Reading Foundations and Evidence-Based Instructional Practices Competencies 1 and 2 Module 2, Session 1 Acknowledgements: These materials were prepared by the Florida Center for Reading Research in partnership with the Florida Department of Education, the Just Read Florida! Office, and faculty in the College of Education at Florida State University. The authors would especially like to thank the following faculty and staff for their significant contributions to creating and reviewing materials for this integrated reading endorsement pathway: Mr. Nathan Archer, Ms. Amy Carroll, Dr. Jennifer Gans, Dr. Jennifer Hamilton, Dr. Laurie Lee, Dr. Arzu Leushuis, Ms. Shayla Lightfoot-Brown, Dr. Nicole Patton Terry, Dr. Kevin Smith, and Dr. Kelly Whalon. We acknowledge the authors of the Professional Learning Community materials that support the Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade*. With those authors' permission, as well as additional resources and materials developed by instructional leaders in Seminole County Public Schools, the same format and five step process for implementing the PLC sessions were utilized for content in Competencies 1 and 2. Permission to reprint or use these materials is required. Inquiries may directed to the Florida Center for Reading Research at fcrr@fcrr.org. *Kosanovich, M. & Foorman, B. (2016). Professional learning communities facilitator’s guide for the What Works Clearinghouse practice guide: Foundational skills to support reading for understanding in kindergarten through 3rd grade (REL 2016-227). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast. Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs. Culminating Project A culminating project will provide evidence that teachers are able to apply the knowledge and skills they developed in this course in their classrooms. Teachers will: ◦ develop and deliver a series of five lessons. ◦ complete a reflection and submit it. Lesson series will need to include: ◦ appropriate grade level standards ◦ evidence-based instructional practices and activities that promote comprehension, oral language, phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, and vocabulary ◦ whole group and small group lessons ◦ differentiated instruction based on data ◦ assessments that will inform future instruction A rubric is provided for you to review the culminating projects. Let’s debrief from the last session by reviewing Activity 39! Discuss: 1. How did you model strategies, scaffold, and provide feedback to support accurate and efficient word identification? 2. How did you teach students to self-monitor understanding and self-correct word-reading errors? 3. How did you determine which words to help students read? How many students participated in this lesson? 4. Describe the lesson you taught and materials used. Which text did you use? Why? 5. Did you teach the lesson as planned? If not, describe any adjustments you made. 6. How did your students respond to your instruction? How did you measure student learning? Let’s debrief from the last session by reviewing Activity 42! Discuss: 1. How did you model strategies, scaffold, and provide feedback to support the lesson? 2. Did you teach any words before reading the text? Why or why not? 3. Describe the lesson you taught and materials used. Which text did you use? Why? 4. Did you teach the lesson as planned? If not, describe any adjustments you made. 5. How did you address expression? 6. How did you give feedback when students made a word-reading error? 7. How did your students respond to your instruction? How did you measure student learning? INTRODUCTION: MODULE 2 PLC Sessions and Topics for Module 2 The Goals of the PLC sessions: • To offer specific evidence-based recommendations that address the challenge of teaching reading comprehension. • To apply the research-based teaching practices to help K-3 students acquire the reading comprehension skills needed to be independent, successful readers. Practice Guide - Comprehension This guide is designed to support teachers in applying evidence-based strategies to help K-3 students acquire the comprehension skills needed to succeed academically and to meet the comprehension, English learners, and assessment indicators for Competencies 1 and 2 of the Florida Reading Endorsement. Through this collaborative learning experience, educators will expand their knowledge as they read, discuss, share, and apply the key ideas and strategies presented in Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade practice guide, produced by the What Works Clearinghouse at the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education. The practice guide provides teachers, reading coaches, principals, and other educators with instructional recommendations that can be implemented in conjunction with existing standards or curricula. Materials for Module 2 The PLC materials that accompany Module 2 are: • Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade (practice guide) • Effective Literacy and English Language Instruction for English Learners in Elementary Grades • Assisting Students Struggling with Reading: Response to Intervention (RtI) • Multi-Tier Intervention in the Primary Grades and Using Student Achievement Data to Support Instructional Decision Making Materials Five-Step Cycle Each PLC session will be conducted using the five-step process for collaborative learning. The five-steps represent an inquiry-action cycle that encourages teams to debrief, define, explore, collaborate, and reflect and plan. RECOMMENDATION ONE Teach students how to use reading comprehension skills. Recommendations 1. Teach students how to use reading comprehension strategies. 