Reciprocal Teaching Continued!

I have had many people ask about videos of reciprocal teaching. I found these on YouTube and thought they may be helpful:

Reciprocal Teaching Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXgMJVyCdeY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbnwBVrJVdY&list=PLC5C31E95966A9BC0

I have seen great benefits with students that use reciprocal teaching as common habit in Math. For example, I saw a group clarifying a word in a story problem and questioning about what information was important or not. Students that use these comprehension strategies will see many benefits in every subject area.

Here are some guided questions that go with those good comprehension/Figure 19 spiraling standards that we need to be asking every week with every genre.
I thought it may save some planning time and be helpful to have a "starting list" of questions so you don't have to start from scratch every week.

Basic Reading

What strategies do readers use to remember a story?

Why do we use strategies when we read?

What strategies help me understand what I read?

Fab 4

Questioning:

Why do you ask questions before, during, and after reading?

What types of questions can you ask while reading?

How does asking questions about a text make you a better reader?

How can asking questions while reading help you as a reader?

Why do readers ask questions about what they are reading?

What questions do you have about this book?

 

Predicting:

How does a detective solve a mystery?

Discuss responses including looking for clues, making guesses about what happened and finding evidence that proves or disproves the guess.

Introduce the term, prediction. Discuss how a prediction is a smart guess based on clues or information from the text rather than just a random guess.

 

Why is predicting an important strategy when reading?

Why is it important to make predictions when you read?

What do you think this book is going to be about?

What clues help you know what the story might be about?

Using the clues, what do you predict will happen in the story?

What do you think this text is going to be about?

How did making and confirming predictions help you understand the story?

Which predictions can still be possible? Why?

Which predictions are no longer possible? Why?

What did you learn about making and confirming predictions?

How were you like a detective?

Are we finding out what we expected to find out?

 

Clarifying:

Did what I just read make sense? Did that word match the letters that I said?

Why is it important to make sure the words you are reading are correct?

  

Retell/Summary:

What should be included when retelling/summarizing the story?

Why do good readers retell/summarize stories?

Why is it important to know the author’s purpose?

Why is it important to know how to retell important events of stories in a logical order?

 

Connections:

How did thinking about what we know help us understand what we are reading?

How does making connections help readers understand what they are reading?

What does this remind me of?

How did making personal connections help us understand the story better?

 

 

Tanny McGregor

It's never a waste of time to teach a child to think!
-Tanny McGregor

What a great opportunity R-H had to visit with the amazingly brilliant author of Comprehension Connections, Tanny McGregor!

Here is a link to the book that Tanny recommended to our staff to help have more than one idea for each concept so students aren't "too familiar" with the same launch every time:
http://teacherexpress.scholastic.com/interactive-think-aloud-lessons-9780545102797

Here is a link to a blog about Tanny and the book:
http://theteachingthief.blogspot.com/2012/08/meeting-tanny-mcgregor.html

Here is a link to free downloads of the thinking stems already created to print!:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Comprehension-Connection-Thinking-Stems-Anchor-Charts-291262

schema roller template:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_aKHTGyIZB6MGNhOGI1YjItNGIwZC00ZGNkLTkzZWItMWEwNTBhNGRjNmU3/preview?pli=1

blog about metacognition with cartoons and book ideas:
http://miteachingblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/metacognition-thinking-about-thinking.html

here is a sheet to support inferring with a "backpack" instead of a shoe:
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B1sDW2Uv7dzKNzBmMzE0N2MtZWQ2MS00MDhhLTk1ZTAtOWFiMWExYzJjNmYz&hl=en_US

Another idea for inferring is one that Tanny shared this summer:
Bring in a "leash without a dog" (it's that kind that is stiff so it holds up just as if a dog was on it... apparently, these used to be popular!)  Walk the lease around, pretending the dog is there. You can pretend that he drools on some papers, poops by your desk, jumps up on a chair, barks at the window, etc. Don't tell the kids these things but let them notice from evidence such as "holding your nose, your reactions, comments, etc.) Then, you can simply have a quick discussion about what they noticed and what their evidence was on a simple t-chart whole group.

