Chapter+9

Chapter 9

Specific support for readers working on
//Page 166-172 gives guidance for teaching students who are working on specific print, comprehension or fluency elements. Did anything stick out to you as new or remind you of something you already do with students? What of these suggestions are things you want to remember when you confer and work with small groups?// //Supporting readers is a teaching strategy. The retelling a story using a set of key ingredients needs to be posted in the room and for the child who needs support a simple copy for that students. The vocabulary is another monster. I would be proactive and have lessons prepared that would cover strategies to understanding difficult vocabulary. Now these strategies can be used during conferring with groups and individual persons. When students are reading independently the will keep track of vocabulary, and the pg.. This can be used when we meet back as a whole group. Making sense of a story is my "movie" lesson. To get the movie I need to find the "visible" mind of my children. Over the year my "dependent" children, through modelling, demonstrations and practice will read mindfully.// //Margaret Fox ﻿//

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I highlighted several areas in this section of text and plan to type them with the appropriate titles so I will have a reminder right at my fingertips when conferring with students. There were some things I have done with these readers in the past, but I always find it helpful to have a list to serve as a reminder. Below are a few that I have not used in the past and plan to use this year. Stephanie Cooper
 * Ask if what is being read makes sense when it’s incorrect and //correct//. I am guilty of only asking this question when students have erred so they know something is wrong with their reading when asked this question.
 * Sitting side by side and commenting while reading. I often gave students the strategy of retelling at the end of every page or every few pages, but never read silently along with them and commented at the story. What a great way to model my own thinking.
 * Having those who don’t retain the progress made in the story retell what they read yesterday to their partner. This is a quick check in and will refresh their memory of what is happening in their story. I see this happening more frequently when students progress to beginning chapter books and beyond.
 * If I am to allow students to use a bookmark to hold their place, I will teach them to cover what they have already read. I am guilty of giving students bookmarks to hold under the line they are reading when they struggle to maintain their place or frequently become lost when moving to the next line of text. It makes sense that this use would prevent smooth reading because the child cannot scan ahead to see upcoming words.

When students are “word callers’ a possible way to help that is an easier book on atopic that they are totally interested in. Like Stephanie said sitting right with the student and working through theskills. Pg 167 talks about children whocan talk about any one page but don’t generate a coherent sense of the story. This falls back to the model by the teacher and other students that are on the verge not students that totally get it –they skip steps and are not struggle. KDN

Like Stephanie, I need to ask students if it makes sense when it does and when it doesn't. Even with my own children, I could use this technique. Also, p. 169 on the section about helping readers who struggle with print, I found a lot of great advice. In Kindergarten, it seems like many children fall into these traps: "freezing" on a word they don't knwo, reading letter by letter, and just not knowing their letters, sounds, and words. I also found it very interesting that according to Gay Su Pinnell, children don't need to point to the words after they can read book at about Level C (I had no idea!!). I often asked my students to point to the words and I thought it was helpful... maybe not! Oops! Kari

It seems over and over the best advice is to move to easier books quicly to find the just right levels. This strategy seems to remain as the number one most effective straegy. On page 171 I found this advice for helping students with fluency and phrasing difficulties//**," The most helpful will be easy books with long sentences that sound like normal language and contain lots of high frequency words."**// How simple and explicit. This strategy makes sense, and I have never considered it before! O n the same page was advice asking the student to say it to me, just like you would in a conversation. Again, a nice, easy reminder for a reader struggling with fluency. Read like you want to hear it. Like Stephanie I saw some new ways to use bookmarks. I've always been a "use your reading finger" kind of teacher, never realizing __**"If readers use a pointing finger or a bookmark as a guide, this can interfere with fluency and phrasing."p.171**__ The advice to ask "does that make sense" even when it does seems like a great strategy for me to use this year also. I see it keeping my students accountable and engaged with their reading. I'm glad to see others are considering these startegies also. Mike

I like the idea of "warm up" reading texts that are at a little easier level and then moving on to their correct reading leveled books to use the same strategies while going through it. In first grade there are quite a few children who need support with vocabulary. I like the suggestion of taking a "stab at unfamilar words and figure out an approximate meaning of the word from context." On page 168, it says "Readers who hold tight to meaning learn vocabulary words through reading, conversations, and life experences of all sorts." I also found the information about the children who need support with fluency and phrasing very helpful. Besides making sure they are reading books that are somewhat easier for them to read, not using their finger or bookmark as a guide because they need to learn to scan ahead and to choose some lines to practice reading them smoothly and with meaning. I will have to make sticky notes of these important ideas to use during the year. Ronda

