Assignment on Google Drive.

Dialogic Reading

(I originally bought a children’s book, but I was with my father and he rushed me into purchasing a Dr. Seuss that didn’t have enough dialogue or adequate images to work with, so I just decided to use one of my old Street Fighter comics instead.  They’re surprisingly insightful if you ever have the chance to read them. Also, this page set up worked a little better on Microsoft Word. Up here, I had to put the images near the bottom.)

Level One
Story Page	Teaching Focus	Level 1 Dialogue
	Use level 1 questions during an initial reading of the bookAsk children to label objects from the pictures in the bookAsk children to provide details about characteristics of objects in the picturesConduct repeated readings until all children have an understanding of, and are comfortable with, all vocabulary	Cool Teacher:  So what’s going on in this picture? Cool Student:  It looks like Alex is possessed by Gil, the final boss of the Street Fighter III series.  He is being attacked by an ensemble of martial artists from many different countries. Cool Teacher:  How many characters do you recognize. Cool Student:  All of them. Cool Teacher:  Yeah, but can you maybe name a few of them? Cool Student:  Chun-Li, Ken Masters, Guile, E. Honda, Rolento, Hakan, Dan Hibiki, El Fuerte, Rainbow Mika, Hugo, Sagat… Cool Teacher:  Okay, okay.  (To another student)  What about you, Pal?  Are there any characters that you don’t recognize? Other Cool Student:  I think I’ve seen this guy with the red skin and blue hair…  But I’m not really sure. Cool Student:  That’s Hakan!  You don’t know him? Cool Teacher:  It’s alright.  There was probably a time when you didn’t know all of the character either.

Level Two
Story Page	Teaching Focus	Level 2 Dialogue
	-Use level 2 questions during readings. Also use level 1 questions to help build vocabulary skills.   – Encourage children to use their own words/perspectives to describe the story.   -Help expand childrens’ ideas.   -Continue to ask questions to deepen their understanding.	Cool Student:  Whoa! Cool Teacher:  I know, right?  So, how would you describe this? Cool Student:  They’re fighting. Cool Teacher:  Yeah, but what’s going on?  (Looks to another cool student) Other Cool Student:  (Scoots slightly closer)  Umm…  Ryu is standing up, while Akuma (who is currently transformed into Oni) is mad and glowing blue.  And then he uses a ki based attack. Cool Teacher: (See a teachable moment or term… or something)  Okay, so you said Oni’s glowing blue, right?  So what’s that making everything around him do? Other Cool Student: Um… Cool Student:  It’s making the ground shake and the wind blow! Cool Teacher:  Yeah?  Okay, so what’s that doing to Ryu’s pants? Cool Student:  Um…  Move? Cool Teacher:  Yeah, it’s making them ripple.  (Looks back at the other student)  Also, you remember when he was mad? Other Cool Student:  (Nods) Cool Teacher:  Well, there happens to be another word you might use when someone is mad.  It’s right here. (Point at the word in the speech bubble)  Do you guys see that word?  Any of you guys know that one? Cool Student:  Rag? Other Cool Student:  Raggy?  Like what Scooby Doo calls Shaggy? Cool Teacher:  (Chuckles to himself)  Not quite.  That word is rage.  (Gives simple definition of rage.) (Words: Rage and Ripple introduced) (It’s not exactly a grand spelling word, but I’ll say it’s an example of a term students are used to or something.  This isn’t the most appropriate book I could have done this for.  But it’s actually easier than what I had bought.)

Level Three
Story Page	Teaching Focus	Level 3 Dialogue
	-Use level 3 questions, when students are very familiar with the story.   -Encourage children to retell the story and use the vocab from the book.   -Use all levels of questions throughout the reading.   Examples: -recall questions -connections to the book -connections to students’ prior knowledge and own life -Act out parts of the story	Cool Student:  I remember this from the end of the book. Other Cool Student:  It’s when Balrog and Vega are baited by F.A.N.G. Cool Student:  Oh yeah, Balrog was overcome with rage.  Just like me when my sister turned off my PlayStation last night. Other Cool Student:  How come these characters weren’t around at the beginning of the book? Cool Teacher: That’s a good question.  Does anyone, have an idea?

