Frontloading

I found this piece to be a succinct reminder of a few simple steps that can be taken to better guide our instruction.

Frontloading Comprehension
by Dr. Bob Wortman, Educational Consultant

The brain is the organ that readers use to make sense of their world (not the eyes) - and that includes the world of print. What we do as readers BEFORE we read is often as important as what we do during and after reading.

Take the time to remind students to always read the title and look at the cover or illustration. It's an important step that struggling readers in particular don't know to take. Decide if the piece is fiction or nonfiction.

If the piece is fiction, it will be in narrative format (story form). As a reader you will be making predictions and asking questions about the three elements of story: character, plot, and setting. Doing this sets a purpose for your reading and will help you stay on track as a reader.

If the selection is nonfiction, it will be an information piece and you should quickly scan and check out any diagrams, photographs, or captions. Take note of any subheadings or bold-faced or italicized vocabulary. Then make predictions and ask questions to yourself about the main ideas. Keep in mind, there will always be important details you will want to keep track of as a reader.

As teachers, we want to notice and assess what students do as they approach a new piece of print and give them appropriate feedback. All readers need to have experience in the strategy - no matter their reading ability - for we have all encountered difficult and dense text that requires our full attention.

These strategies are very helpful when taking standardized tests. The same procedures are useful when encountering selections; there is usually a title and often one small picture that can give your brain a jump-start to the reading. The questions at the end of the selections will always tie to the elements of story (in fiction) and main idea and most important details (in nonfiction).

Think before you write

In anticipation of our next writing pieces -- especially I-Search.

Think Before You Write
Joanna Hawkins

After teaching 7th and 8th grade students the mechanics of researching and writing a well-crafted research paper and giving the class plenty of time execute their projects, teacher Joanna Hawkins and her colleague were surprised at the mediocre results. Even the best papers were not consistently thoughtful, precise, or well developed.

However, when students gave poster presentations tied to their research papers, which had addressed the struggle of African Americans to create a nation of equality after the Civil War, the two teachers were equally surprised about the content knowledge, enthusiasm, and thinking that students exhibited.

How could the students' clear demonstration of knowledge—as seen through the poster presentations—come through in their writing? To resolve the problem, the teachers developed a process, "Writing for Understanding," to structure the research paper unit.

Writing for Understanding
Besides focusing on a big idea and framing that idea within an essential question, then helping students to structure their papers and using the writing process (draft, conference, revision) to hone their thinking, "Writing for Understanding" hinges on two essential steps: building a working knowledge of the content and processing and capturing that knowledge.

A teacher can help students build their working knowledge of the content by helping them develop relevant vocabulary and giving them opportunities to comprehend related texts through appropriate reading level materials and discussion. Frequent discussion also offers students opportunities to refine their knowledge so they will know what they're talking about as they sit down to write their research paper.

To process and capture knowledge, Hawkins advises teachers to "be intentional" about having students take notes so they have opportunities to capture their understanding in their own words. For example, in a history unit on the Battle of Dunkirk, Hawkins' students reread related texts using the essential focusing question as their lens: "How do the forces of technology, geography, desire for power, economics, and values influence the little boats' rescue of British soldiers at Dunkirk?" Using a template to break down the questions into its parts, her students analyzed the event by taking notes on each factor.

Hawkins maintains that, by using the "Writing for Understanding" process, the strongest students frequently showed levels of insight that amazed the teachers, and struggling students produced writing that showed solid understanding.

The "Writing for Understanding" Process

1) Select an enduring understanding or big idea that students should demonstrate in their written product.

2) Develop a focusing question that will enable students to approach the big idea in a specific, manageable way.

3) Build working knowledge of the content.

4) Help students process the knowledge, capturing it in notes so that they can use it in their writing.

5) Help students structure their writing so that their thinking is clear.

6) Use the writing process (draft, confer, revise) to help students produce a written product that is focused, organized, and developed to show understanding of the big idea.

Educational Leadership
October 2006 | Volume 64 | Number 2
Reading, Writing, Thinking Pages 63-66

Nikki Gionvanni

I just received an email from Harper Collins and wanted to give a big ELA shout out regarding the following news:

Congratulations to Nikki Giovanni, who recently received an NAACP Image Award in the Poetry category.

For anybody who hasn't yet discovered the brilliance of her writing -- don't wait and reserve further inspection of Giovanni's poetry for next February's Black History Month. ReadWriteThink.org, among others, utilizes her works in our everyday practice. Peace.

Food for thought or Utopian folly?

NEW YORK REGION | March 7, 2008
At Charter School, Higher Teacher Pay
By ELISSA GOOTMAN
A New York City charter school is promising to pay teachers $125,000, plus a potential performance bonus.

QUOTATION OF THE DAY

"I would much rather put a phenomenal, great teacher in a field with 30 kids and nothing else than take the mediocre teacher and give them half the number of students and give them all the technology in the world."
ZEKE M. VANDERHOEK, 31, who is starting a charter school that will pay teachers $125,000 a year.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/07/nyregion/07charter.html?ex=1205557200&en=7ce008c928e7f083&ei=5070&emc=eta1

Seems we have the right idea

MAGAZINE | March 2, 2008
Teaching Boys and Girls Separately
By ELIZABETH WEIL
The idea is gaining traction in American public schools, in response to the different education crises girls and boys have been reported to experience.