I think it’s important to ask a reader “Does that make sense?” even when it does make sense as Calkins explained on page 166. This will get them into the habit of checking for meaning. Like you noted Stephanie, I, too, haven’t always done this with my students. I usually would only ask them when something was incorrect. This translates into such an important life skill. I want students to question in all subjects and areas of life. I also like the idea of “talking back to the text frequently” (page 167) and modeling that as I read along with a child. What a simple, but powerful, way to teach kids that readers have thoughts about the text as they read. Kari, I also found it interesting that we don’t need to encourage (require!) kids to point once they are at a level C or higher. The idea that a bookmark should “follow rather than lead the reader” (page 172) was a very helpful tip for me to remember, too! Sara Sabourin

Many wonderful ideas were shared on these pages. I made many of the same notes as Stephanie and Sara. Pointing to text after level C is not necessarily needed. I have on occasion, with higher, more fluent readers, who are still pointing to words, asked them to stop pointing when they read because I believe it slows them down. However, I've never encouraged readers around the C level to stop pointing. Also, I love the idea that a bookmark should cover words already read instead of covering words that have yet to be read. I guess I have done this in the past, but it's not "routine" for me to model this and I think it needs to be. The ability for they eyes to be able to track the print and scan ahead is HUGE! I know that there are bookmarks you can purchase that are a color, but see-through. Our school purchased them a few years ago and I have no idea where they went. It may be a good tool to have for those of us who still forget to model using a bookmark for tracking OVER the words. The see-through bookmark will still allow for tracking when it is placed UNDER the words. Stephanie mentioned that she highlighted many different areas that she wants to type up to have a reference right at her fingertips as she is conferring. I find that the two of us have found many areas in this book that we are saying, "I want to type that up and have it at my fingertips for conferring." The problem is, if I have all these typed up and at my fingertips for conferring, then I'm going to have sheets and sheets of stuff and I'm thinking it might take me longer than I think to scan through all my "notes" when working with kids. I'm going to have to find a "system" that I can put in place when it comes to my reference notes. Maybe I'll have to have them typed up and make multiple copies. Then when I plan my conferring for the next day, and I know that I want to work on _ with little Billy, then I can pull out the appropriate reference sheet that I may need during that conference. I don't know....just brainstorming because I am ony on chapter 9 and I already feel like I have a TON of things I want reference cards for. If I keep going, then I might as well just have the book next to me and leaf back through it as need be...LOL! :) Keri Cooper  Chapter 9 from Bobbi Friend #1 As I read about the strategies to use with students who struggle in one area or another, many points stand out to me. The first one that I have used often is simply reminding students that readers should expect text to make sense. Students need to be reminded that what they read should convey meaning and if it doesn’t then they need to reread or slow down. This is a problem that students of all ages can have due to the increasing difficulty found as texts become more complex. Another point that is discussed is students who need support with vocabulary. Some children who struggle with new words will continue to struggle as they read at higher levels as well. The book suggests that students need to realize that it is okay to take a stab at unfamiliar words and figure out an approximate meaning from the context. This is how we all learn new vocabulary from texts. The students should not be asked to research words they do not know because this will slow down their reading so much that they will lose all meaning. I think these are important lessons for me to use with my older students as well as with the younger ones.

// I sometimes focus // on what the child cannot do rather than looking at their strengths. UGH! I need to adopt Gaby’s power of observation for making a more positive assessment. I am from the Old School. For example, I usually have struggling readers point to the words when using books on tape or reading aloud. In addition, I seem to focus on letter sounds and sounding out the words and then reading to see if the word makes sense. On page 169, I like the helpful suggestions such as; **It helps to sit alongside a child like this and face the difficulties with her.** Give prompts (ie. “What could it say?”, “Should we reread?”, or “Could it be giraffe?”) and see if she nods. I like the way a former professor would use her students to help struggling readers. She always gave plenty of ‘wait-time’ and then would say to her students, “Help her/him.” Fluency and Phrasing-(pg. 171): I agree with the author in that, **When a reader makes exaggerated pauses between short oral phrases, this interferes with comprehension.** In addition, Mike also pointed out that the first intervention is to **make sure the student has books he/she can read with ease**. Finally, when conferring and working in small groups, I need to give all of my students the opportunity to learn reading and writing. M.J.