                Time is scarce, so I must be brief.  However, I would like to weigh in on the question here.  Why are we saying literacies now instead of literacy?  Well, times are simply changing.  It’s human nature to label things.  However, the more we learn about things like gender, fields of science, comedy, and even literacy we learn that things are not always so black and white.  Upon digging deeper, it’s become appropriate or perhaps even politically correct to say literacies.  What was once consider literacy has since evolved.  Other fields of art and expression have shaken the definition of literacy both denotatively and connotatively so that the term has hardly been changed as much as it has been expanded.  However, the manifest destiny-like nature of literacy has ramified so far that calling everything literacy would be so broad it’s confusing.  A concentration was and is in order and prefixes and titles have become a requirement.  Thus, terms like disciplinary literacies and digital literacies have found their place in the language…  To be continued, perhaps?

Unfortunately, this is hardly an introduction to what could be a larger text.  However, I don’t have much time.  (I have only myself to blame.)

Designing Pedagogies for Literacy and Learning Through Personal Digital Inquiry

                “Teaching in this context has become “less about delivering a body of knowledge and skills that will be good for life and more about forming a deeply knowing kind of person” (Kalantzis & Cope, 2012, p.71).  Literacy and learning should embody “the skills of seeking knowldge as needed, collaborating, abstracting, and discerning patterns while navigating large bodes of knowledge” (p. 315).  To that end, we believe effective educators are those who actively involve students in deep, authentic, and personally relevant learning experiences that foster academic achievement, reflection, and civic engagement.”

                First and foremost, I know I’m not the only one that saw that knowledge was misspelled.  Someone should have proofread that!  I’m honestly curious, if you’re quoting a source and there’s an obvious typo, should you correct it?  No, right?  I’m honestly not sure.

                Second, we know what to expect from this text.  The authors are firm believers of the old saying, “Give a man a fish, you’ll feed him for a day.  Teach a man to fish, you’ll feed him for a lifetime.”  It sounds to me like the authors crave to not only surround the students with “large bodes of knowledge” (Bodes, seriously?), but also to provide them with the skills that enable them (the students) to continue learning in the future.

                They mention having a framework for Personal Digital Inquiry built on a system of problem-solving practices.  Honestly, it sounds pretty cool.  Although, it comes off as a little grandiose.  Regardless, when their practices include students wondering and discovering, collaborating and discussing, participating and taking action, and analyzing and reflecting.

                After some lengthy citations, the term Multiliteracies is thrown into the mix.  It sounds self-explanatory.  But I’ll be honest, I’m not too familiar with the term.  Quoting the text, “… multiliteracies represents the multiple modes of meaning making that require diverse ways of reading, thinking, and communicating (New London Group, 1996).  These differences… introduce new challenges associated with how we work, play, and learn with others in a range of local and global communities (Kalantzis & Cope, 2012).”  The authors claim that their framework is dependent on thinking about how to design learning spaces that boast complex methods of reading.  

                Later paragraphs go into their vision on dealing with new literacies, specifically, those intertwined with new technologies.  Honestly, it feels like there’s a lot of words written down here to make themselves sound busy.  That said, they clearly plan to ride the waves of progressing technology.  They’ve made sure to note that their online practices will see a lot of reading, writing, and discussions on… a bunch of stuff.  Yikes…  A lot of this sounds really good.  But honestly, it goes on forever.  I would definitely say more, but between you and me, I’m in a rush.  But please don’t let me stop you.  Click the link at the beginning if you’re interested reading in more!

Supporting Young Readers: Developing Reading Club Conversation Skills

By Buffy J. Hamilton

                What’s that all about?  Who legitimately named their child Buffy?  Ahem… I mean, how can we better support young readers?  Hopefully, Hamilton will shed some light on the situation.

