ClassNotes423


 * EDC423 Class Notes**


 * ** Sept. 6: What is reading comprehension? **
 * **Four (Five) Corners Activity:** What is reading comprehension? How is comprehension best taught? What past reading experiences (positive and negative) are most memorable? How should you measure progress in reading comprehension? Should/How Should reading comprehension instruction be modified for English language learners?
 * Review the syllabus [[file:Coiro 423 Syllabus Fall 2012.doc]]
 * See Big Ideas organizer for the course [[file:EDC423CoiroSyllabusOrganizer.pdf]]
 * Homework:
 * Read Cornett Chapter 1
 * [|NGT Reflection 1] post on wiki discussion board)
 * OPTIONAL: ELL Text (Ch 1, pp. 1-17) Teaching with Literature in a Classroom of English Learners


 * ** Sept. 11: Beliefs, Perspectives, and Practices for Teaching Reading Comprehension **
 * **Activity**: Identifying and Addressing Students' Reading Comprehension Needs [[file:423 Day 2 Anna.docx]]
 * **Powerpoint Slides** from Class [[file:Day 2 Beliefs & Practices.pptx]]
 * Related resources for more background: [|Top-down, bottom-up, and interactive models of reading]
 * Related resources about Reader's Theatre, podcasting, and Visual Tableaux
 * **Homework:**
 * Read Cornett Chapter 2
 * **Noticing Good Teaching (NGT) Reflection #2**: Classroom Snapshot p. 29-32 [[file:423 Day 3 What do you notice.docx]]
 * Post your class response to [|Reading is...]
 * OPTIONAL: ELL Text (Ch. 2, pp. 19-30) Reader Response Theory, ESL Theories


 * ** Sept. 13: Instructional Routines for Teaching Reading Comprehension **
 * Remember Anna from last class: Podcasting, Visual Tableux, and Reader's Theatre: Instructional Practices to motivate Anna and build comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary.
 * **Activity: Noticing Good Teaching Reflection 2**(General Instructional Practices and Techniques for Comprehension Strategy Instruction)
 * **Inferring**(related resources):
 * [|Diverse Response] for demonstrating understanding of inferring (video created by kids)
 * ** Into The Book: [|Video Guides for Teaching Inferring]
 * [|Teaching Content is Teaching Reading]: Daniel Willingham's take on things...notice the role of prior knowledge and inferring to understand the author's underlying meaning
 * [|**Fables**], by Arnold Lobel
 * **[|Caldecott Award]:** the most distinguished American picture book
 * [|Arnold Lobel]: Learn more in this [|EThemes Author Study]
 * **Class Slideshow: [[file:Day 3 CPS Process.pptx]]**
 * **Homework**:
 * **Complete Book Activity 1**: Inferencing [[file:Book Activity 1 Inferring.docx]] (if you would like to explore more ideas about inferring, view the video resources above).
 * **EXTRA CREDIT:** Create an example of thinking aloud about inferencing using the [|EduCreations App] - see [|example by Dr. Coiro] using a phrase from Arnold Lobel's The Camel Dances
 * **Read: Cornett Chapter 3**: pages 52-64** (Classroom Literacy Communities: Supportive Teachers)


 * ** Sept. 18: Classroom Literacy Communities: Supportive Teachers **
 * **Class Slideshow:** [[file:Day 4 CPS Strategies.pptx]]
 * **Class Activity**: Developing strategic reading prompts for excerpts from //My Father's Dragon// and //Gorilla Rescue//
 * **Homework:**
 * **Read Chapter 3: pages 65-77** (Classroom Literacy Communities:Supportive Learning Contexts)
 * **Complete Book Activity 2:** Comprehension Self-Assessment [[file:Book Activity 2 Self-assessment.docx]]


 * ** Sept. 20: Classroom Literacy Communities: Supportive Learning Contexts **
 * **Class Activity**: Creating Contexts for Learning [[file:Day 5 Supportive Learning Contexts.docx]]with Teaching Reading 3-5 Video available at: []
 * **Class Slideshow:** [[file:Day 5 Essential Questions.pptx]]
 * **Additional Resources:**
 * [|Setting up a Classroom]: Grades 1, 2, and 3: Lots of great pictures and ideas to spark your thinking about literacy learning environments
 * [|Beth Newingham's Third Grade:] Tour her classroom and much more!
 * [|Mandy's Tips for Elementary School Teachers]: Many ideas for balanced literacy and center work in upper elementary grades
 * Literacy Work Stations in Elementary School: Enjoy a free chapter from Debbie Diller's (2005) //Practice with Purpose: Literacy Work Stations for Grades 3-6.// [[file:Diller 2005 Literacy Work Stations.pdf]]
 * **Homework**:
 * **Read Chapter 6:** Classroom Culture and Motivation
 * **Read Sweet, A. P., & Guthrie, J. T.** (1996). How children's motivations relate to literacy development and instruction. //The Reading Teacher, 49//, 660-662. [[file:Sweet Guthrie 1996.pdf]]
 * **Complete NGT Reflection #3:** Motivating Teaching Practices [[file:NGT#3 Motivation.docx]]


