Literacy Loving Gals: Reading Tips

Showing posts with label Reading Tips. Show all posts

Quick PD Idea based on Serravallo's "Understanding Texts & Readers"

Here's a quick idea based on Jennifer Serravallo's new book, Understanding Texts & Readers: Responsive Comprehension Instruction with Leveled Texts. The amazing ladies over at Tiny Tips and Teeny Tales shared an Instagram post about a Text Bands PD they were going to present. I was able to take the idea and run with it, so my staff may also benefit from the book's contents. Thanks, Ladies!

The images below show a simple chart that explains the characteristics of Plot/Setting, Characters, Themes/Ideas, and Vocabulary/Figurative Language at each text band ranging from Level J to Level W. The chart shown is geared toward fictional texts. I'm optimistic the contents can better support teachers in conferring more productively with students because they will be able to see how the demands placed on the reader change as the complexity increases. I'm hoping to create a similar chart dedicated to informational texts. Coming soon!

Enjoy. :)

Sight Word Entry Codes for Practicing Sight Words

Sight Word Entry Codes. Ever heard of them? I learned of this idea back in October of 2016 at the Illinois Reading Conference, but figured it's better late than never when sharing an idea, especially when I'm seeing my students' instant sight word recognition sky-rocket and hearing visitors to my school positively comment on it. I've already shared the idea on my microblogging accounts back in October (Twitter and Instagram), but am now just sharing it with my blogging PLN. #whoops

If you already follow me, you are aware I'm a Reading Specialist working with struggling readers, mostly in the younger grades. Many times, the lack of a solid sight word bank is what prevents my students from reading fluently. Of course, there are other factors, but practicing sight words is tremendously helpful.

The gist of this idea is that students are assessed on their sight words, then given daily practice of three to six words they struggle with by using *entry codes*. Students must tap and accurately read the words in any order on their entry codes before they are allowed to enter the room. (Support is allowed, when needed!) Once the students master the sight words on the entry codes and in their reading, the codes are updated to a new list. I've even had students master all of their sight words, so their entry "requirement" is to give me a fist bump for a job well done. It's a simple way to strengthen their sight word foundation.

I realize this idea may be a tad overwhelming for a classroom teacher of 28 students, since I mostly pull groups of 3-5 students at a time. Yes, having so few students reading their words before entry to the classroom is definitely more manageable. However, if you are a classroom teacher, an idea is to switch up the name of these codes (Starter Codes?) and place them on a table top flip chart. When pulling small groups of students, have them read the words before starting their rereading of familiar texts. If you are a Kindergarten teacher, entry codes of letter naming and sounds are also an option. Just some thoughts. :)

Since I began implementing this idea back in October, I've altered the format of the codes. At first, I had a full sheet of paper with 6 sight words on a themed-image for each month. For example, I've used clipart images of pumpkins, turkeys, pine trees, snowballs, hearts, shamrocks and now bunnies. I have since downsized the codes to a half sheet of paper, as well as added the students' faces using fun FREE apps that go along with either the holiday or season. You'll see the progression of the entry codes in the images below.

Some of my *fist bump* kiddos!

So, there you have it...another simple idea to help support your students with sight words.

Happy Reading!

"What's in the Bubble?" Reading Strategy from The Reading Strategies Book

If you have been following my blog, you know how fond I am of Jennifer Serravallo. She started her educational career as a classroom teacher and has become, in my eyes, one of the most genius literacy consultants and authors out there. On the very first page of The Reading Strategies Book, Serravallo states, "The strategies I've crafted in this book stand on the shoulders of decades of research and master teachers from whose work I've been fortunate to learn." Educators can't go wrong with teacher tested and approved strategies that are backed by research!

After spearheading a book study dedicated to The Reading Strategies Book last year, I have since fallen in love with the book over and over again. I routinely review it in search of support strategies for my struggling readers. I am never disappointed and often feel I've hit the jackpot of resources. If you own the book, you know exactly what I mean. My copy (above) is highlighted, dogeared and tabbed all over the place.

Since I'm a Reading Specialist servicing a handful of grade levels, I have invested time in making mini charts for strategies my RtI students often need. Invested time, meaning I've photocopied the images from the book, sized them to fit in my mini tabletop pocket chart, cut them apart and laminated them. When they are in the tabletop chart, I have the ability to swap the strategy visuals out for the different groups. However, I also place large anchor charts of the strategies most of my kiddos need throughout my room.

