LITERACY-BASED DISTRICT-WIDE

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTAiken County Public School District

January 15, 2016

LEADERS IN LITERACY

CONFERENCE

Collaborative Strategic Reading

Combining Strategies & InterventionsPrepared by Chelsea Montgomery, Ed.S.

Presented by Ashley Bouknight Wingard, PhD, BCBA

LEADERS IN LITERACY

CONFERENCE

Agenda and Contact Information• Reading Comprehension Basics• CSR• Preview• Click or Clunk• Get the Gist• Wrap-up

• How to Implement• Cooperative Learning• Preparing the Class• Materials

ContactAshley Bouknight Wingardabouknight@acpsd.netChelsea Montgomerycmontgomery@acpsd.netStudent Intervention Sitehttps://aikenschools.sharepoint.com/Schools/do/sped/dess/sit/_layouts/15/start.aspx#/SitePages/Home.aspx

Reading Comprehension Skills

What are some other skills that are important for your students to learn?

Do they typically have the background knowledge and vocabulary necessary for success in your class?

Reading Comprehension

Other Outside Factors• The reader

• The text

• The instructional activity

• The environment or context

Focus on four Elements• Prior knowledge: Students are taught to think about what they already know

about a particular topic. Next, students are asked to try to make a connection between their prior knowledge and the text they are reading.• Vocabulary development: Students are taught to use diagrams or graphic

organizers to help them to learn and remember the meanings of new words.• Questioning techniques: Students are taught to generate questions before,

during, and after reading. Students are asked to predict what they are going to read, to ask themselves during reading whether what they have read makes sense, and to generate questions about the text after reading.• Opportunities to practice new skills: Students are given ample time in the day

for independent reading and are encouraged to share what they have read.

Good Readers• Clarify their purpose for reading• Make a plan for how to read the

text• Connect information to their

prior knowledge• Ask questions about the text• Monitor their comprehension

POOR Readers• Focus on decoding words• Do not see connections among

parts of the text• Do not realize that they do not

understand what they have read• Do not understand the concept

of reading for meaning

Collaborative Strategic Reading

What is it?• CSR is a multi-component reading approach developed

to help students improve their reading comprehension.• Its overall goal is to improve reading comprehension in

a way that maximizes student engagement.

Text Considerations

• High-interest for the students• Several paragraphs• One main idea per paragraph• Written at an appropriate reading level• Contains clues to help students predict what they will be learning

(e.g., highlighted vocabulary terms, headings, illustrations)

4 CSR Components

Procedural Considerations• Opportunity for practice • Time to learn the strategies• Time to practice each strategy• Teacher instructs students until they are able to perform it independently.

• Support for students • Teacher introduce longer sections of text (e.g., first paragraphs, then

sections, then chapters). • Teachers help students make connections between the content and their

prior knowledge.

Procedural Considerations• Student progress • Students to record their thinking for each strategy in their learning logs.

• Students use learning logs to:• Record their predictions, clunks, gists, and wrap up review questions• Create a permanent record so that teachers can review their progress• Study for future tests and quizzes on the material• Keep track of their learning and create a basis for follow-up activities

Component #1:Preview (Pre-Reading)• Purpose:

• Learn as much as they can about the text in a short period of time

• Think about what they already know about the topic covered by the text

• Predict what the text might say about the topic using the features of the text (e.g., titles, subtitles, graphs and illustrations, terms in bold print)

COMPONENT #1Preview (Pre-Reading)

Preview Strategy

Activities: brainstorming, making predictions/ Estimated time: 12 minutes

• The teacher introduces the topic of the passage.• Students write down everything they already know about the topic in the Preview

section of their learning log under What I already know about the topic.• Students in pairs share their responses with each other.• Students skim the passage, using textual features (headings, pictures, graphs, etc.) to

predict what they might learn as they read. They write down these predictions in the Preview section of their learning logs under What I think I will learn.

• Students share their best ideas with the class.