                At the beginning of the post, Hamilton seemed to mostly cover the lingo of her previous posts and book club meetings.  One thing that stood out was her note, “I planned for four rounds of discussion even though I expected we would probably only have time for three; I like to overplan just in case!”  There something respectable about someone who overplans.  Those who fail to plan, plan to fail after all.  Hamilton here is clearly going to succeed!  As I continue reading, I realize that there wasn’t too much reading direction here at all it was mostly just plans for how to talk about what was read.  That’s when I reread the title.  …Conversation Skills…  Oh…  I get it.  See!?  You’re never to old to work on comprehension.

                So, Hamilton brings up “conversation round” leaders.  Naturally, I am confused.  Apparently, they do exactly as the name suggests.  Nobody’s trying to trick anyone…  Having a conversation leader in a round can sometimes bypass awkward pauses or lapses in getting a new round or discussion started.  Hamilton then began to discuss post-club reflections.  It was said that these are best written down immediately after the discussion (while the information is fresh).

                Honestly, I didn’t even step foot on the tip of the iceberg for this one.  I only looked at it from a far.  There’s so much more to unpack from Hamilton’s blog post here.  Be warned, you can find the link here on this page, but once click the link to Hamilton’s blog there are tons of links to several other posts!  Bon appétit!

Webster’s dictionary defines comprehension as the act or action of grasping with the intellect or knowledge gained by comprehending.  Meaning, on the other hand, is the thing one intends to convey especially by language or the thing that is conveyed especially by language.  Using these definitions, I suppose that meaning (and the making of) is ever so slightly different from comprehension.    Comprehension seems to require that the concept is merely considered.  It seems to me as those comprehension’s most important attribute is that at some point some thought about.  Making meaning seems to require that the content or information is not only thought about but likely compared to past knowledge and understood as it put into your own words.

If it makes any sense, I would argue that comprehending is something you do to foreign information.  Making meaning is what you do with information that is now yours.  I’m sure that sounds odd.  Pardon my lack of articulation.

That said, I believe the only way to help students make meaning is to introduce them to as much material as possible.  A student’s mind needs to be cultured and experienced to truly make meaning of anything.  That said, before a student can make meaning (internalize information [comparing new and old knowledge] and make their own), they must comprehend (tackle new information and turn it into something they can relate to information they already understand).  Both seem to be something that requires time and practice in the form of literacy immersion.

Text Structure Strategies for Improving Expository Reading Comprehension

                “This article presents practical applications of research-based strategies for using text structures to improve students’ expository text comprehension.”

                Well that about settles it.  (Or at least I wish it did…)

                Expository (or informational) text is the primary source of reading material used to present academic context.  Technically that’s a quote pulled verbatim form the text, but honestly, it’s so general and obviously true, that I hardly believe quoting is necessary.  It’s practically a definition.  In addition, everybody knows that expository writing is among the first bit of writing they teach you in elementary schooling.  That or possibly narrative writing (but that’s getting off topic).  Regardless, expository reading is a different story (or technically a lack thereof story).  Expositive reading can prove difficult for younger beginning readers.  There are a number of reasons, however, the text highlights the technical vocabular, high density of facts, unfamiliar content, and cognitively demanding concepts.  That is to say that expository text has an entirely different structure.  While a story is something familiar to youngsters through multiple forms of media.  Expository is a relatively new experience for most of them.  Luckily, research has been done on how we can more effectively help students struggling with exposition.  Even luckier, the results of those studies are what this article is here to present.  First and foremost, remember that there are four sections to this: learning objectives, instructional strategies, assessments, and reading materials. 

                Learning objectives should be outlined.  This gives the students (and the teacher) a clear goal.  The learning objectives often include skills that students should possess or concepts that students should be able to understand by the end of the lesson.  The authors provide four reoccurring learning objectives for us:

• Students will be able to identify the structure of an expository text.
• Students will be able to select and organize the most important information in an expository text.
• Students will be able to summarize an expository text.
• Students will be able to write their own expository text.

