Phase 1 Module 1 Teaching NSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre Module 1 Teaching

Phase 1 Module 1 TeachingNSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre

NSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre

Module 1 Teaching


We acknowledge the traditional Custodians of this Land, where the Aboriginal People have performed age-old ceremonies of storytelling, music, dance and celebration.

We acknowledge and pay respect to the Elders past and present, and we acknowledge those of the future, for they will hold the memories, traditions and hopes of Aboriginal Australians.

We must always remember that under the concrete and asphalt this Land is, was, and always will be traditional Aboriginal Land.

Acknowledgement of Country


Standards addressed at Professional Competence in this workshop include:1.2.1: Apply and use the knowledge of the content/disciplines through effective, content-rich, teaching activities and programs relevant to the stage.

4.2.5: Create, select and use a variety of appropriate teaching strategies and resources, including ICT and other technologies to make content meaningful to students.

6.2.1: Reflect critically on teaching and learning practice to enhance student learning outcomes.

Professional Teaching Standards


During this session, you will:

• deepen your understanding of comprehension

• understand the importance of talk to facilitate comprehension

• differentiate between comprehension strategies, teaching ideas, teaching strategies and teaching routines

• become familiar with the ‘Super Six’ comprehension strategies

• be provided with a process to support the explicit teaching of comprehension strategies

• reflect on the role of precision (assessment for learning) and

its implications for students and teachers.

Module 1 Teaching


Focus for this session

Setting the scene:

Precision


1. What do you believe comprehension to be?

2. What does it look like?

3. What does it sound like?

1.

2.3.

TaskReflecting on comprehension


Comprehension involves responding

to, interpreting, analysing and

evaluating texts

(DET, 2009).

Task


Read the text and answer the questions:

1. Which task was easy?

2. How did you go about completing the task?

3. Did you understand the text?

4. What did you learn?

5. Did the tasks engage you in responding to, interpreting, analysing and evaluating the text?

Task


The text presents two theories about the effects of alcohol on the brain.

Nerve cells in the brain are called neurons. Dendrites are the antennae of neurons that receive inputs.

Connecting and predicting


What did you do to interpret the text?

What helped you most?

Discussion


... discussion is defined as a dialogic classroom

event in which students and teachers are

cognitively, socially and affectively engaged in

collaboratively constructing meaning or

considering alternate interpretations of texts to

arrive at new understandings. Almasi, 2002 (in Israel & Duffy, 2009)

The role of conversation in comprehension


Comprehension improves when we

engage students in rich discussions

that allow students to integrate

knowledge, experience, strategies and

textual insights.(Pearson, 2008)

What sort of conversation?


Comprehension strategies

(e.g. visualising)

Teaching ideas

(e.g. Picture this, Storyboard)

Teaching strategies

(i.e. modelled, guided and independent teaching)

Teaching routines/practices

(e.g. reciprocal teaching)

Clarifying comprehension terminology


Avoid the perils of assumicide

The death of a book occurs when teachers assume that students possess the prior knowledge, connections and motivation to make higher-level reading possible.

(Teaching challenging text, Kelly Gallagher, 2004)

Strategies


Making connections

Predicting

Questioning

Monitoring

Visualising

Summarising

The ‘Super Six’ comprehension strategies


What is it?Connecting prior knowledge with new information while reading. As readers engage with texts, they make connections to their personal experiences (Text to self); to other texts they have read, seen or heard (Text to text); and to things occurring in the world (Text to world).

Why is it important?When readers link personal background knowledge, understanding or experiences to the text, they are able to construct meaning.

How is it used?Readers let themselves ‘be reminded’ of things as the text is being read, viewed or heard. Background knowledge is combined with ideas and actions in the text that readers can relate to.

Making connectionsText to self; Text to text; Text to world


What is it?Making an educated guess about something that will come later in the text. Reading detectives find evidence to back up predictions.

Why is it important?When readers make a prediction, they engage with the author’s clues about what is important in the text.

How is it used?Readers stop every once in a while and think about what the author has written and provided (such as a picture or chart).They check for clues about what might be important. Readers try to predict what will happen next or the theme or main idea that the author will emphasise.

Predicting Beware the wild guess, make educated

guesses


What is it?Generating queries to guide thinking while reading, viewing or listening. Reading serves to answer the questions created. Readers generate and respond to why questions as well as how and what questions.

Why is it important?The ability to generate questions underpins not only this strategy, but many interactions with texts (e.g. monitoring). Students need to learn how to generate and respond to questions.