Component #2Click or Clunk (During Reading)• Purpose:• Monitor their understanding of word meanings as they read• Identify unfamiliar vocabulary and use fix-up strategies to understand the

text

Click- words that students instantaneously understand

Clunk- words that make no sense to them and so interfere with comprehension

Component #2Click or Clunk (During Reading)

Click and Clunk StrategyActivities: applying fix-up strategies

• The teacher demonstrates the difference between a click and a clunk. The teacher reinforces this distinction by reading or asking the class to read a short section of text and then having students report any clunks they may have encountered.

• Students who encounter a clunk must apply one or more of four fix-up strategies:• Reread the sentence as though the clunk was a blank space and try to guess another word that might

be appropriate in place of the clunk. There is a good chance that the clunk is a synonym.• Reread the sentence with the clunk and the sentences before or after the clunk to look for clues (i.e.,

other words or phrases that may partially indicate the meaning of a clunk).• Look for a prefix or suffix in the clunk that may help to define its meaning.• If possible, break the clunk into smaller, more familiar words that may indicate the clunk’s meaning.

Considerations for Click or Clunk• Teachers should decide how much text students should read

before they stop to Click and Clunk. For example, the text might consist of:

• A paragraph

• A multiple-paragraph section

• One page

Component #3Get the Gist•Purpose:•help students to identify main ideas as they read • increase the likelihood that they will understand

the text.

Component #3Get the Gist

Get the Gist Strategy

Activities: identify main idea, restate main idea in ten words or fewer

• The teacher explains how to restate the most important point of a section of text in one’s own words. The teacher assigns a passage for the student to read.

• Students identify the most important idea in a section of text by using the following steps:• Identify whether the paragraph is primarily about a person, place, or thing.• Identify which person, place, or thing is being discussed.• Identify what is being said about the person, place, or thing that the paragraph is principally

about (i.e., identify the basic argument, angle, spin, or perspective that the section adopts regarding its topic).

• Restate the essence of the paragraph in a sentence containing ten words or fewer.

Component #4Wrap-Up (After Reading)Purpose:• help students to understand and remember what they have

learned. The general procedure requires two steps:

• generate questions • review important ideas

Component #4Wrap-Up (After Reading)

Wrap Up StrategyActivities: generate questions and review important ideas

• Teachers start by asking students to imagine that they are teachers trying to write test questions based on the text’s content.• Generate and answer questions from text:• Students brainstorm a number of possible questions and write them in their learning logs in the Wrap Up section under

Questions about the important ideas in the passage.• The students then arrange the questions according to a question hierarchy that reflects lower to higher order thinking.• Students should next try to answer the questions. A question that cannot be answered might not be a good question or might

require clarification.• Review what was learned:• Students write down the most important ideas from the day’s reading in their learning logs in the Wrap Up section under

What I learned. This requires them to mentally organize the information and to focus on comprehending the text as a whole.• Students take turns sharing with the rest of the class what they consider to be their best ideas.

Sample Question Hierarchy• The answer is in the text and can be stated in one or two words.• The answer is in the text but requires more than a couple of words to

answer.• The answer is in the text but not all in the same place. The reader has

to synthesize the parts in order to arrive at the correct answer.• The reader has to synthesize his or her prior knowledge with the text

content in order to answer the question.

Implementing CSR

Cooperative learning• Cooperative learning is a teaching method that uses

heterogeneous (mixed ability) groups and that seeks to maximize the learning of everyone in those groups. • Helps students develop social skills by requiring them to interact

with one another. • Cooperative learning has been found to:• Lead to greater motivation toward learning• Increase time on task• Improve self-esteem

Cooperative Learning• Roles are assigned to each student• Provides structure for the task• Ensures that all students participate

Preparing the Class-Groups• Teachers should determine group size based on how many groups

they feel is a manageable

• CSR seems to work best when the number of students is limited to four.

• CSR is more efficient when the teacher assigns students to groups rather than allowing them to select their own groups or partners.

Classroom management

Assign Roles•Role Cards•Cue Cards

Teaching RolesOption #1

Teaching the Roles Independently in “Expert” Groups

• Step 1: Pull together all of the students who are going to assume the role of Leader. Explain to them the purpose of the role and how they will interact with other students in the group.• Step 2: Review their responsibilities and model how they should implement them.