The whole section on Helping Readers Who Need Support Turning Their Attention Toward Meaning gave fantastic information. Some ideas were new to me some where things I knew but needed reminding of. The overall theme in each section was to use easier text with the students to help steer their attention away from decoding and toward fluency and comprehenhion. Sometimes I forget to ease off and let them use text that would be less intrusive to their actual reading. When I have chosen a book that is too hard I need to remember that I can offer to take a turn reading to help get through it and then select a more appropriate book. Another thing I need to remember to do is ask the student if it makes sense or if it sounds right both when they have and haven't made an error. I forget to question them to see if it is making sense as we go along. They probably figure out quickly that if I question them there was a mistake. I need to support them so thst they will be listening and self-monitoring for errors. --Jodee Tuttle

**#2**

Principles for working with readers
// The principles listed on p. 164 and 165 are based on research by Allington and others **Schools that Work**, **What Really Matters for Struggling Readers**, etc. In a time when data and interventions sprinkle throughout many of our conversations about readers, are we taking the time to determine coherence and alignment across the day for students and across our intervention or support teams? Or do we throw disconnected interventions at students hoping something will stick? (Quote from p. 164: “They cannot be reading different books or be pulled in different directions by the resource room teacher, the classroom teacher and the after school tutor.”) // // Are we as collaborative and reflective in our intervention teams as these principles list? Bullets one and three are specific and clear about what readers need from all professionals who work with them in a building. How is it going for your school? Please share anything you are trying to do to create coherence for your readers across the day and across interventions. // // On a side note, I’m reminded of IRA’s website that provides research, examples and guidelines for RTI that may be aligned with Allington, Calkins, and other’s views on what readers need most. See the International Reading Association’s site below. // // [] // // Throughout my years of teaching "disconnectiveness" was a problem. We now in our building have monthly meetings with resource room teachers to match interventions. What I use in the classroom is carried beyoud the classroom. Each week I meet with the resource room teachers to go over what will happen that week "across " the curriculum. This helps so they remove my students only when I have completed minilessons. The strategies/interventions are used across the day. This year I'd like to say these interventions will be another "conferring" opportunity. Together we will make connections and build the links. // // Margaret Fox ﻿ //

I can only speak from my own experience and what I do when I have a child receiving extra services. I have always worked closely with the resource room teacher to help students have continuity from their room to my own and also so I hold realistic expectations for the child. I know my students last year had daily reading and comprehension practice with short texts so they did have time to read. I have not been as diligent in working with Title 1 teachers as I should, and frequently do not have a clear picture of what students are working on during that half hour block. I suspect that because I was not aware of what happened there, that teacher did not know what I was doing. This probably meant the instruction was disconnected. That will be an area where I focus my attention if I have students receiving that intervention this year. Stephanie Cooper It was interesting what Stephanie said about not working as tightly with the TitleI teacher. Having been the Title Iteach for many years. I also did seethat happening if I was not very vigilance when working with the classroomteachers because there is so much to do. It is interesting the an intervention that can help can also become aburden. I like the frame MiBLSi uses to look at the whole school program andthen zone in on the Tier II and Tier III (most intense students). PG 173 does a good job summarizing how to help struggling readers. KDN I, also, will speak from my experience. In both my current school and my previous school, it was up to me (the classroom teacher) to communicate to the resource room teacher or tutor what the students needed help with. I would advise and give short lesson plan ideas to the teacher who was helping my student. It would be crazy to think that they were being pulled out if they didn't have clear objectives to work towards. We (classroom teachers) have to fill out a form each week to tell the resource teacher what we want them to focus on with our students that week. Of course, the teacher came to pick up my student each time she worked with her, so if things changed, I could tell her then, too. I think that this process, as it is, is working well for our school. Kari

We can preach to work as a team, but in reality, many times I struggle with my own teaching and planning, which makes it difficult for me to communicate with my resource teachers. It seems for me that often we are experts or comfortable with the way we teach and become isolated from the expertise of others. This book has opened me to new ideas that I feel confident in discussing with my colleagues to work together for our students. As a member of the TAT (Teacher Assistance Team) I see this cohesiveness as an important intervention to help our struggling students. I wonder how it will work in my new grade level, especially when we are switching students for different subjects. Mike

As most other teachers have mentioned, not only do I find it hard to fit in doing all of my individual lesson plans but have a hard time meeting with our resource room teacher or anyone else trying to support our students. Our RTI and title 1 teachers work closely with each other and have their own requirements that they need to concentrate their time on. We have tier 1, 2 and 3 students that we all work with and support. After each school wide timed reading test we all meet as a group to discuss the plan of attact and who will be responsible for working with these students. Ronda