How is it used?Readers approach a text with questions and develop new questions as they read. Even after they have read a text engaged readers still ask questions.

QuestioningI wonder …


What is it?Constantly checking whether their reading is making sense. They stop and think about their reading and know what to do when they don’t understand.

Why is it important?When readers monitor, they are actively engaged in thinking while reading. Students learn to be aware of what they do understand and identify what they don’t understand.

How is it used?Readers adjust reading speed to fit text difficulty and ‘fix’ any comprehension problems. Readers could: identify where the difficulty occurs; identify what the difficulty is; restate the difficult sentence or passage in their own words; look back through the text; look forward in the text.

MonitoringThe ‘fix up’ strategy


What is it?Creating mental pictures based on what is read or heard. Students can imagine they are inside the scene described or take on the perspective of an historical figure, imagine the same scene from more than one perspective, etc.

Why is it important?Students gain a more thorough understanding of the text by consciously using the words to create mental images. Students who visualise as they engage with a text not only have a richer experience but can recall what they have read for longer periods of time.

How is it used?Readers stop at key points and create a picture, movie or sound clip. These images are used to draw conclusions, create distinct and unique interpretations of the text, to recall significant details.

VisualisingThe pictures that the author paints using words;

the cinema unfolding in the mind


What is it?Compiling a shortened version of written or spoken material, stating the main points and leaving out everything that is not essential. It is more than retelling; it involves analysing information, distinguishing important from unimportant elements and translating large chunks of information into a few short, cohesive sentences.

Why is it important?Summarising assists comprehension monitoring, helps students understand the organisational structure of texts and is a skill that most adults must be proficient in to be successful. It integrates and reinforces the learning of major points.

How is it used?Readers pause periodically and summarise what has happened so far. Summaries might use words, images or pictures to capture key ideas.

SummarisingExtracting essential information


This involves fully teacher supported whole-group instruction.Step 1: Select a text

Step 2: Explain the strategy

Step 3: Model the strategy

Step 4: Guided support

Step 5: Independent practice

Step 6: Reflect.

Explicit instruction


Between-module task

1. Start incorporating more extended conversations and deeper discussions in your classroom.

2. Plan to explicitly teach your students at least one comprehension strategy systematically.


Reflection

List key points for Precision

Reflect on this session:• List four ‘take home

messages’ that you think are the most important.

• Rank these in order of importance from 1-4 (1 being least important)

• List words under each message that provide justification for the ranking.

• Discuss ranking with a partner

What’s important?


Almasi, J. cited in Almasi, J .& Garas-York, K. (2009)’ Comprehension and discussion of text’, In Israel, S. E. & Duffy, G. G. Handbook of research on reading comprehension, Routledge, New York, NY, pp 323-346.

Duke, N. K. & Pearson, P. D. (2002) ‘Effective practices for developing reading comprehension’, in Farstrup, A. E. &. Samuels, S. J. (eds.) What research has to say about reading instruction (3rd edition), pp. 205-242, IRA, Newark, DE.

Gallagher, Kelly (2004) Teaching Challenging Text.

Harvey, S. & Goudvis, A. (2000) Strategies that work: Teaching comprehension to enhance understanding, Stenhouse, Portland, ME.

Hoyt, L (2009) Revisit, Reflect, Retell: Time tested strategies for teaching reading comprehension, Heinemann, Portsmouth, NH.

Keene & Zimmerman (1997) NSW Institute Teachers The Digest Talking to learn: Dialogue in the classroom.

Professional Teaching Standards located on NSW Institute of Teachers’ website viewed 16 September, 2009. <http://www.nswteachers.nsw.edu.au/IgnitionSuite/uploads/docs/Professional%20Teaching%20Standards.pdf>

Paris, S. G. (2005) ‘Reinterpreting the development of reading skills’, Reading Research Quarterly, Vol. 40, No. 2, April/May/June, pp. 184–202.

Pearson, P. D. (2008) Teaching reading comprehension: Research, best practice and good teaching viewed 7 October 2009, <http://www.docstoc.com/docs/687692/ Teaching-Reading-Comprehension- Research-Best-Practice>

Scott, C. (2009) Talking to learn: Dialogue in the classroom. The Digest, NSWIT, 2009 (2) viewed 7 October 2009, <https://www.nswteachers.nsw.edu.au>

Bibliography

Documents

Phase 1 Module 1 Teaching NSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre Module 1 Teaching