It may be beneficial to give each student in the group a copy of the cue card for that respective role.• Step 3: Allow each student the opportunity to practice the role and ask other

students to offer feedback.• Step 4: Continue with each “expert” group until all students know and have had an

opportunity to successfully demonstrate how they would implement their roles.

Teaching Roles Option #2

Teaching Group Interaction Through Class Critique

• Step 1: Pull together one cooperative learning group that includes students representing each role. Work with this group to develop proficiency in performing their roles.• Step 2: When the students have developed a certain level of

proficiency, ask them to demonstrate to the rest of the class.• Step 3: Critique the group’s performance. Be sure to praise what was

done correctly far more than you criticize what was done incorrectly.• Step 4: Rotate groups, allowing another group to perform the roles

for the class while the rest of the class critiques its performance.

Materials• Learning Logs

• Enable students to keep track of their learning and provide a basis for follow-up activities. Teachers may choose to create a separate learning log for each CSR session, each week, or each instructional unit.

• Learning logs perform two primary functions, serving as:• A written account of learning, assuring individual accountability• A study guide that students can use for future tests and quizzes on the

relevant material

• Cue Cards• Cue cards (also called cue sheets) outline the steps to be followed for each role.

Materials• Clunk Cards

• The clunk cards are used by the Clunk Expert. Each of the four clunk cards contains one fix-up strategy:• Reread the sentence and look for key ideas to help decipher the clunk.• Examine the sentence just before and just after the one containing the clunk for any

information that might indicate its meaning.• Look for a known prefix or suffix in the clunk that might indicate its meaning.• Break the clunk apart and look for smaller words that might hint at its meaning.

• Timer• *Optional• Help student remain on-task and move through the sections• Adjust timer use based on class needs

Stages of Implementation• Stage 1: The teacher introduces the steps of the strategy and highlights the strategy’s

advantages and benefits. The teacher explicitly explains what the strategy is for, how it is used, and in what circumstances it is useful

• Stage 2: The teacher models each reading strategy and each group role, and explains their integrated use to the class as a whole. One effective method of modeling is for the teacher to apply the strategy (or strategies) to a passage while thinking aloud for the class

• Stage 3: Following the modeling phase, the teacher creates opportunities for students to practice the strategies and roles. During this practice time, the teacher guides students through the steps

• Stage 4: Once students have achieved some familiarity with each strategy, they are ready to practice them independently. The same is true of the roles. The teacher will monitor students’ practice and offer corrective feedback

How long will it take?• Depends on student age!

• Practice several times in one week to teach it to middle- and high-school students.

• As they teach CSR, teachers can continue to teach their subject matter content and so are not losing instructional time.

Monitoring CSR• The teacher acts as a facilitator• The teacher can make certain students are participating by:• Listening to students’ discussions• Monitoring students’ learning logs• Checking clunk definitions and clarifying troublesome or difficult words• Checking and offering feedback on gists• Modeling the strategies or roles• Encouraging students to be active participants• Modeling cooperative behaviors

Monitoring CSR• As they monitor their students, teachers should make mental or

written notes of clunks and gists that they wish to discuss with the entire class. In addition, teachers can:• Highlight the performance of students or groups who are

implementing the strategies or roles exceedingly well• Share and discuss innovations created by the groups

Final Task• Describe the differences between a good reader and a poor reader.• Name four elements that can be used to teach comprehension.

Explain how CSR addresses these four elements.• What are the four reading strategies that make up CSR? Explain each.• Imagine that you are a ninth-grade social studies teacher. Having

decided to implement CSR, you have divided your students into groups of five. Of the six roles described in this Module, which five would you select for the groups? Explain.

Resources• This presentation was a adaptation of the Vanderbilt IRIS CSR Module.

For more information please visit: • http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/csr/#content

Thank you!!• Questions?

• Contact• Ashley Bouknight Wingard• abouknight@acpsd.net• Chelsea Montgomery• cmontgomery@acpsd.net• Student Intervention Site• https://aikenschools.sharepoint.com/Schools/do/sped/dess/sit/_layouts/15/s

tart.aspx#/SitePages/Home.aspx