The next section involves instructional strategies.  How do we as educators get our students to meet and complete those pesky objectives?  Their plan is to describe effective strategies for each objective.  Regarding identification strategies, students must learn to recognize the structure of expository texts and focus on the important information.  Furthermore, that information then becomes the foundation used to support further learning and the meeting of the earlier referenced objectives.  The text identifies two possible goals of identification strategies: to recognize a single text structure or to discriminate among several possible text structures.  I’m not going to get deep here, but there are many ways!

Skipping forward a tad, we reach assessments.  This is often where I find myself getting tripped up.  After coming up with some nifty method of reading and questioning, I’m all too often at a loss for any practical way to test or gauge how well the students have learned what they have learned.  According to the text, two of the overlying subjects for which to draw assessments stem from the students’ progress toward learning objectives and their expository reading comprehension.

It is recommended that when selecting reading materials (which is important, I’m surprised this was so far down the list), teachers start with modified passages the provide a good example of how text should be structured.  Only when students are more comfortable should more complex passages be suggested. 

The text leaves us off on this note, “Knowing how to read and comprehend expository text is an essential skill in today’s society.  Educators should not assume that students will automatically learn this skill over time.”  I hate to admit that I may fall into that category from time to time.  Then they reintroduce the method of text structure instruction.  Talk about textbook restating your main idea lol.

As usual, my entry here is less than a SparkNotes’s summary worth of text.  If you find this method worth looking into (I know I do), see the link at the beginning!

The Roles of Photography for Developing Literacy Across the Disciplines

                “I took a lot a of pictures and wrote a lot.”  Wow, what a way to start an article.  I can’t wait to read more!

                …

                I’m sorry for the poor sarcasm I’m very tired.  Anyway, some pseudonym fourth grader says that taking picture is easier than writing.  That said, it seems like incorporating images is going to be the meat of this long, tedious article.  Let’s dive right in!  Shall we!?

                So apparently, kids these days are born with photo related technology in their hands.  It only makes sense to write about the of use photo related technology in schools, right?  That and because one of the authors has a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts and thought it would be cool.  Regardless, the authors have high hopes for their literacy pathway.  What the heck!? so do I!

                So, it comes as no surprise to us, the scholars of schooling, that texts should be multimodal and acknowledge the role of navigating, interpreting, interrogating, and designing.  The authors would argue that visual do just that.  The text goes so far as to state and I quote, “Constructing responses through photography may allow students new or alternate ways to communicate their understandings, improving learning outcomes by creating varied opportunities for assessment.”  In addition, the authors describe how they believe photos have a natural place in the fields of science but are still relevant for teaching literacy.  While the science behind the visual vs. auditory learners are still highly debatable, there’s no mystery to the fact that the occasional visual aid to put a word to helps.  The article even defends how having a picture to link a term to can even work wonders for ELL students trying to get a hand on our tricky language.

                They’re also fond the Visual Thinking Strategy.  Apparently, this is a method for analyzing visual texts believed to support learning across the curriculum.  They took the extra step to quote this, “many aspects of cognition are called upon, such as personal association, questioning, speculating, analyzing, fact-finding, and categorizing” (Yenawine, 1997, p. 845).”  This apparently coincides with Common Core as well.  That has to be a good thing, right? 

So, bottom line, take pictures.

Supporting Beginning Readers in Reading to learn: A Comprehension Strategy

                Today’s teaching tip supports the students’ ability to read to learn… while learning to read.  I suppose it’s a lesson in multitasking or perhaps killing two birds with one stone.  Beats me.  But anyway, one day at some sort of staff meeting someone posed a question, “How can we support our early and emergent readers to read and understand informational texts?”  Their answer arrived in the form of a strategy dubbed Read, Stop, Think, Ask, Connect.  That’s a little wordy, but who am I to judge?