Turn and Talk

  

                                                  
When students are required to think about their own learning, articulate what they understand, and what they still need to learn, achievement improves.
                   --Black and William, 1998;  Sternberg,1996;   Young 2000

We have learned the value of "turn and talk" time for our students through many of our educational learning about best practices, such as:

• Fundamental Five
• Daily Five
• Reader's Workshop
• Kagan Strategies
• Total Participation Techniques
• The Lesson Cycle
• Active Engagement
• Learning Styles
• Comprehension Connections (question stems)

I'm sure there are MANY more as well. What it boils down to is...

KIDS LEARN THE MOST FROM TALKING AND PARTICIPATING, not through only listening.

 

Here are some tips to help make the most of this simple, but HIGHLY effective practice:

1. Create a routine and overemphasize expectations so students know exactly how it works. (Spending the time up front will be worth it as you will save LOTS of time later as you are able to allow students to have great conversations with minimal management issues.)
   
2. Make sure it is a "THICK" question, not just a "THIN" question. (Yes, there are times for quick, recall level questions but they be sure they aren't always a one answer question.) Here are some examples of what this practice should be used for:    -teach a concept      -connect on a personal level    -answer rigorous questions stems Most of your PLCs are already planning these types of questions in your lessons as you fill in the guided questions. Just be sure to have them ready to use for this student conversation time.
3. Allow time for one partner to talk and then say "SWITCH" so that the other student has a chance to share. This works well with the questions that have more than one answer where students don't just repeat a generic phrase. This is a great time for them to agree or disagree with their partner, provide more insight, and/or include text evidence or schema. One quick and easy way to get the kids to do this is to have them add...
   

Examples:
I think the character is embarrassed BECAUSE she put her head down and I know when I do that I am feeling embarrassed about something.
I think the operation is addition BECAUSE it says more flowers grew and I know that that tells us we should add more and get a bigger number, or the total.

Great resources for these type of questions:

• TPT
• Comprehension Connections
• Fundamental Five
• TEKS Resource Systems lessons (found on the exemplar lesson R drive)        ***This is the best resource for specific questions that go right along with your curriculum. Saves a lot of time!

Learning Through our Mistakes

Sometimes with all the new ideas going around and the push to continue to "change" in education, we feel frustrated. Frustrated that we will never get it "right". Frustrated that we sometimes feel like we are merely changing for the sake of change. Frustrated that we are exhausted and overwhelmed. Frustrated that there will never be enough time in the day. Frustrated that our to-do list continues to increase without anything being deleted! Just. Plain. Frustrated.

Last week, I read a couple of articles and had some conversations with co-workers which all had a common theme: We learn the MOST through our mistakes.

It takes me back to one of the most LIFE changing (not just career changing) books I have ever read. As our campus knows well, we must have a growth mindset to be happy and successful in education.
This is a quote form the author of Mindset, Carol Dweck, that says it pretty well:
"In a growth mindset, you don't always welcome the setback, you were hoping to move forward, but you understand that it's information on how to move forward better next time. It is a challenge that you are determined to surmount. In a fixed mindset, a setback calls your ability into question." -Carol Dweck, 2013 interview

So, let's share, discuss, and debate the things we are trying in our instruction. We don't want to change for the sake of saying we did or taking someone else's word for it. We will make mistakes, they are inevitable. The important part is how we learn from them and apply it. The more we share that learning with others, the better we become for our kids. I truly believe this will lighten all of our loads. We are in this together. Let's talk about what IS and more importantly, what IS NOT working with our kids. And then, we will adjust and improve. A little at a time will add up to make a significant difference. The biggest question is: HOW DO WE KNOW? It's simple: THE KIDS WILL TELL US. Let's pay attention! This is a GREAT reason to spend time looking at and discussing their work. (See previous post.)

The other articles I mentioned are listed below:

Growth Mindset oct-2013

Daily Cafe-Tip of the Week-Oct 11, 2013

The Power of Focusing on Student Products

I was reading an article titled "Using Data to Guide Instruction and Improve Student Learning" and this paragraph stuck out to me:
“In our work with teacher teams, we’ve observed that collaboration centered on building a common understanding of content standards prior to the planning of instruction and assessment has resulted in greater consistency in expectations for student performance,” explains SEDL program associate Dale Lewis. “When teams return to review student work products based on these shared expectations and common understandings, discussion about how to improve future instruction is more focused.” Using interim assessment information to adjust instruction is a central feature of PTLC. Teams analyze data such as student work samples and brainstorm adjustments to instruction to meet both the enrichment needs of high-achieving students and the intervention needs of struggling students (Jacobson, 2010; Tobia, 2007). Recently, SEDL staff facilitated professional learning on analyzing student work samples.

