What Makes Good Readers Great and Poor Readers Weak?

Cheryl Hutchinson, M. Ed.Loudoun County Public Schools

National Board Certified Teacher

Candidate Support Provider

LCPS Staff Development

August 31, 2009

Why me?

Why this topic?

Who are you?

Goals for our session today…..

What is literacy? What do good readers do that make them great? review how the human brain works dependent readers vs. independent readers Why do poor readers struggle? tips for remembering what you read reading strategies

Are you a literate person?

Are you sure???

Your father is in the hospital. To educate yourself on his condition you read medical journals and articles.

Here is one of the opening sentences you read:

“The endosteum (en-dos-tee-uhm) is the vascular connective tissue lining the marrow cavities of the bones.”

Let’s try another a few more…

You buy an unassembled piece of furniture and encounter these instructions:

“Fasten flange G to tie-rod Q using hex nut R and a socket wrench.”

8th grade math book:“Write a compound inequality for the range of normal body temp.“Explain the difference between the words and and or in a compound inequality.

6th grade science book: “A very unusual protozoan is the euglena (yoo-glee-nuh). It is bright green. A euglena moves by using a thread-like whip. Euglenas eat bacteria, other protozoan, and plant-like living things. But they can also make food. Notice the euglena has chloroplasts.

HUH?

Are you a dependent reader

or aindependent reader?

Activity

When the text gets tough…

Dependent Readers…• Stop• Appeal to the teacher• Read on through/Skip• Keep the mostly invisible

process of comprehension at the invisible level

• Lack confidence and reluctant to go on

Independent Readers…• Figure out what’s confusing

them• Set goals for getting through

the reading• Use many strategies to

create understanding• Have confidence to

persevere

When Kids Can’t Read by Kylene Beers

What makes a good reader great?

Activity

What Good Readers Do- Kylene Beers

Recognize the purpose for reading is to get meaning Use of a variety of comprehension strategies Make Inferences Use of prior knowledge Monitor understanding Question author’s purpose and point of view Evaluate their engagement and enjoyment Know the meaning of many words Read fluently

A Quick Peak At Our Brain

Highly VisualSeeks Patterns

EmotionalNeeds Relevance

Remembers 70% When PracticingRemembers 90+% When Teaching Someone Else

6th grade science book: “A very unusual protozoan is the euglena (yoo-glee-nuh). It is bright green. A euglena moves by using a thread-like whip. Euglenas eat bacteria, other protozoan, and plant-like living things. But they can also make food. Notice the euglena has chloroplasts.

euglena

protozoan

bright green

moves by using a thread-like whip

eats bacteria

makes food

chloroplasts

Top Ten Tips to Help Struggling Readers - Molly Ness

1. Prepare students BEFORE reading.2. Support students DURING reading.3. Help readers extend meaning AFTER reading4. Scaffold summary writing.5. Ask quality comprehension questions.6. Model metacognition7. Arm them with study strategies8. Integrate writing everywhere.9. Provide explicitly vocabulary instruction.10. Increase fluency to increase comprehension.

8 Tips to Remember What You Read - Dr. Bill Klemm

1. Set and read with a purpose2. Skim first.3. Get the reading mechanics right (decoding and fluency).4. Be judicious in highlighting and note taking5. Think in pictures6. Rehearse as you go along7. Stay within your attention span and work to increase that span.8. Rehearse again soon

Activity

Researcher Marzano indicates that a student needs to interact at least SIX times with a word, concept or skill for 50% retention/understanding to take place.

Before/During/After

What does it mean to pre-read?

What does it mean to

actively read?

Resources

• Reader’s Handbook by Great Source Education Group

• When Kids Can’t Read by Kylene Beers

• Reading Reasons by Kelly Gallagher

• Brain Matters by Patricia Wolfe

If you remember nothing else…

Read, Read, Read – to them, with them, listening to them read Use Before, During and After reading strategies The brain is highly visual The brain remembers 75% of what it practices and 90+% of what it teaches Provide your students with a wide variety of strategies

to comprehend what they are reading Allow your students to co-create meaning and

learning therefore teaching themselves and others