Acknowledgements: STRIVE Strategy

1
Acknowledgements STRIVE Strategy

• Deb Simmons, William Rupley, Vic Willson,
• Ron Zellner, Angie Hairrell
• Texas AM University
• Sharon Vaughn, Meaghan Edmonds,
• and Alison Boardman
• The University of Texas at Austin

2

• Teaching Students to Learn from Text
• Sharon Vaughn
• University of Texas

3
Acknowledgements

• This professional development was developed by
  the Teacher Quality Research Project through
  funding from the U.S. Department of Educations
  Institute of Educational Sciences, grant contract
  number R305M050121A (Enhancing the quality of
  expository text instruction and comprehension
  through content and case-situated professional
  development)

4
Research Evidence

• Teaching students to use comprehension strategies
  can improve their understanding of informational
  or expository texts
• Answering and generating questions
• Monitoring comprehension
• Summarizing
• Using graphic and semantic organizers
• Students can be taught how and when to use
  specific comprehension strategies flexibly and in
  combination

Sources 4TRA Comprehension Strategies NIFL,
2001 NRP, 2000
5
Common Pitfalls to Avoid

• The end goal is not the application of the
  strategy--the end goal is to develop a better
  understanding of content
• Strategies are not learned by talking about
  them--they are learned by applying them
• Telling students what the text is about doesnt
  help them learn to comprehend on their own

6
Emphasis During Strategy Instruction

• Explain
• Model I do it
• Guided Practice We do it
• Student practice You do it
• Feedback with correction and direction

7
Feedback with correction and direction

• Task Specific Feedback
• What about the task is the student doing
  correctly
• Where the student has erred or misunderstood
• Self-Regulated Correction/Direction
• Direct the student to where he/she could look for
  more information
• Tell the student what to do to help him/her
  better understand

8
Vocabulary is

9
Vocabulary is

10
Successful vs. Struggling readers

11
Reasons for Vocabulary Difficulties

• Lack of exposure to words (through reading,
  speaking, and listening)
• Lack of background knowledge related to words
• Lack of direct vocabulary instruction

12
Research on VocabularyA vocabulary Continuum
(Dale)

• Ive never heard of this word.
• Ive heard of this word, but Im not really sure
  what it means.
• I can recognize the word in context.
• I know the word well, including its various
  forms, definitions, and uses.

13
You Try It!

14
Teaching Vocabulary Words and Meaning

• Effectively teaching vocabulary words does NOT
  mean memorizing definitions, nor teaching
  students unfriendly and difficult to understand
  descriptions of words.
• Effectively teaching vocabulary words assures
  that students have opportunities to know what
  words mean and how to use them in oral and
  written language.

15
Elementary Text

• All around the world, fall is a time to harvest.
  It is the result of many months of work. In
  spring before anything is planted, the fields are
  bare. Farmers plant their seeds. As the little
  plants grow, the farmers care for them. They
  water them during the sweltering heat of summer.
  They pull weeds and protect the plants from bugs.

16
1. Vocabulary Maps

• Components
• 1. Word Recognition
• 2. Definitions
• 3. Illustrations
• 4. Context
• 5. Vocabulary Associations
• 6. Vocabulary Building
• 7. Application

17

Vocabulary Map for the Indian Wars
3. Illustration
2. Definition Underline the key words.
4. Context Circle the correct sentence.
The conflict between the two tribes started when
both tribes wanted to settle In the same area by
the lake. The conflict broke out of prison
last night after the guards went to sleep.

1.
Conflict
6. Word Building Choose a real word and then
write another word.
5. Word Associations Choose two related words.
7. Provide an example phrase, sentence, or
definition.

• Conflicting
• Conflictment
• _______________

• Disagreement
• Thump
• Skip
• Argument

18
2. Context Clue Strategy

• Check for words that are bold or highlighted.
• Look for and read the sentences around the word
  to see if there are clues to its meaning.
• Use the word in the sentence to see if you
  understand the meaning of the word? If not
  expand your resources.
• Expand your resources using a glossary or asking
  a friend or teacher.

19
(No Transcript)
20
Example Colony

• The king agreed that La Salle could start a
  colony there. A colony is a settlement of people
  who have left one country to live in another (pg.
  122).

21
Example Conquistador

• In 1519, A Spaniard named Hernando Cortés
  arrived in what is now Mexico. Cortés was a
  conquistador, which means conqueror.

So a conquistador is a Spanish Conqueror.
22
3.Examples/Non-Examples

• Definitions
• Use with other options if possible
• Use very simple wording
• Synonyms, Antonyms
• Connect to other words students already know
• Demonstrations, Objects, Pictures
• Allow students to see what a word means
• Always use examples AND nonexamples of the
  meanings you are teaching

23
5. What word fits?

