Group Norms for Professional Development
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We will encourage each other to take an active part
in discussion
We will listen to each other in an effort to examine
our own teaching beliefs
We will not engage in sidebar conversations or
actions that detract from our task to grow
professionally
We will keep time boundaries regarding
beginnings, ending, and breaks
We will turn off cell phones, email, and use
computers for note-taking only
Agenda
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Your expectations
Faculty meeting review
Round Robin
Comprehension strategies
SAS reminders
Wrap up
Your expectations
Post it note it What do you want out of your
professional development today
and/or in future days?
 Focus –
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Content AND process
Interesting statistics-redux
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More than eight million adolescents are unable to
read at grade level (NCES, 2005).
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94% of American children about to graduate from
high school cannot independently read and gain
information from specialized text (a.k.a. content
area textbooks) (NCES, 2006).
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Decades of validated research shows that
integrating literacy instruction into content area
classes improves academic outcomes for adolescent
learners (Cantrell, Burns & Callaway, 2009).
http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/10519.pdf
So now what?
•We would need 575 days in the school
year to cover all the content standards in
the state of PA…
•3% of instructional time is devoted to
helping adolescent readers make sense
of text (Ness, 2008)
Round Robin reading
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A definition: Round robin reading is a
teacher directed strategy where students
read one after the other during the first
reading of a text
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Pros and cons
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With the people at your table, list at least 4 pros
and 4 cons of Round Robin reading
Round Robin is Still Doing the
Rounds- Power Point Slides Handout
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Read the information on the slides
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Highlight what stands out to you
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Use text codes with slides of your choice
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! = I agree!
= I don’t know this word OR I don’t know how to
pronounce this word
? = I have a question
** = I didn’t know this
When you finish reading the slides
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Write a 5 line summary of what you read
2.
Go back to the last slide and circle the 3 reasons
that are the most convincing reasons to stop
using Round Robin Reading
Find a partner
1.
2.
Read your summary verbatim to your partner
Partner responsibility – listen quietly. Respond with a
question or comment
3.
Switch roles and repeat the process
4.
Then compare your circled reasons from the last slide
1.
2.
Do you agree with each other?
Discuss
Debrief
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Content
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children must process the text themselves
repeated readings
last slide
Process
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highlighting what stands out
text coding
verbatim reading to partners
Partner reading
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A very effective way to read text
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Read the article “Popcorn and Round-Robin Reading: a
critique of whole-class, oral reading techniques” aloud to
one partner
Use voices that are loud enough just for you and your
partner to hear
Stop at the end of each section
Then go back to the section you just read and highlight
anything new that you did not already know
Continue this process until you finish the article
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Text: Popcorn and Round-Robin Reading: a critique of whole-class, oral reading techniques
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Reflect…
Complete the 4-3-2-1 handout by
yourself.
 This will not be shared with
anyone-this is for your own
personal reflection
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Debrief
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Content
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“illusion of covering content”
“combat reading”
active reading/meaning making concerns
Process
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partner reading technique
stop at the end of each section
highlighting only new information
revisiting text
4-3-2-1 as a reflective tool
Two column note taking
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Read the article “Alternatives to Popcorn or RoundRobin Reading” silently to yourself
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Complete the two-column notes as you read
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When you finish, find a partner
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Compare your notes
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Make changes as needed
Text: Alternatives to Popcorn or Round-Robin Reading
Debrief
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Content
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differentiate by using multiple texts
small group reading -multiple texts v. single text
partner reading opportunities
independent reading opportunities
uses of oral reads when they are not “cold reads”
Process
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format of 2-column notes
scaffolding opportunities – main idea and/or details side
extra white spaces
A cautionary tale
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1 minute and 35 seconds of entertainment
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDe84BYxoE
Comprehension Strategies
What effective readers use
automatically
in order to completely
and fully understand
difficult text
Inquiry Chart
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As you see the slides for comprehension
strategies, complete the inquiry chart
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Ahas!/Validations
Teaching ideas
Questions you have
Barriers/potential pitfalls
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Why teach strategies?
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Reading is a process of thinking
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Readers must be taught the process of
thinking
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One way to teach that process is to show
strategic ways to derive meaning from text
The 3 kinds of reading strategies
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BEFORE- Things a reader does before actually
reading the text
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DURING- Things a reader does while reading the
text
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AFTER- Things a reader does when finished reading
the text
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They are all forms of ACTIVE READING
BEFORE READING…
Previewing
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From the text, find out the following:
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What chapter is this text from?
What is the title of the chapter?
How many headings are there?
What color font are the headings written in?
What are the titles of the two headings?
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BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE
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This could be the MOST overlooked strategy
It’s what a reader already KNOWS about the
topic.
Effective readers take the time to collect their
thoughts on the topic they are reading before
they start to read the text.
This is a BEFORE reading strategy
MAKING CONNECTIONS
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Connections help readers relate what is read or is
about to be read to something they already know.