2. Teach students how to identify and use the text’s organizational structure to comprehend, learn, and remember content. 2. Guide students through focused, high-quality instruction on the meaning of text. 2. Select text purposefully to support comprehension development. 2. Establish an engaging and motivating context in which to teach reading comprehension. Florida B.E.S.T Standards Connection Content Covered BEST Standards Addressed FRS PLC Recommendation 4; Comprehension PLC Recommendation 1 – Teach students how to use reading comprehension strategies; Recommendation 2 – Teach students to identify and use the text’s organizational structure to comprehend, learn, and remember content; Recommendation 3 – Guide students through focused, high-quality discussion on the meaning of text Strand Reading (R) Standards Reading Prose and Poetry Reading Informational Text Benchmarks: Literary Elements R.1.1 Structure R.2.1 ELA Expectations ELA.K12.EE.1.1 Cite evidence to explain and justify reasoning. ELA.K12.EE.2.1 Read and comprehend grade-level complex texts proficiently. ELA.K12.EE.3.1 Make inferences to support comprehension. ELA.K12.EE.4.1 Use appropriate collaborative techniques and active listening skills when engaging in discussions in a variety of situations. SESSION 1: READING COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES Teach students how to use reading comprehension strategies. Recommendation 1: Teach Students How to Use Reading Comprehension Strategies How-to Step 1: Teach students how to use several research-based reading comprehension strategies. How-to Step 2: Teach reading comprehension strategies individually or in combination. How-to Step 3: Teach reading comprehension strategies by using a gradual release of responsibility. Goals: • Understand how to teach students to apply research-based reading comprehension strategies. • Understand how to teach reading comprehension strategies individually or in combination. • Use the gradual release of responsibility to teach reading comprehension strategies. Discuss your initial thoughts or questions about Recommendation 1 and the How-to steps. Materials Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade practice guide, pages 10-16. • Activity 1.1: Do One, Pick One, and Plan • Activity 1.2: Reflect and Next Steps for Comprehension Strategies Access Prior Knowledge: 1. Share how you ensure that each student comprehends the text. 2. Discuss how you teach students to self-monitor for understanding and comprehension. 3. Discuss the challenges that arise when implementing strategies to support students’ reading comprehension. Moving Into New Learning: How-To Step 1: Teach students how to use several research-based reading comprehension strategies. Reading comprehension is defined as the “process of simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning through interaction and engagement with written language” (RAND Reading Study Group, 2002 , p. 11). To help students “extract and construct” meaning of written language, we provide opportunities for them to interact and engage with text, or read text, and teach them how to apply strategies when comprehension becomes difficult. A strategy is (p. 11): • Intentional mental actions during reading that improve reading comprehension. • Deliberate efforts by a reader to better understand or remember what is being read. Comprehension strategy instruction requires instruction and practice. As students become skilled readers, they are becoming increasingly strategic in their skill application to comprehend text. All readers experience the need to apply strategies to support comprehension, including skilled readers at any age. Skilled readers may not realize when they are applying a strategy because they have become automatic and independent in applying them. Compare Current Practice Comprehension strategies may vary by names, but they share common traits. They: • are research-based. • require explicit instruction and practice. • are taught using the gradual release of responsibility model. • benefit all readers. •Review the examples of effective reading comprehension strategies in Table 3 on page 12. • Discuss these examples. •Share a description of how you currently teach one of the strategies. How-To Step 2: Teach reading comprehension strategies individually or in combination. Discuss the difference between single-strategy instruction and multiple-strategy instruction found at the bottom of page 13. The strategies we just reviewed in Table 3 are single-strategy because each is taught