, express, and enhance their learning in all grades and content areas (http://mdk12.org/instruction/curriculum/reading/index.html). 4.) I'm thinking about my incredibly reluctant high school readers, those who can usually decode with no problem but who don't always (or often) comprehend. They declare every text we read BORING within the first two sentences. If I'm going to explicitly teach them reading strategies to activate their brains while they're reading, with which of these strategies would you recommend starting and why? In Strategies that Work, the authors use the terms active literacy. "Active literacy is the means to deeper understanding and diverse, flexible thinking. Classrooms that promote active literacy fairly burst with enthusiastic and engaged learners. Teachers aren't the only ones doing the talking. Students weigh in with their opinions, thoughts, and ideas. They talk to each other, have inner conversations with the text, leave tracks of their thinking, and converse in groups and literature circles. " In this type of classroom community, teachers foster an environment that values collaborative learning and thinking. The students and teachers co-construct meaning in large or small groups, discussions, and partner work. Everyone gets a chance to share their thinking and ideas. Given that this approach may be new to content area teachers, there is an expectation that initial learning curve may be steep; however, the payoff for students understanding will be beneficial. It is suggested that you begin with a topic area that is challenging for many of your students and begin to embed effective strategies for developing and applying comprehension strategies to this content. As the authors in Strategies That Work say, for too long weve been telling students what to do rather than showing them how. Now the way to deliver effective instruction always involves modeling and/or guided practice in one form or another. They have adapted the gradual release framework (Pearson and Gallagher 1983) to include five components: 1. Teacher Modeling (teacher explains strategy and models how to use it effectively)

2. Guided Practice (teacher guides a whole group conversation that engages students in a focused discussion; teacher and students practice the strategy together in a shared reading) 3. Collaborative Practice (Students share their thinking processes with each other during paired reading small group conversations; teacher monitors and responds to students needs) 4. Independent Practice (the students try practicing the strategy on their own; students receive feedback from the teacher and other students) 5. Application of the Strategy in Authentic Reading Situations (students use the strategy in a variety of different genres, settings, contexts, and disciplines) It is recommended that teachers teach each strategy one at a time but quickly move on to introduce additional strategies so that students build a repertoire of strategies and use them flexibly to understand what they read. If you are teaching middle or high school, this hopefully will not take much time if the students have been taught strategic reading in the earlier years. You must take your cue from your students. If they are good at making connections, then dont dwell on that strategy. Your goal is to give them tools to further engagement and understanding. There are many ways to model a reading strategy: Reading aloud Thinking aloud Lifting text for discussion Reasoning through the text conversation teacher is facilitator Providing anchor experiences (mini lessons) Rereading for deeper meaning Sharing our own literacy by modeling with adult learners There are many ways for students to respond to reading: Oral responses whole class discussion, pair shares, small informal discussion groups, compass four-way shares, book clubs or literature circles, informational study groups Written responses coding the text with sticky notes, making notes in margins, circling, highlighting, framing, underlining, graphic organizers Other responses music, art, poetry 5.) Do you think something like reading drills would be useful in making these 6 skills automatic? I just think of how the Army might do it and it really comes down to repetition of the thought process over and over. So why don't we use short paragraphs rather than whole stories to teach individual skills to students and just make it a process of repetition until it is just what you do when presented with text? In your classroom, you should be making a variety of texts available to your students. Besides textbooks, short texts such as newspaper articles, magazine articles, and web reading should become part of your instruction. Even picture books lend themselves to comprehension strategy instruction and guided discussion at every grade level.

The authors state, "Much of our responsibility when teaching reading is to make what is implicit, explicit. Explicit instruction means that we show learners how we think when we read." We are likely to teach a strategy by modeling the strategy for the class; guide the students in its practice in large groups, small groups, and pairs; and providing large blocks of time for students to read independently and practice using the strategies. Are there any specific modifications or augmentations to these strategies that we should consider when faced with LD or ELL students who struggle with the act of decoding? There are four kinds of learners/readers according to Perkins and Swartz (1992): Tacit learners/readers who lack awareness of how they think when they read. Aware learners/readers who realize when meaning has broken down or confusion has set in but who may not have sufficient strategies for fixing the problem. Strategic learners/readers who use the thinking and comprehension strategies described in Strategies That Work to enhance understanding and acquire knowledge. Reflective learners/readers who are strategic about their thinking and are able to apply strategies flexibly depending on their goals or purposes for reading. They also reflect on their thinking and revise their use of strategies. We as teachers must realize that some students have never learned how to become proficient readers and it is our job as educators to help them accomplish this goal. We have to teach them how to make connections, ask questions, draw inferences, determine what is important, synthesize information, and monitor their understanding. Teachers explicitly teach reading comprehension strategies so that readers can use them to construct meaning. We should model the strategy, guide students in its practice in large groups, small groups, and pairs; and provide large blocks of time for students to read independently and practice using and applying strategies. Students in this type of classroom will gain the confidence needed to become successful readers. Now, I didn't answer your question about students having difficulty decoding because that is a whole different problem. A student who cannot read the text in your classroom better have some sort of assistance or accommodations in place to help them succeed in your content area. You will have many different types of students with many learning styles and needs. It is your job to get them to be able to proficiently reach each objective and standard by whatever means necessary. 6.) What is the positive/negative drawbacks of a teacher reading versus a group of students reading to each other? Which is more effective? The reason a teacher reads aloud to the students is to have them hear text being read fluently with expression and to possibly to instill the love of reading. You've already answered your own question. :-) Lynns Question: My question back to you is when would you have students read to one another? Teachers in our county are being told not to have students be put on the spot to read out loud especially in the elementary grades. What do you think about that?

Most of my experiences, observations, etc. have been with secondary school age students, and primarily in grades 10-11. Honestly, I could count on one hand the amount of times I have seen a teacher conduct a lesson where they called on students to read aloud. In my classroom, I don't think I would use this technique--I would not want to put any student "on the spot" and make them feel uncomfortable. Those that are shy, have reading difficulties, or just don't want to read aloud could withdraw from the activity because of frustration or embarrassment. I would, however, read aloud to my students on some occassions, especially during lessons where we can read primary source texts, such as journals, documents and newspaper articles. I would encourage students to participate and volunteer to read, especially if it is a passage that uses "old English" vocabulary (such as colonial texts), or something where they can experience the various, yet subtle changes in grammar, wording and sentence structure. I agree with the idea of NOT having students read aloud in class, especially when reading to a whole class setting. I think that all students are different, and though there may be five students who are outgoing, very articulate and enjoy reading aloud, there could be five others who are the exact opposite and dread the thought of speaking in front of the class. This could be because of personal preference, an emotional or cognitive disorder, a traumatic experience, etc., but those types of factors should be taken into account. I would not want someone to "make" me do something that creates unease for me, and I don't want to do that to my students. Although I would encourage participation, I would also stress that participation only occurs through volunteering.