Let's forge ahead to the strategy called "What's in the Bubble?" found on page 167 in the book. This strategy falls under Goal 6- Supporting Comprehension in Fiction: Thinking About Characters. It is best used with students reading at Levels C through M and is focused on the skill of inferring. If students are to fully comprehend fictional texts, they need to better understand characters by being able to infer character feelings and traits. In Serravallo's words, here is how she explains the strategy to students:

We can pause and think, "What's my character thinking here?" or "What might my character be saying here?" Even when the text doesn't tell us, we can imagine, noticing what's happened so far. Pause on the page and put a thought or speech bubble above the character in the picture, point to the bubble, and say what the character might be thinking.

The student pictured below is in 3rd grade and is reading at a Level I. I service him one on one for various reasons. When asked a question, he often responds by reading the text, which of course isn't a true response because he's just reading words. For instance, if I were to ask, "What do you think is happening here on this page?", he would automatically begin reading the text without even trying to answer the question. Since this is the case, I modified the activity when working with him to better meet his needs.

I first placed sticky notes over the text and had him just look at the pictures. I asked him "What might this character be thinking?" in various spots in the book as we flipped through the pages. We discussed his thoughts orally before I had him write anything down on the thought clouds using some of the suggested prompts below. After just looking through the book, I gave him four thought clouds and explained to him that he may begin reading, but throughout the reading he will need to stop to write down what the character on that page may be thinking.

He did an amazing job with the activity and was able to write character thoughts that went well with the images. He loved the thought clouds and wanted to reread the story. (Yay!) To switch it up a bit, I had him remove the clouds from the correct page and jumble them up. He then reread the book while placing the clouds onto the page that correlated with the image. I was able to use "Yes! That thought matches with what's happened so far." from the suggested prompts below.

Overall, it was a successful strategy for this student. I'm pleased with the results. If you would like to try this strategy with any of your students, but don't own the book (Why don't you own the book?!), you will find the recommended student prompts Serravallo suggests below.

What just happened? So, what might your character be thinking?
What words is your character saying in his or her head?
Before you turn the page, pause and think about what he or she would be thinking.
Put your thought bubble on that page.
That's what's happening. What might she or he be thinking?
Yes! That thought matches with what's happened so far.
Pausing there helps you think about what the character's thinking.

One last tip: For students reading at the lower levels (Level C, for example), Serravallo mentions using thought clouds on tongue depressors. Students may place them on the book pictures to orally tell about the characters' thinking, which can be done independently or with partners. The image below shows the thought clouds I created for my students.

Happy reading!

Conference Recap, Part 1: Defining the Reading Range- What Makes a Text Literature, Literary Nonfiction and Informational?

Have you ever been to a workshop hosted Smekens Education Solutions? They're worthwhile, for sure. In the summer of 2015, I attended my first Smekens Literacy Retreat with Kristina Smekens as the presenter and acquired a great deal of practical and valuable information that can be implemented into the classroom straightaway. If you're interested, click HERE to access my Literacy Retreat mini-series breaking down the eight sessions I attended. There are free resources within the posts! :)

Anyway, I'm back to share an assortment of things I've learned from another phenomenal workshop with Kristina Smekens. Prior to registering, her workshop claimed to provide the skills and motivation teachers need to keep reading instruction both purposeful and dynamic for students. After attending, I must say the all-day workshop did not disappoint.

I was blasted with so many steadfast suggestions and innovative mini-lessons to better scaffold students, as well as grab and keep their attention, that I've decided to break up the content shared at the workshop into three parts, instead of having one never-ending blog post.

This post is Part 1. It offers suggestions for launching the school year, which includes defining the reading range for students and determining what makes a text literature, literary nonfiction and informational. When Part 2 materializes, you will learn more about the three components that define 'Readers as Thinkers', which encompasses reader voices, what it takes to make an inference and the Close-Reading Framework. Finally, in Part 3, I will share a handful of the mini-lesson ideas for Recalling, Retelling & Summarizing (as well as establishing the difference between the three), Determining Main Idea, Visualizing Ideas, Asking Questions, Making Connections and Synthesizing. Like I said, I was blasted with so much information! Okay, moving on with Part 1. :)

Suggestions for Launching the School Year:
Think about your reading experiences as an adult. You probably read a variety of undemanding reads such as magazines, recipes, novels, etc. However, when the time approaches, you may also be required to make sense of more laborious reads, such as tax forms during tax season, policies, insurance documents and so on. As adults, it's real life to read a variety of texts. Bringing in some of your authentic samples of *easy* and *hard* reads at the start of the year for students to view firsthand, gives them a preview of what's out there.