 * ** Sept. 25: Classroom Culture and Motivation **
 * **Classroom Slideshow: [[file:Day 6 Motivation Slides.ppt]]**
 * **Homework: Cornett, Chapter 4 (p. 79-99)** - Pay attention to the five factors for assessment (learner, task, text, context, and teaching); Assessment for learning and differentiated instruction and **PARTICULAR**
 * Optional: Related Resources to Explore Further**
 * **Dr. John Guthrie**, from University of Maryland, on [|Developing Student Motivation to Read]
 * **Students Crafting Big Ideas**: See a [|video of 5th graders and a "Headlines" activity] from Ron Ritchardt's book Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and Independence for All Learners
 * **Teachers Modeling Essential Questions**: [|Elementary Research Models, Baltimore County Public Schools]
 * **Digital Resources to Inspire Inquiry and Engaged Reading**
 * [|Yuckiest Site on the Internet]
 * [|Fact Monster]
 * [|Kids.gov]
 * [|Maths Dictionary for Kids]
 * [|Wonderopolis]: Where the wonders of learning never cease...Interesting questions and a video to inspire reading and learning.
 * An example: [|Why do ants think they are invited to picnics?]
 * How [|one intermediate grades teacher uses Wonderopolis] in her classroom
 * [|Readability]: Customize websites for your students' visual reading needs
 * [|Julie Coiro's Workshop] on Using the Internet to foster wondering, exploring, anticipating, and mattering
 * **Ideas for Themed Book Units**
 * [|Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Website]: click on "Subjects" to get started
 * [|Themed Booklists] by Reading Rockets
 * For planning units connected around a big idea, try [|Ink Think Tank] to search for non-fiction books around topics your students love that are tied to national educational standards
 * [|Literature Learning Ladders] and [|Eduscapes] are also great starting places!
 * [|Booklist of Social-Emotional Themes] related to aspects of Character Education
 * **Ideas about Non-fiction texts**
 * [|Non-fiction Family Round-ups from Kidlitosphere]
 * Example: Big Idea: Journeys - [|The Boy in the Picture] is part of this big idea for the whole school year!

>>
 * **Sept. 27: Assessing Learners to Plan and Differentiate Instruction**
 * **Class Activity:** Review Inferring Book Activity in Whole Group
 * **Class Activity:** Launching Your Book
 * **Class Activity**: Understanding Jimmy and Rhiannon as Literacy Learners [[file:423 Day 8 Assessment.docx]]
 * **Student Strategy Interview Assignment**: [[file:EDC423 Student Interview Assignment.docx]]
 * **Homework**: **Understanding the Challenges of Expository Texts**
 * Read the three short articles below and type a one page synthesis that explains: (1) Why are expository texts harder to comprehend than narrative texts? and (2) What features in particular make expository texts so challenging to read?
 * Cornett Textbook: Explicit Teaching of Text Characteristics (Ch. 5, p. 136-144).
 * Moss. B. (2004). Teaching expository text structures through information trade book retellings. //The Reading Teacher, 57//(8), 710-718. [[file:teaching expository text structures.pdf]]
 * Wixson, K. (2008). Reading informational texts in the early grades. Pearson Research Into Practice. [[file:ReaMonWixson_4015_1.pdf]]


 * October 2: Assessing Texts to Plan Instruction **


 * **Class Discussion:** Narrative and Expository Texts and Instructional Practices to Counteract The Fourth Grade Slump
 * **Class Slideshow**: [[file:Day 7 Text Structures Explicit Teaching.ppt]]
 * **Class Activity**: [[file:423 Pompeii Text Lesson.docx]]
 * Part 1. Modeling Explicit Instruction of Expository Texts with The First Discovery
 * Part 2. Planning for Explicit Instruction of Expository Texts with Disaster: Pompeii and Herculaneum Destroyed
 * **Review Planning Tasks**for Teaching Your Own Comprehension Lesson (With Narrative or Expository Text)
 * [[file:EDC423 Narrative Lesson Template.docx]]
 * [[file:EDC423 Informational Text Template.docx]]
 * **Homework**: **Making Sense of the Common Core Standards**
 * 1. As an introduction, read Common Core Standards for Literacy: How Do We Make Them Work [[file:CCSS for Literacy Morrow.docx]]
 * 2. Download the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts (see [|Common Core Standards]- Click on "Language Arts Standards") and keep a copy on your computer for reference in your teaching. This is an important document.
 * Read the Introduction (pages 1-8) and be prepared to discuss the key points.
 * Also skim to notice the differences between the //College and Career Anchor Standards// (p. 10, 18, and 25) and the //K-5 standards// for Literature (p. 11-12), Informational Text (p. 13-14), Foundational Skills (p. 15-17), Writing (p. 19-21), Speaking & Listening (p. 23-24), Language (p. 26-29), and Complexity of Text (p. 31-32).
 * Be prepared to discuss and apply these standards in a class activity.
 * 3. Closely read Key Shifts in the[| Common Core Standards: English Language Arts] to get a sense of how the standards differ from the standards that states currently use.