individually and practiced over a period of time, usually a few weeks, before a new strategy is introduced. Multiple-strategy instruction introduces several strategies at the same time, and they are practiced in combination, so the readers learn to use them together as they read. Take a couple of minutes to review the examples of multiple-strategy formats described in Table 4 on page 14. Single-strategy Instruction: ◦ Introduces each strategy individually ◦ Includes practice for a period of time ◦ Allows students to master a collection of strategies one at a time Multi-strategy Instruction: ◦ Introduces several strategies simultaneously ◦ Includes practice in combination so students learn to use them together as they read Discuss: • When using single-strategy instruction, should you encourage students to use all the strategies they have previously learned? • Does the panel for the practice guide recommend single-strategy or multiple-strategy instruction? How-To Step 3: Teach reading comprehension strategies by using a gradual release of responsibility. Reading comprehension strategies should be taught using the gradual release of responsibility. Look at Figure 1 on page 15. This illustration of the gradual release of responsibility shows the shift of responsibility of using a comprehension strategy from the teacher to the student through five tasks: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Explicit description of the strategy Teacher and/or student modeling Collaborative use Guided practice Independent use Potential Obstacles for Implementing Recommendation 1 Review the potential roadblock to implementing Recommendation 1. Read the panel’s advice on page 16. Roadblock 1.1- A multiple-strategy approach is more elaborate than a single-strategy approach. How will teachers know whether their implementation is correct? Roadblock 1.2- The school reading assessment emphasizes comprehension skills (e.g., main idea, drawing conclusions), not strategies. Roadblock 1.3- Students bring to the classroom a wide variety of abilities in reading and reading comprehension, so adapting strategy instruction to an individual student is a challenge. Discuss obstacles you have experienced and ways in which you overcame them. Collaboration: Review Activity 1.1: Do One, Pick One, and Plan. First, find the Visualization strategy on Table 3 of the practice guide and Do the steps below. Visualization involves readers creating a picture or pictures in their minds based on the meaning of the text. Visualizing can include not only imagining sights but also sounds, smells, and other multisensory experiences. Describe how you would teach the Visualization strategy using your book and develop a “think aloud” that incorporates how to model using it for your students. Remember that a think aloud allows students to hear and see your thinking as you apply the strategy while modeling for them. So, be sure to include task 1 (explicit description) and task 2 (model) from the gradual release of responsibility. Share your think aloud as if you are teaching the strategy to students. Respond to the reflection questions. Collaboration: Review Activity 1.1: Do One, Pick One, and Plan. Next, select one of the other comprehension strategies from Table 3 of the practice guide that is appropriate to teach using a text of your choice. Describe how you would teach that strategy using your book and develop a “think aloud” that incorporates how to model using it for your students. Remember that a think aloud allows students to hear and see your thinking as you apply the strategy while modeling for them. So, be sure to include task 1 (explicit description) and task 2 (model) from the gradual release of responsibility. Share your think aloud as if you are teaching the strategy to students. Respond to the reflection questions. Collaboration: Discuss: • Which comprehension strategy and text did you use? • How did your “think aloud” compare to your current practices? • What did you learn about teaching comprehension strategies as a result of this activity? • Are there any strategies that you may want to focus on more explicitly with your students? Reflect: Answer the reflection questions at the top of Activity 1.2: Reflect and Next Steps for Comprehension Strategies. Discuss: • Is there anything you learned during this session that confirms or contradicts what you already knew about teaching students how to use comprehension strategies? • Which comprehension strategies would you like to add or change to support students’ comprehension? • How will you implement these additional comprehension strategies? • What data will you use to determine whether the additions or changes you made resulted in improved student learning? Implement: At the start of the next PLC session, be prepared to respond to the following: • Did you teach the think aloud as planned? If not, describe any adjustments you made and why you made them. • How did your students respond to your instruction? • How did you (or will you) determine if students can independently use the comprehension strategy you introduced through the think aloud?