After establishing your procedures and routines for Reading, Kristina suggests starting off the year by explaining to students what they will be reading, which encompasses *easy*, *hard*, and multimodal texts throughout the year. (Click HERE for more information on multimodal texts.) These varieties of text types will be read for differing reasons because that's real life. Cautioning students to expect easy days and hard days makes for a nice transition into teaching them how to persevere through the harder texts (Close-Reading). This is crucial because students will encounter difficult texts inside and outside of the classroom, without a doubt.

Defining the Reading Range: Literature vs. Literary Nonfiction vs. Informational Texts
Along the same lines, it is essential teachers discuss the parameters of literature, literary nonfiction and informational texts. Helping define the range of reading for students is a necessity. Kristina states, "No longer can we simply refer to something as fiction or nonfiction. The CCSS requires us to distinguish literature, informational text and literary nonfiction- and engage our students with all three." Below are the comparative features for each text type. If you click on the image, you can download a copy for yourself.

Characteristics of Literature:
We usually refer to Literature as fiction. Kristina affirmed literature comprises the following:

"It includes made-up characters who overcome problems and resolve conflicts. It encompasses picture books, short stories, fables, fairy tales, legends, folk tales, chapter books, historical fiction, realistic fiction, sic-fi, novels, poetry, and plays/dramas."

Characteristics of Literary Nonfiction:
The big difference between literary nonfiction and informational text is how facts are revealed. Kristina indicated:

"These texts read more like literature, but all the information is factual. Think of it like a hybrid. Authors of literary nonfiction engage readers with their lively narrative voice, weaving facts with details that appeal to the reader's emotions and make the subject come alive. These include biographies, memoirs, documentaries, essays and speeches."

Characteristics of Informational Texts:
Informational text is read for the purpose of gaining knowledge. Kristina referenced informational texts with the the details below:

"By nature, this text is of a higher text complexity with specialized vocabulary specific to the topic, heavy doses of facts, and numerous text features. These texts include text books, primary source documents, newspaper articles, etc."

Teaching the Differences:
To teach the differences between the text types, introduce students to a specific topic using a piece of literature, a literary nonfiction text and an informational text. Assist students in comparing how the topic is treated in each text. The topic of turtles was brought up at the workshop. Teachers may, for example, choose the books below to introduce the topic of turtles to students.

Literature Example

Literary Nonfiction Example

Informational Example

After selecting texts, help students inspect the differences between the texts. For example, point out the text features. Informational texts usually contain bold/italicized print, labels, diagrams, charts, captions, photographs, subheadings, and more. However, literature and literary nonfiction tend to include chapter titles, page numbers and illustrations. Explaining to students how authors include specific features to help readers better understand the text or to convey information is important.

In addition, make sure students are familiar with the various structure of texts. In Stephanie Harvey's book, Nonfiction Matters: reading, Writing, and Research in Grades 3-8, she states,

"Understanding the expository text structures gives readers a better shot at determining important information when reading nonfiction...If students know what to look for in terms of text structure, they grasp the meaning more easily."

Literature is less complex to understand because the structure is always chronological. However, when students are reading informational texts, they need to be able to identify which of the seven types of expository structures they're reading. This makes reading informational texts much more complex!

To more sensibly prepare students to be successful readers, teachers need to start or remain explicit in teaching the necessary skills to better comprehend the different types of texts. I'll end this post with a quote from Kristina Smekens: "As we are teaching the Common Core Standards, we need to do more than just read the different types of text. We need to teach their similarities and unique differences side by side."

I am hoping the information in this post is worthwhile to someone. I never really know who is actually reading my posts, but I'm hoping the time and effort I put into writing them isn't going to waste. :) Nonetheless, I will be back sometime soon to share more in Parts 2 and 3!

Happy Friday.

The Book Study Has Begun! The Reading Strategies Book: Goal 1- Supporting Pre-Emergent and Emergent Readers

Welcome to the book study on Jennifer Serravallo's The Reading Strategies Book: Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Readers presented by the #ReadingStrategiesCrew! Since this is not a typical book, think of it more as a *strategy discovery* study. I am joining forces with fabulous teacher bloggers to discuss reading strategies from this amazing professional text. We are thrilled to share our thoughts on this comprehensive and practical book including 300 sensational, easy-to-implement reading strategies for students in grades Kindergarten through 8th Grade.