I feel like we, a campus are really understanding how to familiarize ourselves with the curriculum content through the IFDs before planning specific instruction. This, along with many other common practices in our PLCs go right along with the PLC cycle. The thing I have noticed after discussing with many fellow educators is, that we don't bring in the student work piece very often, if at all. We have gotten used to solely looking at common assessments and reading benchmarks with our PLCs. Just recently I was able to see why bringing in the student work samples is TREMENDOUSLY important. 

Here are a few things I have noticed in conversations around student work:

1. The kids are the focus!

2. We are able to see examples of the good, the bad..and yes (hopefully not often) the ugly!

3. Teachers have a better understanding of what expectations they shoud have for their students.

4. We can collaborate about what makes the difference between a "almost there" piece of work and a "nailed it" piece.

5. IT IMPROVES INSTRUCTION for our students based on their SPECIFIC needs!

If you haven't had the time to bring in some student work samples to your PLC, please give it a go!

Here are some tips for when and if you do:

• Make sure the student work is something that is in your IFD
• Develop NORMS for what this should look like (the student work and the conversation about it)
• Sort student samples into piles: didn't get it, making progress, nailed it
• Ask questions about WHAT THE KIDS ARE TELLING US:
• Common Errors?
• Similarities/Differences in Piles?
• What does the "nailed it" pile have that the others don't?
• Was there anything that stood out?
• How do we get the kids in the first pile to improve?
• Scan in an example of a really good "nailed it" and  "making progress". Save these for next year to have good models for student conversation about the difference. Great way to show what level you expect their thinking to get to!

References:
Lewis, Dale, Madison-Harris Robyn, Muoneke, Ada & Times, Chris, Using Data to Guide Instruction and Improve Student Learning, sedl.org

Review Simplified

As we look at digging deeper into our learning with kids we realize that it truly is QUALITY over QUANTITY.  We know that for Reading comprehension and Math problem solving to improve, less is more. If we are going to get kids to the level of understanding they need to reach we don't have time to do LOTS of practice questions, but instead do a better job on a few.

 

With this thinking, yes it is easy to panic about "reviewing" enough so kids won't lose what they have learned. A couple of thoughts on this:

1. If we have more quality learning to start with that allows kids to understand concepts that they will be able to apply in many different ways we won't have to "drill and kill".

2. Yes, there is a time for some "basic" level learning that students need to have in order to be fluent readers and mathematicians.

So, here are some "quick review ideas" to help spiral in concepts that kids just need repeated exposure to develop fluency:

• Carpet Game: when students finish an activity and are moving to the carpet (or to their seat) have them play a simple game that looks similar to the "quiet game". It will help with transitional management and at the same time review skill/s.

• Math example: have the "leader" of the game grab a white board and marker and model a number (using squares for flats, lines for longs, and dots for units). The other students will raise their hand until being called on and if they get the number correct, they become the leader.

• ELA example: the leader can write a word and hide it and then give clues (such as it starts like snake, rhymes with at and is one syllable)

• This is also a way to get in some academic vocabulary. You could give them a bag of numbers and have them hold up 2. Then the students would have to say 2 comparative statements using both words on the board (greater, less)

• Line-Ups: when students are lining up have them do some oral practice

• Math example: count by 2s or 5s or 10s or backwards

• ELA example: say the short vowel sounds over and over until they are in line

• Hallway Learning: On the way to PE/Music, computer, lunch, etc. give them a "card" to keep them thinking even in the hall

• Math example: a number or clock that they have to read and tell you as you come by

• ELA example: give them a word or picture and have them tell you the prefix, suffix, or if it's a noun, verb or adjective, or a rhyming word. Or as simple as reading the word with a certain word part you have been practicing or finding the word part, etc. You could also give them a sentence with a blank or darkened word and have them figure out the word and/or give a synonym or antonym.

• This is once again a good time to hold them accountable to using that academic vocab.