• Students are asked a question and then given two
  choices from a vocabulary list. After deciding
  which word fits the question, students hold up
  the word card.

24
Comprehension is

• The ability to construct meaning and learn from
  text using a variety of applied strategies.
• The ultimate purpose of reading.
• Research indicates
• To teach students to construct meaning from text,
  teachers need a firm grasp of
• Strategies that successful readers use when
  creating meaning from text.
• Effective instructional methods to teach such
  successful strategies. (National Reading Panel,
  2000)

25
Successful vs. Struggling Readers
26
Reasons for Comprehension Difficulties

• Lack of appropriate prior knowledge
• Inability to relate content to prior knowledge
• Over-reliance on background knowledge
• Inability to read text fluently
• Difficulty with decoding words
• Inability to attend to meaning while reading
• Inability to apply comprehension strategies
• Difficulty understanding meaning of words

27
1. Previewing

• Use guiding questions to help students activate
  what they already know and anticipate what they
  will read
• High quality previews
• Are BRIEF--no longer than 5 minutes.
• And
• Assure information discussed is accurate

28
Previewing Text

• Model by Thinking Aloud
• Highlight headings, pictures, key words
• Provide Small Group Practice
• Provide Independent Practice

29
Making/Monitoring Predictions

• After previewing text, ask students to make
  informed comments about the text and what they
  will learn.
• Do not solicit guesses
• Keep it brief
• Revisit after reading to confirm or refute
  predictions
• Provide key ideas or concepts to build background
  knowledge

30
2. Other ways to activate prior knowledge

• Preview the material by identifying key words or
  concepts
• Have students briefly discuss what they know
  about a topic
• Word Splash
• KWL
• Anticipation Guide-handout 8

31
3. Answering and Generating Questions

• Asking and answering questions can help students
  to
• Identify main ideas summarize text
• Monitor their understanding
• Connect what they read with what they know
• Talk to others about what they read
• Make inferences

• Who
• What
• When
• Where
• Why
• How

3TRA Comprehension NIFL, 2001 NRP, 2000 TEA,
2002a UTCRLA, 2001
32
Question Cards

• Question Types
• Who? A person or group
• What? A description or an effect
• When? Related to time
• Where?A place or location
• Why? A reason or cause
• How? A process or characteristic

• How do I write a good question?
• Identify the Important Idea or event in the
  passage and write a question about that Important
  Idea.
• Why was there a conflict between the Plains
  Indians and the settlers in Texas?
• _______________________________________
• Use a variety of question stems (who, what, when,
  where, why, and how).
• Who was the leader of the Mexican Army?
• Where was oil first discovered in Texas?
• Why did cattle drives end in towns near
  railroads?

33
4. Does it make sense?

• Get down to the sentence level
• See example

34
5. Get the Gist

• Teach students to
• Identify the most important who or what in a
  paragraph/section
• 2. Tell the most important thing about that who
  or what
• 3. Write the main idea statement in about 10
  words or less (the 10-finger routine helps!)

35
Get the Gist ExampleThe Caddo

• The Caddo were farmers. During planting season,
  the Caddo gathered from neighboring villages and
  worked together to plant each field, day after
  day, until all the farmland was planted. In this
  way, the Caddo community worked together to make
  sure there was enough food for the next season.
  The Caddo also made fine pottery. If the Caddo
  needed something they could not make or grow,
  they traded food and pottery with other Native
  Americans to get it (p.97).

36
Get the Gist ExampleThe Caddo (cont.)

• Who or What
• The Caddo
• Important Information
• The Caddo were farmers.
• The Caddo made pottery.
• The Caddo traded with other tribes.
• Write the gist in 10 words or less
• The Caddo were farmers who also made pottery for
  trading.

37
Grow the Gist Get the Gist for Longer Passages

• Write 1 gist for 1 paragraph.
• Combine gists from 2-3 paragraphs into 1
  statement.
• Write 1 gist for 2-3 paragraphs.
• Write longer gists (multiple sentencesbegins to
  resemble a summary) after reading several
  paragraphs

37
38
Grow the Gist into a Summary

• Rules
• 1. Write a topic sentence using the big idea.
• 2. Include gists in an order that makes sense.
• 3. Delete information that is redundant or
  trivial (details!!)
• 4. Re-read to make sure it makes sense and
  change if necessary.

39
Scaffold for Struggling Reader Graphic Organizer
40
Video Example
41
A few other considerations.

• Increase silent reading practice time
• Have students practice reading fluently
• Increase the amount of feedback students receive
• Keep pacing quick
• Increase active participation