Each teacher blogger in the #ReadingStrategiesCrew will give you a peek into one of the 13 goals represented in this text. Within each goal are, of course, valuable strategies to support your ability to prompt and guide students to deepen their skills as readers. Because it supports such a wide range of readers, teachers can also guide students to more complex texts throughout the year with these strategies!

The #ReadingStrategiesCrew decided we would each share 2 to 3 strategies within our selected goal, so please keep in mind I'm only highlighting a few strategies my goal has to offer. We're hoping to spark thoughts on a plan of action for the start of your school year.

I'm kicking off the study by saying Jennifer Serravallo is awe-inspiring. She started her educational career as a classroom teacher and has become, in my eyes, one of the most genius literacy consultants and authors out there. She states on the very first page, "The strategies I've crafted in this book stand on the shoulders of decades of research and master teachers from whose work I've been fortunate to learn...I feel grateful to be part of a profession where there is so much sharing and commingling of thinking..."

Let's get started with Goal 1: Supporting Pre-Emergent and Emergent Readers. There are twenty strategies within this goal to support pre-emergent and emergent readers. Below is a snapshot of the strategies reinforcing this goal. The format of Serravallo's *literacy bible* {in my terms} is not necessarily a front cover to back cover type of read, but more of a handy guidebook of sorts. Serravallo compared it to a cookbook of recipes. The format allows teachers to pick and choose from research-based strategies that will best scaffold students, just as a cook would pick and choose recipes from a cookbook.

For each strategy, Serravallo includes a description of the strategy and helpful prompts to use with students. Many of the strategies also provide Teacher Tips and samples of Lesson Language to use when putting the strategy into practice. The strategies can be demonstrated to individuals, small group or whole class. In addition, along the sidebar of each strategy, Serravallo indicates the level (pre-emergent to Levels R and above), genre/text type and skill(s) in which to focus. I find these to be invaluable features of the book because even a novice or experienced classroom teacher without a reading background can fully support and guide their students in reading. This book elicits powerful reading instruction!

The 3 strategies I will be discussing are Linger Finger, Express the Emotions and Keep in Mind What Repeats. It was very difficult to narrow in on only 3 strategies to discuss. Once you own the book, you'll understand why. :) In view of the fact I work with struggling readers and oftentimes encounter students rushing through their books, reading in a monotone voice and taking the time to sound out words that continuously repeat in a text, I chose these particular strategies.

Have you ever heard a student say, "I can't read"? I'm sure you're nodding your head up and down, especially if you work with the younger student population in the pre-emergent and emergent stages of reading. Well, Serravallo has been convinced by various researchers that "We can meet students where they are and help them engage with and enjoy books, make meaning, acquire vocabulary, use text features to understand, connect the pages, respond to the texts by writing and talking, practice their fluency, and perhaps above all, develop identities as confident, engaged, joyful readers {even without decoding} (p.21)". Agree? I bet you're nodding your head up and down again.

Focus Strategy One: Linger Finger

The Linger Finger strategy focuses on noticing details. It encourages students to slow down and deliberately inspect, if you will, all the details a text has to offer. I regularly stimulate conversations with my students discussing how books offer wonderful illustrations, text features and other *goodies* for readers to appreciate, be entertained by and learn from. Too often my youngest readers rush through their books, only to shout, "I'm done!" If you've encountered this same scenario in your classroom, you should consider implementing this strategy with your students. Below is a simple anchor chart found in Serravallo's book to create with your students as a reminder to take it slow, or linger, while reading. This anchor chart along with the catchy title for this strategy are a nice *hook & sinker* for students to remember to take their time while reading.

To get a better sense of the Linger Finger strategy, here are a few ideal prompts found in the book:

Move your finger across the page. Tell me what you see.
Not so fast! Stay on the page a moment.
You went across the whole page and said sentences about what you saw!
What will you do before you turn the page? (p.26)

Focus Strategy Two: Express the Emotions

The Express the Emotions strategy develops fluency and expressive reading. It provokes students to think about how a character in a story may be feeling and then asks students to use a voice to sound like the character. This strategy is very practical and easy to implement. It triggered memories of particular kiddos I've worked with in the past. Most likely, we've all encountered a few students who sound as if they're robots while reading...those who utter words on the page in a tiresome, monotone voice, almost as if they are reading while sleeping. Yes?