**October 4: Aligning Lessons to The Common Core Standards**


 * **Class Discussion**: Rising to the Challenge of the Common Core Standards in English Language Arts
 * [|Assessment Prototypes from PARCC] (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers)
 * **Slideshow: [[file:Day 8 Standards and Objectives.pptx]]**
 * **Class Activity**: Align learning objectives to Common Core Standards
 * **Related Background Resources**
 * [|Tri-State New England Grade Level Expectations (GLEs) for Reading and Writing Grades K-5] (Two separate documents)
 * [|Verbs to Include in Your Objectives] to match the levels of Bloom's Taxonomy
 * RI GLE's K-3 Reading and Writing: Short One Page Version [[file:RI GLEs short form.docx]]
 * PAARC Draft Model Content Frameworks for English/Language Arts[[file:PARCC_Draft_ModelContentFrameworksForELA-Literacy_0.pdf]]
 * **Class Activity**: Planning for your comprehension lessons (Work in small groups to plan your lesson for next class using the lesson guidelines provided by Dr. Coiro)
 * **Homework**:
 * Read Textbook: Ch. 5 (p. 117-139) on Explicit Teaching and consider ideas in the context of your group lesson plan activities
 * Plan with your group for your comprehension lesson
 * Finish the last few items on today's worksheet that links each learning objective to a standard in the Common Core.
 * Work on Student Strategy Interview (due Oct. 11 or Oct. 16)

**October 9: Teaching Your Narrative and Expository Text Lessons**


 * **Class Activity: Teach your comprehension lessons**
 * **Homework: Continue working on your Student Strategy Interview (Due Oct. 11 or October 16)**
 * **Homework: Study for Quiz #1 on Oct. 11**
 * Core Areas of Reading Instruction (Based on National Reading Panel Report)
 * Instructional Routines for Teaching Reading Comprehension (What types of things should teachers do Before/During/After reading as part of an effective lesson)
 * Five factors/conditions for success that affect comprehension and how teachers can influence each factor
 * Ways to create a supportive, organized, and motivating classroom literacy community (consider the video activities, Noticing Good Teaching reflections, and class discussions)
 * Assessing learners: factors to consider when planning your instruction
 * Assessing text difficulty: factors that make texts difficult to comprehend
 * Main ideas vs. big ideas (compare/contrast and apply to new text)
 * Key aspects of launching a text (pre-reading activities)
 * Scaffolding students' understanding of making inferences


 * October 11: Quiz and Reflection on Comprehension Lessons **


 * **Quiz #1**
 * **Small group activity:** Reflection on your own lesson and your peers' lesson - complete together during class - bring home to complete individual reflection to hand in next class
 * **Homework**:
 * Read **Chapter 10**: Organizing Main Events with Embedded Comprehension Practices
 * Complete **1 page typed reflection** of your lesson and how to improve for next time (after joint in-class reflection)
 * Finish your **Student Strategy Interview** if not handed in today. Final due date is Tuesday October 16.


 * October 16: Designing a Literacy Lesson Plan **

SEE NEXT PAGE OF CLASS NOTES FOR DETAILS...


 * ** Previous Lessons for Assessing Texts to Plan and Differentiate Instruction **
 * **Read "Leveling Texts Packet" for homework before class:**
 * Ch. 4 (p. 33-38): Analyzing Text Feature to Determine Levels (Fountas & Pinell) [[file:Fountas & Pinnell.pdf]]
 * What does the Lexile Measure Mean? (2 pages) [[file:lexile Levels.pdf]]
 * Levels or Labels: Some Suggestions for Leveled (Leveling) Texts in the Elementary Reading Curriculum (7 pages) [[file:Serafini Levels or Labels.docx]]
 * **Class Slideshow**: [[file:Day 11 Readability Levels FA2011.ppt]]
 * **Class Activity**: [[file:423 Day 10 Leveling Text.docx]]
 * **Common Core State Standards Appendix A**: Text Difficulty Resources [[file:CC_Appendix_A_Highlighted.pdf]]
 * **Common Core State Standards Appendix B**: Text Exemplars and Sample Performance Tasks [[file:Appendix_B.pdf]]
 * **Video**: [|Common Core State Standards Staircase of Text Complexity]
 * **HOMEWORK: LEAD21 Packet** (Program Overview) and One Page Reading Guide on Differentiation[[file:LEAD21 Program Overview.pdf]] [[file:Reading Guide LEAD21Program.docx]]

>> Class Slideshow**: **
 * ** Differentiated Reading Instruction **
 * * Class Activity: LEAD21 Packet **(Program Overview) and One Page Reading Guide on Differentiation[[file:LEAD21 Program Overview.pdf]] [[file:Reading Guide LEAD21Program.docx]]**
 * Class Activity**: [[file:LEAD21 Lesson Component.docx]]**
 * Homework**:
 * Please post your reflections about differentiated literacy instruction [|here]
 * Read **Chapter 5** (p. 117-136) on the Explicit Teaching of Comprehension Strategies


 * (SEE CLASS NOTES PAGE 2)