• "In Between Lessons": write something on the board when you have an extra minute or two and create a routine for kids to know that they have to watch and think so they are ready to answer or turn and talk about it.

• Math example: write number patterns for skip counting forward or backwards and have the kids tell you the rule (like -10)

• ELA example: write five words and have the students tell you what they have in common or give clues for a "mystery word" from the word wall.

As you try these ideas consider having a blank checklist with student names on hand so that you can have a quick formative assessment to check their learning or form a quick re-teach small group.

Reading Manipulatives

As we are focusing more on manipulatives in Math, it makes me think of Tanny McGregor's launching sequence from her book Comprehension Connections. It is interesting how often what we are learning about instruction in one subject transfers well to the other subjects. Starting with something concrete in Math helps students visualize, connect and explore. So, why wouldn't it be the same in Reading?! I am beginning to really understand the term "best practices".  Just has the strategies we learn for our ESL students are actually beneficial for all students, the things that work well in a particular subject often times work well in all instruction, regardless of the subject. Makes our lives as educators a little more simple...let's take advantage!

The Importance of Manipulatives

The Proper Use of Manipulatives in the Math Classroom

Tammie Jacobs, M.Ed.

Visit any math classroom today and you are sure to find shelves filled with a variety of objects. Some of these objects will be as commonplace as buttons and sticks, while others may include counting frames and Cuisenaire rods. Objects used by students which enable them to actively learn a concept are called manipulatives.
The use of manipulatives in the classroom has been studies for years. Research journals print glowing reports of the success of teaching math with manipulatives. Many teachers obtain manipulatives for their classroom, but their students fail to achieve the promised success. The problem lies in the teacher not knowing when and how to use the manipulatives.
Manipulatives are frequently used only for counting in the lower grades; however, this is a very limited use. Manipulatives are important to all students, kindergarten through high school. The younger students will need more time and activities with these concrete objects, but students of every age will benefit from them.
Another common use of manipulatives is with the remedial student who does not understand a concept after the teacher has explained it several times. Manipulatives are important for the remedial student, but not as a last resort. Manipulatives need to be an integral part of every math class, not merely a remediation technique. A builder does not wait and use his nails after the boards of his house are collapsing. Instead, he carefully hammers each nail in a strategic place to give the house stability and strength. If manipulatives are used correctly and frequently, students will have a strong conceptual math foundation.


Manipulatives should be provided when a new concept is introduced to students and when reteaching is necessary. A perceptive student may not always need manipulatives to be successful, but they will enhance his understanding of the concept. For those students who do not understand the concept when it is introduced, using manipulatives when reteaching is important. Often these students are given more and more practice, when they really need reteaching. (I.e., a student who does not understand the concept of renaming one ten as ten ones will not benefit from being assigned extra subtraction problems for practice. This student needs reteaching using a bundle of sticks, Cuisenaire rods, or an abacus. After the student understands the renaming concept, he can them benefit from practicing the process.)
There is a variety of different types of manipulatives that students can use. Classification skills can be learned before a student is able to count. Given a bag of buttons, a student can sort them according to color, size, or shape.
Geometric shapes are easily learned if a student is able to feel and count the edges of cardboard and foam shapes. Later the student can make his own shapes by gluing toothpicks onto paper. With manipulative activities like these, it won't be long before the kindergarten student will be identifying pentagons and octagons.
Many students have a difficult time understanding fractions. It is important for students in the early grades to cut and color parts of a whole when naming or adding fractions. It is just as important for the older student to manipulate fractions when multiplying and dividing them. Before multiplying 1/2 x 1/3, let the student fold a paper into thirds and color two- thirds of the paper. Then re-fold the paper into halves and color one-half a different color. The overlapping colors will be the product 1/6. This activity will help most students understand why the product of two fractions is smaller than one or both of the factors.
Manipulatives are important when you teach for the understanding of math concepts. They are the concrete objects you provide in order to transfer understanding to the abstract level. Don't place them on a desk or table and wait for a student to discover what to do with them. Demonstrate the manipulatives letting the students use them while you teach. Provide specific activities so your students know how to use the manipulatives by themselves. Manipulatives can be a valuable teaching tool if they are properly used.
Reprinted from Balance, a publication of the School of Education, Bob Jones University. Used with permission of Bob Jones University. Please write BJU Press, for permission to reproduce this article.