                So, what is this so-called strategy?  Quoting the text, “The strategy is designed to support beginning readers in reading and understanding informational texts by facilitating close interactions between readers and text (see, e.g., McKeown et al., 2009) by mirroring the thinking processes that proficient readers may do automatically (see, e.g., Neufeld, 2005).”  Designed for flexibility and adaptable enough to fit multiple texts, this strategy can easily be applied by young, learning readers.

                The initial responsibility of the reader is to (drumroll please…) read.  Quoting the text, “The beginning reader must recognize that each text feature may represent information that is supplementary to the information discussed in sentence form (Stead, 2002).”  Young readers should be asking questions akin to:

• Where is the information on this page or in this book?
• Have I looked at the pictures, labels, diagrams, and other text features?

The next job is to stop reading.  Huh…  Sounds peculiar.  However, the text deems it necessary because of the dense, content-specific vocabulary.  Stopping gives the reader a chance to connect and integrate information.  Most hip, young readers could benefit from the occasional pause and asking themselves, “Do I understand the information?  Should I reread a section?”

Thinking is the third step in the strategy.  Beginning readers are encouraged to think about what they have read and how the text structure supports the meaning.  This step provides opportunities for young readers to summarize what’s important.  This should hopefully help them connect what they’ve read to prior knowledge possess to key words they know.  Eventually, leading to them piecing together meaning.  The text says, “… the Think step prompts readers to summarize and synthesize information presented in print and in text features and to identify questions they have about the information presented (Dymock & Nicholson, 2010).”

Here, readers should be asking:

• Did the author give me any clues in the ways he or she organized the text?
• What do the words in the text mean?
• How does this match the information from the pictures and other text features?

Okay, if I’m reading this correctly, we’ve reached the part where the beginning readers ask the author (who probably isn’t present) questions that I can only assume are rhetorical.  In this step, student voice their questions about the text.  Check this out, “When we invited the beginning readers to ask questions about the text in our classes, our young students started to talk with the author as though he or she were present and referred to the author by name when asking questions.”  Hmm…  This honestly sound more like a (cute but weird) spectacle than a step.  I mean, didn’t the students technically ask question for all of the steps?  Whatever.  The questions should sound something like:

• What is the author trying to tell me?
• Why would the author want me to know that?
• Why did the author show me the information this way?

Then, our final task is to force the students to connect.  I’m joking… About the forcing part.  We shouldn’t have to force anything…  Regardless, our favorite little readers are encouraged to connect what they have read to prior knowledge.  Hmm… Perhaps I misspoke on that third or fourth step…  Meh…  Anyway, by using a variety of connections between themselves and the text, readers use what they already know and come to understand new content.  Then, because the Ask Step didn’t ask enough, readers should be asking:

• What does this information remind me of?
• Have I seen something like this before?
• Do I know any other information about this topic?

The text provides more information, but I’m going to stop about here.  However, if you loved what you read here and you’re still craving more, I suggest clicking the link at the beginning for a deeper, more meaningful reading experience!

                I wish I could demonstrate what a good lesson plan for teaching academic vocabulary.  But…  I’m considering sharing the memorization technique for vocabulary instead.  And because the text that I’ve just read didn’t give me as much insight as I would have liked…

Regardless, let’s take a look at these words here: fade, biology, opportunities, and probation.

It’s not much, but these are just a few words I picked up while looking into a sample from Walter Dean Myers’ Handbook for Boys.  What an old teacher of mine told me to do (or possibly what I came up with myself, I honestly don’t remember anymore…) was to take one word at a time.  Say that word out loud, read the definition, say the word again, spell it out loud, and say the word once more time.  If you were speaking an example, it would sound like this, “Fade: to gradually grow faint and disappear (In the story’s case, it’s a feature of a haircut.).  Fade.  F, A, D, E spells Fade!”  Repeating this to myself several times, for whatever words that I needed (hopefully no more than 20) always worked for a goof like me.  It’s a simple trick, but it’s more memorable than you may think.