NZAI Conference 18/04/23

Sparks Text 2

 

Sparks by Chris Culshaw     Label the illustrations.

Sort the Keywords onto the vocabulary grid, think and then write a prediction.

Students are reminded to use the, Think Aloud and to then write an informed prediction.  

The student above seems to have improved his scanning and prediction skills.  I often tell the students I'm not going to mark their predictions but I insist they complete the task properly. I try to emphasise that it is important that they follow the steps modelled and that they warm up their brains before they attempt to read the text. I link this process to the courts or sports field. No one would consider playing a game without warming up their limbs with stretches or a light jog. 

Students are not given the text until they have completed a prediction. Many students try to skip the task.

The process of determining importance in a text is a fundamental skill. I try to slip this task into a reading session explaining that in order to have a summary in your head or to write a summary it is important to tease out the main facts.

Students are asked to highlight the keywords as they read the text. The concept of using more than one reading speed is mentioned here. Students are asked to re-read the text and avoid treating the task as a treasure hunt.

T1 

T2

It took some effort to convince the student above to highlight the keywords just once but he got there. Explaining that this skill is a powerful comprehension strategy helped. Often it helps to allocate a teacher-aid to work with a resistant student. This is often necessary until the student has mastered a particular strategy.

Another visual aid is used to help students make connections. This text reminds me of.....

This student had peer support but has progressed from a derivative summary judged at Level 3P to a Level 4A grade

The who, what, where, task has helped student G write a Level 4 summary. She has also responded to the prereading clip of The Casketeers and the question, what happens to you when you die.

At the other end of the spectrum, some students need help writing short concise summaries. The student below is still using quotes which I try to discourage. 

The interruptions to the timetable (floods, strikes) this term means I've been unable to work with this class as often as I normally would. The Curriculum and in this case Speeches always take precedence over basic reading skills. Hopefully next term, I'll be able to follow up with a few new strategies. I want the students to try using a flip book of keywords. Students will stand without the text and say their keyword summary to a partner using only the flip book. I'd also like to try using a Judged Group Writing or Summary Task. This is where students, in small groups, present a summary paragraph on portable whiteboards. These are all then given a grade out of 5 before the period ends. Generally, student motivation increases dramatically during this exercise. 

 Last week we looked at a text about the Blues. I also sat down and completed a PAT comprehension Test. After completing the test I was unable to tell if I'd answered the questions accurately, perhaps I didn't look hard enough. And because I'm not a Yr 9 or 10 student, I was unable to generate a Stanine. A feature of the test that became obvious right from the start was the need for the candidate to re-read the text each time they attempt to answer a question. This also applied to the text on The Blues. It's a good time to ask, do teachers consider this skill when presenting students with a text to read?

This is the reading comprehension results for a class who have been involved in the junior reading programme. Because of the disruptions this term and because of the curriculum demands on the teacher, these sessions were not held as often as I wanted. At this stage in the programme, students are still receiving a high level of teacher input.

The Blues Begin to Rock

In secondary junior school, this text is fairly typical of the material presented to students. It is a high-interest text but it also has a high level of lexical density. In this case nouns and noun groups. Students assessed as reading at Stanine 3 or even Stanine 4 will struggle with the context and the vocabulary. The structure of the text could also cause issues in terms of comprehension.

Read the document here

Here I'm trying to improve the pre-reading discussion. Before the students get the article they are required to make a prediction, to consider a likely topic for the coming reading.

 Students highlight, circle or underline the words as they read.

The text has been chunked into manageable sections.

The text offers the opportunity for a jigsaw reading exercise.

Another option is to use small groups. Each group creates a small summary for a single page. Each group then present their summary on a whiteboard. Ideally, the teacher then gives some feedback on the genre of summary writing.

Another option is to talk students through the process of keyword selection (see words highlighted in yellow). What to include, how to leave out excess detail. How to include a small amount of relevant detail. Put the chosen words on the whiteboard or screen. Ask students to cover the text, then ask students to write their own summary for the whole article.  A good strategy for the teacher would involve saying the summary out loud while pointing to each keyword. Show the students what you do in your head as you create a summary i.e. a think-aloud.  I'd feedback on this process but the teacher has gone abroad.

 The Blues    Begin to Rock

Text for the week. 

The problem with most non-fiction texts is lexical density. A large number of noun groups makes comprehension and summary writing a problem for most readers.  Myself included.

 Summary, Inference and Connections

For many students in Yr 9, these skills and asking questions of the texts need to be taught.

This grid is roughly based on the KWL chart. There is an extra column for the keywords. 

Students are instructed to read the text, The Fur Coat and to highlight the keywords as they read. 

In the first instance, the teacher talks the students through the process so that most students end up with something like the response above.  This is a student exemplar which has been graded at Curriculum Level 5A. The student has inserted the word 'trick'. This word does not appear in the text.

In the first session, making inferences is touched on but is an extension exercise.

Making connections with the wider world or with another text is introduced. This is also an extension exercise. The teacher talks about King Solomon the wise, the first detective stories and the two mothers who both claim the live child.

This format of scaffolded readings is repeated for a period, once a week for a term. This will depend on the class and student needs.

Summary Writing

Summary Writing Reading and summary writing may not be the best way to assess comprehension but it is a vehicle for ensuring students focus on their use of comprehension strategies. On a weekly basis students a given a new text to read, to comprehend and to summarise. The rubric below is not comprehensive but it offers a way for students to monitor their own progress. Students get competitive with themselves and with each other. There is no demand for students to share their results but they regularly ask, why is my summary still judged at a Level 3? Why does she have a Level 4 and I’m still achieving at Level 3? Many of our students find it difficult to write a summary. The rubric has a few flaws in that it has a few negative statements or criteria. So it is not a true indication of Curriculum Levels but it does discourage students from copying sections of the text. Many students avoid risks and persuading them to use real names and place names is a major step forward.

Step 1
Discuss the context of the text and the vocabulary that may cause a breakdown in comprehension.

Step 2
Discuss train compartments and overnight trains and Harry Potter.

Step 3
Reinforce the idea of train journeys in New Zealand and the rest of the world. Glen Innes versus London.

Step 4
Show the students the text they are about to read. Discuss the title and the illustration.

Students do receive a copy of the text at this stage. The focus is on Scanning. If students are allowed the text at this stage many would put their finger to the page and start mouthing the words.

Step 5
Show students the keyword list. Ask students to read the words. Then take them through the process of retelling the story based only on the keywords. Choral fashion. 'Mrs Melrose was on a train, she was going from London to Glasgow, it was three in the morning, she was cold......' Explain how this ability to summarise a text is a very powerful start to comprehending a text.

Step 6
Ask or show students to sort the Keywords onto the Scanning Sheet. Explain the four features of storytelling, characters, setting etc. One, two skip a few. Tell the students that they have looked at the title, looked at the illustration and scanned or considered the keywords. They should now be able to write a Prediction, "I think this story is going to be about......" Have an informed guess. I lie and tell them, I'm not going to mark it. At least half the class will struggle to complete this strategy. Mature readers often think of this skill as automatic. It's like changing gears on a car we don't have to think when we shift the gear stick. For many of our students, this skill is not automatic it must be taught. For many of our students, this basic comprehension skill is weak and it needs to be strengthened. In the past I often waited until a number of texts had been attempted and hoped this skill would improve. Instead of waiting and giving oral encouragement (sometimes even pleading) I decided to add or create a think-aloud. What do I do when I scan a text and create a prediction? I decided to make this explicit by asking, what am I doing that the students are not doing? ‘You can do better than, "it's about a fur coat, Sir.”’

Heat, eat, repeat