The Fab Four!

 

The entire second chapter of the book "Reciprocal Teaching at Work; Powerful Strategies and Lessons for Improving Reading Comprehension" by Lori D. Oczkus can be found for free online (http://www.reading.org/Libraries/Inspire/03-507_Chapter02.pdf).

 

Here are a few highlights that I thought would be helpful for some of you guys wanting to get started:

 

How to Begin Using Reciprocal Teaching

With Your Students

One of the burning questions teachers often pose is, Should I teach

all four strategies before I put them together in a reciprocal teaching

lesson? This is a natural concern, as most students are not yet proficient

in any of the strategies, and it seems daunting to expect them to use

all four at once. However, studies suggest that teachers may introduce

all four as quickly as possible to benefit from the power and research

behind multiple-strategy instruction (NICHD, 2000; Reutzel et al.,

2005). Therefore, you do not have to wait until students are completely

competent or familiar with each of the four reciprocal teaching strategies

before you jump in and begin using them in lessons together. In one

urban school in which I worked, we introduced the strategies for just

a few days each and then taught guided reading groups using the Fab

Four. After three months, the struggling fourth graders moved from

reading at a second-grade level to their own grade level.

 

TIPS!!

• Write the four strategies and if you wish the starters on a board or

chart.

• Use the posters, icons, or Reciprocal Teaching Dial

• Have students create a "4 flap book" and laminate it (then they can write with Expo markers) or on sticky notes and re-use it again and again!

• Use a prop and/or puppet for each strategy

• Give students the bookmark with the question stems provided to help scaffold.
Here is a link that Danielle found if you want to check out this one: http://m.readingrockets.org/content/pdfs/reciprocalteaching_bookmark.pdf

• Teach students hand motions for each of the 4 strategies so you can quickly signal to them what to discuss during turn and talk. Also, the "leader" of a Book Club would know when someone needed something "clarified" as they saw the signal, and so on.
 
 

Reciprocal Teaching

After looking at data and discussing our RtI plan, we are "thinking outside the box" for our Reading review time. We know that putting students on a computer-based intervention program for Reading really does NOT work like it does in Math.
After attending a great break out session at the i3 Conference we think Reciprocal Teaching may just be our answer. Why?

1. It focuses on deep comprehension, which we know our students are missing (Figure 19)
2. It can be used to review skills that we will already be teaching so students that are out of the room will not be missing "new" instruction.
3. It will be something meaningful, worthwhile and connected with the Shared Reading lesson cycles we are already spending so much time on.
4. It is research based and proven to be highly effective.

What is Reciprocal Teaching?
Really, it's pretty simple. This comprehension strategy suggests that we use skills we already teach students, but try them all together:

• Predicting
• Questioning
• Clarifying
• Summarizing

Of course we will have to go slow, model and practice them one at a time.  But, we will eventually be able have our students use all the skills of Reciprocal Teaching together to give them a much deeper level of comprehension.

Check out this website for much more (even including a video example) about Reciprocal Teaching:
Reciprocal Teaching

Kinder and 1st-I know what you are thinking: REALLY? You think our students can even start to do Reciprocal Teaching when they really can't even walk down the hall without being redirected every 10 seconds?

Consider these more appropriate ways to start with your kids.
Reading Tanny McGregor's launching sequence from her book "Comprehension Connections"  makes me think it's probably a good way to start all kids, no matter what their age!

• Use a concrete object to model the discussion (an old shoe, an unfamiliar item, etc.).
• Use an image (the large posters from our Mondo Bookshop collection are great for this).
• Use a picture book (our school library has some great ones). Remember you can scan on the copier for all teachers to use.
• Use a short film (Pixar has some GREAT ones, and I also found a Mini-Movie Collection by Illumination Entertainment in the $5 bin at WalMart). Also, there is always You-Tube. They have several short clips and commercials that would work as well. There are many opportunities to pause and model or prompt all the different steps to this process.

My 16 month old sat and watched a couple of these! She loved them, so I think the engagement will be high!

I found these when searching "kids short mini-movie"
Fishing with Sam
Going Green
Forever Young
Holy Sheep
Carrot Crazy


I found these when searching "kid friendly commercials"
The Force
Baby
Vending Machine