Books in Their Hands

Just a quick thought for today, but it occurred to me that the materials that get the most attention and positive reaction from my remedial reading students are--drumroll.......NEW NOVELS! Whenever I go to Barnes and Noble, I pick up an extra book or two for my classroom. I try to get the coolest, newest YA novels (and those with the most buzz) when possible, and this really pays off.

The only problem is that I have a wait list for the new books a mile long and my students tend to take a longer-than-average time (several weeks to a month) to finish a longer-length book. Sometimes, by the time the student with the book is finished, students on the list have lost interest. You really have to have the book to back up the hype it generates. Not sure what to do about this dilemma as I have a limited book budget (and most of the "new" books I get throughout the year come out of my own pocket money).

But the bottom-line lesson that can be learned here is, the best way to get kids to read is to get good books into their hands. It's all about access. It would be great if they'd seek out good books on their own, but struggling readers often do not have reading for pleasure at the top of their list. When given good books to read and a stretch of time in which to do it, though, it happens!

Motivation and Comprehension

"Motivating Low Performing Adolescent Readers" (Decker-Collins, 1996) is an oldie but goodie about the link between low comprehension and low motivation. It sort of states the obvious, that low performing readers need to have a valid reason (or well established purpose) to read something.

It points to the idea that reading skills are also thinking skills, and how instilling student choice, making texts more accessible, and most importantly, how the best way to improve reading skill is to read more--something that will not happen if we are not able to motivate students to read and to think deeply about what they read.

I like to re-read this article over the summer to remind myself of these important ideas.

The full text of the article can be found here:

http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED396265.pdf

More Bang for the Buck?

I'm still reading and came up with some more info that might be helpful as we look at what vocab we teach to students in the future (what books, what words, etc.).

From another article (section titled "What Words Should Be Taught"):

• Start with words that are important to the content and are crucial to text understanding. (Ex: photosynthesis or reconstructionism)
• Teach useful words that students are likely to see in many different contexts. (Ex: fragment and revolve rather than fractal and gyrate since the former appear more frequently)
• Provide instruction on difficult words and phrases such as those with multiple meanings and idioms.
• Latin and Greek root words and affixes help.
• Vocabulary instruction was found to be more productive when students were actively involved in selecting words and working in pairs and groups.

(These are from Blachowicz & Fisher, 2000; Dole, Sloan, & Trathen, 1995; and Malone & McLaughlin, 1997).

As a colleague said when I shared this with her, how do we go about teaching Latin and Greek root words so that it's not "just another list" to memorize? I have done some wordbuilding activities where students create new words and play with roots, prefixes, and suffixes, but I would like more ideas for activities.

Anyone have ideas for challenging, engaging activities that help teach word parts to high school students?

Just 15 Minutes a Day

I found this neat fact in some of the readings for a class I'm taking and thought I'd share.

"A 'good' reader who averages 15 minutes a day reads approximately one million words a year. Out of this vast number of words, a few hundred to thousands will stay in the reader's vocabulary--at least as words the reader is familiar with" (Nagy & Anderson, 1984).

To put this in context, they were discussing adolescents and adults, not younger children. Their point was that with more than half of all secondary students reporting reading very little, it's even more necessary to help students learn the vocabulary they need to understand their content area reading.

I'm going to share that with my reading students next year, maybe as some sort of trivia question / warm-up.

Running from Reading? Try Reading, from Running

Teaching remedial high school readers forces me to come prepared every day with a slew of metaphors. Why, you ask? It makes sense, really. The vast majority of my struggling readers are very visual people. If you ask them about their reading habits, they will let you know right away that they broke that habit years ago and have instead followed the call of the glowing screens. When I explain something to one of my classes using a metaphor, they will frequently reply, “Oh, I see.” And they do. They are great at visualizing and making connections once they have formed a picture in their minds.

One day a few years ago when I was trying (read: failing) to explain to students, with words, how important frequent practice is to becoming a good reader, it occurred to me that I needed a metaphor. Later that same afternoon, I went for a run. I’ll admit, it had been a few weeks since I had gone for a run, so it was rough going. I was winded, my legs felt tired, and it was completely unenjoyable. Completely. As I was jogging slowly uphill scowling at oncoming traffic, it hit me: this is what it feels like for my kids who struggle with reading when they are faced with a reading task. The realization jolted me awake and a surge of adrenaline coursed through my veins. I’d like to say I turned on the speed and coasted comfortably through the rest of my run, but the adrenaline kick fizzled out about 30 seconds later and I ended up walking the rest of the way. But it didn’t matter: I had my metaphor.

In class the next day, I would compare reading to long-distance running and share with them my own story. It was only in the last few years that I became a runner. I had tried to start running several times in years past and failed each time because it was really hard to get started. Anyone who runs knows that building up enough endurance and strength to be able to run first one straight mile, then two, then three, requires sheer effort and the willpower to keep going back out to run day after day, farther and farther.