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Connections can be based on:
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something in the reader’s own life (TEXT-TO-SELF)
or something they’ve read or seen in the movies (TEXTTO-TEXT)
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or something that happened in the world (TEXT-TOWORLD)
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This is a usually BEFORE reading strategy but can be a
DURING reading strategy too!
QUESTIONING
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Effective readers ask questions all the time
to:
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find out more information
make things clearer (clarity)
understand more deeply
figure out what you don’t know
This is a BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER
reading strategy
INFERRING
or Making Inferences
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Readers make inferences when they can figure out hidden
messages in the text even though it doesn’t exactly say it
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It is reading between the lines but it is MORE than a
prediction. Inferences should be accurate in order to
improve understanding
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Inferring provides the basis for strong comprehension
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This is a DURING reading strategy
VISUALIZING
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Effective readers create a picture or movie in
their minds when they read text
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Having these pictures help readers “see” the
text which is proven to help comprehension
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This is a DURING reading strategy
DETERMINING IMPORTANCE
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An effective reader is able to figure out what details
are the MOST important, those that are somewhat
important, and those that are the LEAST important.
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This is the KEY to understanding the main idea
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This is often the most difficult strategy to master
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This is a DURING reading strategy
How to do it
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Look for KEYWORDS. Keywords are words that are said
more than once in a paragraph (excluding “the, a, it,” etc.)
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Highlight or write the keywords down. Try to make a logical
sentence using all the keywords.
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This logical sentence you made from the keywords will most
likely contain the most important information from that
paragraph
Self-monitoring/
Fix up strategies
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Effective readers realize when they no longer
understand what they’re reading.
Fix up strategies are used by effective readers to
help them when they stop understanding the text.
Many effective readers do this automaticallywithout even realizing that they are using a fix up
strategy.
This is a DURING reading strategy
List of Fix up strategies
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Stopping and going back to clarify
thinking (Reader says, “Wait. I think that just said “xyz.”
Am
I right about what I think? Let me check.)
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Rereading to understand more or better
(Reader says, “Wait. I’m going to read that over. The first time
didn’t make sense.)
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Reading ahead to clarify meaning
(Reader
says, “That didn’t make much sense. Let me see if this next sentence
helps me understand the last one.)
Still more!
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Questioning what the author thinks or is
saying (Reader says, “So, what is the author really saying here?
Does the author really think this way?)
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Disagreeing with the author
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Talking to another reader about what they
understand (If you both think the same things, then your
(Reader says, “I don’t
think the author is right here. Let me see if I have all the facts straight).
understanding is accurate. If not, somebody might have misunderstood
the text).
And more!
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Sounding out the unknown words (effective
readers do NOT skip unknown words. Find out how to pronounce
them AND what they mean by consulting another person or
listening to the word on dictionary.com, etc)
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Reading the text out loud (When you read out loud,
you use another sense [hearing]. Research shows that the more
senses you use, the better your comprehension)
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Going slow or slowing down (Very effective
strategy. Not all text is meant to be read at the same rate of speed)
SUMMARIZING
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Effective readers take the time to think about the most important details and
retell what they just read in summary form.
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Summaries should contain the 5 Ws and 1H (who, what, where, when, why
and/or how)
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KEYWORDS can be used in a summary as well!
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This can be done after:
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every sentence (if the text is particularly dense and difficult);
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every paragraph (this is when it usually happens);
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every page;
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or at the end of a piece of text that is easily understood by the reader.
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This is an AFTER reading strategy
SYNTHESIZING
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Effective readers synthesize when they have new, different,
or changed thinking based on what they just read.
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Effective readers develop their own ideas and thoughts
about the text after they take all those thoughts, mix them
together, “bake” them in their brain, and develop their own
ideas.
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An effective reader might say…“At first I thought, but
NOW I think…” or “My thoughts are changed now that I
read. Here’s how…”
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This is an AFTER reading strategy
Debrief
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Content
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BDA ideas
effective readers automatically use many of these
explicit teaching – using the reading vocabulary
Process
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choose which slides to respond to
variety of emotions to consider
Standards Aligned System
http://www.pdesas.org
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Materials & Resources
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Keyword- reading
Grade level – 10th
Flip book creator
Comic book creator
Karpeles documents
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Materials and resources
Keyword – Karpeles
Scroll down – interactive document
Standards Aligned System-Part II
http://www.pdesas.org
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Fair assessments –
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Assessment creator
Materials & Resources
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Keyword – Thinkfinity
Keystone icon means PA educator content
Break the habit!
Teachers are most likely to
use or teach reading
strategies that require the
least engagement and
preparation from them
(Alger, 2009)
Thank you!
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Resources:
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www.suite101.com
www.pdesas.org
www.aabri.com/manuscripts/10519.pdf
www.reading.org/.../Round_Robin_Reading_is_Still_Doi
ng_the_Rounds. pptx
Strategies that Work by Stephanie Harvey and Anne
Goudvis