Mike, I feel the same way at times in that I struggle with my own teaching and planning and find it difficult to communicate my goals for each student. Kari I like the idea of filling out a form for our goals. That would help me be more focused and clear about what I want for that child and to let others know. I feel that the Title I teachers and I attempt to communicate our goals and what we’ve worked on with the child. Last year, our three first grade teachers (myself included), principal, Title I teacher, and Resource room teacher created a plan to work with all the first grade students. This was done at some other grade levels in our building, too. We split the kids into groups based on data from three assessment sources: DIBELS, Words Their Way Spelling, and Running Records. The most intensive students worked with the Title and Resource room teachers in very small groups. The students at the strategic level worked with a teacher and the benchmarked students worked with another teacher. We also had some volunteers help out during this time. We all followed a similar structure during that time. For example, we began with a poem for the week, did some word work (usually a spelling pattern that related to their spelling assessment), then read books that focused on the patterns. It took some tweaking to decide what the focus of this 45-minute block of time would be like. We figured it would be best to do more of the print work in our groups, leaving book talks and higher-level comprehension work for the classroom teacher. (Of course we did some of this work, but it wasn’t the main focus). We liked being able to talk to others about our students. We found we weren’t alone with what we saw a reader doing. The classroom teacher then had more information to work with the child during the reading workshop. We struggled in deciding if it was “tracking” but determined it wasn’t. The groups were fluid. We reassessed every 4-6 weeks as new data was collected and moved children as needed. It was a very collaborative effort. One thing I would like to work on with the team is to have more of a record-keeping system to share with each other.

Sara Sabourin

Chapter 9 from Bobbi Friend #2 I believe that we are doing a good job using interventions for our struggling readers in our school district. Most at-risk readers are identified through data accumulated through our data team and interventionists, and then the teachers are invited to a data team meeting to discuss the needs of the struggling readers and how to best meet their needs. We are using a process called RTI and we use a three tier system when intervening for our struggling students. Tier I interventions are used in the classroom as whole class or small group strategies. Tier II interventions are used with small groups and include such interventions as the Read Naturally program and EBLI instruction with small groups. Tier III interventions occur with one-on-one help based on skills and strategies that students need as identified by the classroom teacher. Due to the way we use the system, we are coordinating our efforts to work with struggling readers in a way that is meaningful and cohesive, and all occurs with the classroom teacher in the driver’s seat.

As Mike and Sara mentioned earlier, I also struggle with my own planning and finding time for collaboration is very difficult as we are not in the same building or even using the same materials in the Transition rooms. I know that if I am going to use a reading and writing program I also want to be able to assess that same program while making sure that we are using some form of standardized test that is aligned with the benchmarks and standards. Translation: I cannot afford to waste any time on 'meaningless' assessments. M.J.

Wow, I hadn't put a lot of thought as to what was going on when my kids were receiving interventions. The RtI coordinator and I meet weekly to discuss my student's strengths and weaknesses and I usually have a strategy or activity in mind but I don't know exactly what is being said when the students are out of my room. I have no common planning time with the interventionists as they start after the school day begins and they leave before the end of the school day. The entire time they are in the building they are working with students. I guess up until this point I figured any small group instruction was better than nothing but it is critical that the verbage we all use is the same. Just as I would expect the rules and porcedures to be the same ﻿throughout the school the instruction needs consistancy too. --Jodee Tuttle

**#3**

Chapter 9 & 22 – Gaby’s story elements resource
// On p. 163 we read how Gaby Layden jotted down a list of story elements as an intervention to help Jake retell (to weed out if the problem was in retelling or reading the book). Here is a resource that was developed by Gaby and Isoke Nia on the same topic. Although it is titled for 3rd grade, I’m sure older students would benefit if intervention is needed to work on coherent retelling. Any comments on Gaby’s and Isoke’s story elements? Ironically, this resource was found the first time I was reading this text, and before reading chapter 22 closely. P 461 – 465 describe these thoughts on story elements in great detail. Are “Movement through time” and “Change” possibly new to our thinking? Other thoughts on similar interventions? When I work with children on retelling, I tell them to retell the story like it's a movie in our head. They need to rewind to the beginning and don't leave out any important details. I started doing this because I have found that when a child is reading and then is asked to tell what they just read, they tend to tell what they just finished reading first. Which means they are starting at the end and then going back to other points in the story and not necessarily the beginning. Then their retell skips around and is confusing for me as the listener. Most of my students can retell a movie. For some reason, making the correlation between a movie and a story works. I have also given them the words, "I just read a story about..." and sometimes this lead-in will help them go back to the beginning as well. I haven't tried giving them the list that is described on page 163, but you can be certain that I will try this out as well. I have not yet read Chapter 22 and the pages outlined, but when I do, I may have to come back and add to this comment...until then...dot...dot...dot... Keri Cooper

**Mike**
 * // In addition to the questions and thoughts above, here is a place to post other ideas and burning questions from chapter nine, if any. //**
 * // Supporting Vocabulary . p.168"When children are asked to research every unfamiliar word, this can focus their attention more on the words they don't  // know rather than on the words they do know." Wow! That seems like the exact way vocabulary was thrust down my throat years ago, and something I've tried to bird feed my own students. I mark this sentence as a reminder to look for better ways to help build vocabulary for my students. **

**LOVE THIS, MIKE! I will also make a note of it. Thank you for drawing my attention to the statement in the book!** **Keri Cooper**