Serravallo's teaching tip for this strategy is to model fluent, expressive reading in various parts of a book to show students a myriad of emotions present in a text and to help students tap into their inner actor (p.31). I love that phrase because we know little actors and actresses can develop in all of our readers. :) Serravallo also mentions students who are not yet decoding can still make meaning from illustrations and expressively *read* the pictures. The anchor chart below can be created in the classroom during a mini-lesson and serves as a reminder for students to read with expression.

For the Express the Emotions strategy, Serravallo suggests using prompts such as these:

How did the character say that? Show me.
Say it thinking about how the character is feeling.
I could tell he sounded happy (or mad or sad) because of how you read that.

Focus Strategy Three:

Keep in Mind What Repeats

The Keep in Mind What Repeats strategy fosters students to be text detectives by finding repeated patterns in a text, together with noticing what parts are new on each page. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and We're Going on a Bear Hunt were cited as appropriate books to use with this strategy. They each include parts that repeat alongside parts that change on the page. When students become more mindful of repeated patterns while reading, they'll become more fluent, and we all know fluency aides comprehension. Therefore, being mindful helps them better monitor for meaning. Note the anchor chart below as an example of one teachers could create with their students in the classroom.

The prompts found in the book for the Keep in Mind What Repeats strategy are:

What's the same on this page?
Say what repeats.
Check the picture to see what's new.
How is this page different from the last?
How is this page similar to the last?

You may be asking yourself, "What books do I use to support the students working on this goal?" Well, Serravallo contemplated that, too. I'm here to assure you, she thought of EVERYTHING while writing this book. EV-ER-Y-THING! Serravallo's suggested criteria for books helpful in supporting pre-emergent and emergent students are as follows:

texts that are visually engaging
stories that have a strong narrative with recognizable dialogue, and some repetition
informational texts that offer opportunities to learn content from the photographs and other features
list books with clearly supportive pictures
alphabet and number books to help reinforce knowledge of letters and sounds and numerals connected to a number of objects (p.22)

I'm hoping I gave you helpful insight into a few strategies found in Goal 1: Supporting Pre-Emergent and Emergent Readers. After diving into this text and reflecting back on my own teaching instruction, I came to the realization I implement many of the strategies already. I bet you do, too! The strategies I discussed probably sound familiar to ones you've implemented with your students. However, I think having a name/title for each strategy and a goal in which the strategy reinforces will definitely aid me in keeping organized and focused during my lesson planning.

Looking ahead to this school year, I intend to implement oodles of strategies from The Reading Strategies Book. There are 300 strategies to choose from, therefore I need to use this book as "a menu not a meal". I heard that saying many years back at a Reading First conference. It stuck with me as a reminder to choose what works best for my students and me. There is no need to use every single strategy if the situation doesn't call for it. Right?

Serravallo states, "An ideal classroom is one in which every student has a clear goal, based on reliable formative assessment information." Because of this, my course of action is to continue observing and conferring with my students, writing detailed notes and deciding which direction to take my instruction to move them forward as dynamic, independent readers. I'm eager to use Serravallo's book as a GO-TO resource filled with dog-eared, highlighted, tabbed and marked pages to remind myself of these worthwhile strategies. I deem this a mentor text for any teacher involved in teaching reading to students!

Image Source- Lori Squalls created this image and was happy to share.
Thanks, Lori! If you're looking for a good Twitter follow, check her out!

In case you're interested, last year I created the activity below to provide a simple, yet, fun way for my students to practice reading dialogue expressively. It seems to nicely complement the Express the Emotions strategy. Click the image if you would like to view it in my TpT Store.

Before you go, enter the Giveaway for a chance to win a copy of Jennifer Serravallo's The Reading Strategies Book: Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Readers! Entries will be taken until the end of the day on August 17th. A winner will be announced on August 19th, so stay tuned!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The #ReadingStrategiesCrew would also love for you to share your thoughts in the comments section or link up your own blog post below. The link up will remain open in case you don't have the book, yet, and want to write a post in the future. :)

Questions to Consider:

As you plan your lessons, what might be some ways you prepare yourself to support pre-emergent and emergent readers in your classroom?
What do you want to be mindful of when working with readers needing support with this goal?
If you do not teach pre-emergent and emergent readers, how can you apply your knowledge of these strategies with your developing readers?

Well, thanks for stopping by Literacy Loving Gals to kick off the book study! As the study continues in the upcoming weeks, the hyperlinks to each teacher blogger's post will be added below to help keep the goals organized in one spot. We hope you continue to follow along with us! :)