Two years ago, I finally did it. I ran a minimum of 3 days per week and increased my mileage slowly each time until I could run 3-4 miles without stopping. Once I got to that point, running started to become fun. In the past, I laughed as I drove by “those crazy runners” who would brave rain, snow, sleet, and even hail to go for a jog. What were they thinking? Now I knew! Running wasn’t just a great way to stay in shape—it was something I truly wanted to do, and I didn’t want to miss a day of it.

I chose new and exciting routes and didn’t have to worry about whether or not I could make it all the way. I began to experiment with speed and challenges like hills and different terrains. Over time, I found I could run longer and farther, and I was truly enjoying running. I even missed running if there were a few days in a row when I couldn’t get out to do it.

The metaphor hit home with my students. They were coming up with connections between reading and running that hadn’t even occurred to me. Many of my students shared that they viewed reading as hard, or even painful. Still others said it was boring and not worth the effort (I used to think the same thing about running). However, I explained, if they would push through the initial discomfort, they would find that reading becomes easier and smoother, and they would become more capable of reading a variety of genres, and at higher and higher reading levels. And that’s how I’ve seen it work. The more frequently they read, the more frequently they want to read. And, if they keep it up, over time they will come to enjoy it and miss it if they go too long without picking up a book.

I’ve seen it happen time and time again. Some of those same kids who a few years ago were laughing at “that crazy reader” (me!) who had her nose in a great book while standing in the hallway between classes have now built up the endurance and skills to become avid readers. I know because they stop by my room to ask me if I’ve read the latest book in the Hunger Games series or the new Sharon Draper novel. I know because I see them carrying novels—that aren’t required by their English teacher—around with them in the hallways. I know because they tell me how much better they are able to handle their textbook reading assignments for social studies and science.

Whether or not they maintain their reading endurance will be up to them. The desire to read, just like the desire to run, can wane when life gets in the way (No time! No energy! No fun!). When those times come, they will hopefully remember the reading-running metaphor and push through to re-establish the habits they worked so hard to form. Which reminds me, it’s been two weeks since I’ve gone for a run. Time to put down Hunger Games and hit the pavement.

Fall 2010 IATE Conference

Just a quick post to let interested parties know that I'll be giving a presentation at the 2010 Fall IATE conference.

My session is called, "Making Book Clubs Click for Struggling Adolescent Readers: Blending Technology and Tradition in Secondary Literature Circles."

I'll be telling about my experience setting up the online/in-person book clubs I used in my Reading I (now called Strategic Reading) classes with struggling freshman readers.

Here's a link to the conference preview: http://sites.google.com/site/iateconference/sesssion-information/%E2%80%9Cmakingbookclubsclickforstrugglingadolescentreadersblendingtechnologyandtraditioninsecondaryliteraturecircles%E2%80%9D-jennifermurphymetamoratownshiphs

I'll also be presenting a session at our local county inservice on adolescent literacy instruction and content area reading strategies this coming October.

What's New

Well it has been a loooooooong time since I've posted, but I've been busy cooking up new ideas for my high school reading class (now called "Strategic Reading") as well as developing the curriculum for my new advanced elective reading class for juniors and seniors: "Collegiate Reading."

We (teachers, admin) felt that now that we had the struggling readers somewhat covered (and good 'ole "Tier 2" in place if you are familiar with Illinois' RTI model), we needed to branch out and meet another need that was becoming apparent: advanced readers. Since implementing the reading-oriented classes for freshmen and sophomores over the last few years, more and more students are trying to get into these classes even though they are not struggling. Their motivation is that the MTHS reading classes are known as fun, relaxing classes where you can improve your reading skills and not to the detriment of a full load of difficult classes (very little outside of class homework). However, so many non-struggling readers are trying to get into the classes that they are currently (for the 2010-2011 school year) overflowing. Literally. In fact, we are going to have to go through the course rosters for Strategic Reading and remove about 1 out of every 5 enrolled students. The priority is of course struggling readers; it's sad that non-struggling readers--kids who just want a time and a place to read and to explore reading strategies--don't have an elective class where they can do this. Until now!

Starting this fall we will offer Collegiate Reading to juniors and seniors. The focus of this class will be three-fold: (1) advanced critical analysis ("deeper," more evaluative reading to prepare for college level analysis), (2) increasing reading speed, and (3) reading for pleasure. Two sections of the class were offered for this school year, one each semester. Both classes are brimming and will have to be capped now, in July, because they are already so full.

What does this tell me? WHY don't students have time to read on their own? WHY are they so desperate for a budgeted amount of time in which they can read what they want? I think we would all agree that as standardized testing pressures increase, and more and more "knowledge" is crammed into our curricula, more and more time is taken away from students to read for pleasure.

Many experts agree that reading widely and frequently is one of the best indicators of success on standardized tests, school grades, and performance in college. You'd think it would be a no-brainer that more classes like this would be implemented. Or maybe even a 20-minute "reading period" for all students, every day. I know at our school that would be very difficult to implement because of graduation requirements, personnel/staffing, etc., but it seems to me that this is what is needed.