Timothy Rasinski, Ph.D. Kent State University

“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.”

Albert Einstein

“I would teach children music, physics, and philosophy; but most importantly music, for the patterns in music and all the arts are the keys to learning.”

Plato

“Art has the means of keeping alive the sense of purposes that outrun evidence and of meanings that transcend habit.”

John Dewey

            The impetus for this blog comes from something I have been thinking about for a number of years. I hope that this may be the impetus for more of us sharing our thoughts about the importance of the art as well as the science of teaching reading.

I have a confession to make.  My undergraduate degree is in economics. In my mid-twenties, after encouragement from many of my friends, I decided to become a teacher. To be honest, I thought becoming a teacher would be rather easy.  After all, I went through school and was reasonably successful.  I should know how it’s done.

            Well, I was in for a bit of a shock. Teaching is not easy at all. It is essential for a democratic and productive society, it is enormously satisfying and joyful, but it is definitely not easy.   My respect for teaching and teachers grew exponentially during my first few years of teaching (and it continues to grow). Teaching is one of the most challenging professions into which a person can enter. And, I think a major reason for the challenge of teaching in general, and the teaching of reading in particular, is that effective reading instruction requires teachers to apply what has been learned through scientific study of reading and reading instruction.    However, effective instruction in reading also requires teachers to be artists. Teachers have to be both – artists and scientists.

            Currently, there is a growing recognition of the importance of the science of reading (SOR) for reading instruction. The science of reading directs that successful instruction in reading includes systematic and explicit instruction in the key scientifically determined reading competencies – phonics and phonemic awareness, vocabulary, reading fluency, and comprehension.  

            Publishers and curricula developers have used these scientific competencies to develop reading curricula and materials that are, in many cases, largely scripted.  That is, teachers are directed to implement the program nearly word for word as is stated in the teacher’s guide.   It’s called fidelity. Among the problems that come with such programs are that they do not necessarily meet the individual needs of many students, and teachers can become alienated from their reading instruction and removed from important instructional decision-making in their classrooms.  Moreover, there is a lack of compelling scientific evidence that such scripted and scientific program lead to generalized improvements in reading for students. Note that reading achievement in the United States has barely budged since the report of the National Reading Panel, nearly 20 years ago,  that gave credence to the science of reading. Reading First, a national program for bringing scientific approaches into primary grade reading instruction, had little impact on student reading achievement.  

            Why have we not seen the progress that was anticipated by the science of reading?   I think that a significant concern is that we have not embraced the idea that effective teaching reading is an art as well as a science, and that teachers need to be artists as well as scientists. We need to allow teachers the creative freedom to develop and implement scientifically based reading curriculum that is engaging, playful, authentic, esthetic, and effective. In effect, I propose that we provide teachers with scientifically validated end-of-year benchmarks in phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension and then give teachers the creative license and professional support to achieve those benchmarks.   

Teachers will still teach phonics, but instead of exclusive use of highly scripted and monotonous tasks, drills, and worksheets that often accompany such instruction, students might be regularly engaged in guided word play and not realize that although they are having fun with words, they are also developing mastery over words. For example, have you noticed all the games we play for fun as adults that are, in essence, word games?  And have you noticed that if you are a regular player of Scrabble or Words with Friends or Boggle you generally improve in your playing over time? Improving your game is evidence of learning.   If adults love word games wouldn’t children?   And yet, in many classrooms games and play are often locked away or reserved only for when the “work” is done.   

Several years ago, I developed a game-like word activity (based on the work of Pat Cunningham and Isabel Beck) called word ladders. In a word ladder students make a series of words by manipulating each previous word (e.g. start with “cat” and change one letter to make a large mouse or rodent – “rat”;  change one letter in ‘rat” to make something a baseball player uses when at the plate – “bat,” and so on). To make it into a game the first and last words in each word ladder are related in some way – base to ball, dog to cat. Although children are playing a game in which they try to determine each new word on the ladder from the clues given, the activity itself requires students to consider deeply how words are encoded, decoded, and have meaning.

For another example, consider reading fluency, also a scientifically validated reading competency. Scientific research tells us that through rereadings (repeated readings) of texts students develop fluency over the passage practiced but also greater fluency (and comprehension) over new passages they have never before seen. That’s the science of fluency.  The art of fluency take this scientific notion and asks, “how do we get students to read a text repeatedly in authentic and meaningful ways?”   One artful answer to that question is found in the notion of theater and performance.   If students know that they will be asked to perform a poem, or a song, or a script for an audience they have an authentic and motivating reason for rereadings, or as they say in the theater – rehearsal. Moreover, not only does rehearsal of this sort lead to automatic recognition of the words in the passage, it also encourages students to read with an expression that reflects the meaning of the text – both are part of the science of reading fluency.

Art and science are not mutually exclusive endeavors.   Indeed, scientists generally have a great appreciation for art; and artists often take inspiration from concepts of science.  The great challenge is for teachers of reading, much like practitioners of medicine, to find ways to make the science of reading come to life in artful and authentic ways in their classrooms.   And the challenge for us who support teachers is to grant permission and provide professional support and encouragement that allows teachers to become the instructional scientists and artists that will create a revolution in literacy achievement.

You can find resources for teaching accurate and automatic word recognition (i.e. fluency) at Tim’s own website – www.timrasinski.com

Daily Word Ladders by Timothy Rasinski

Create positive change with TeamMakers by Laura Robb and Evan Robb

Follow Tim on Twitter @TimRasinski1

By Evan Robb

To develop students’ reading proficiency and motivation to read, we need to make daily teacher read alouds, instructional and independent reading, and writing about reading the core of ELA classes. 

There is no quick fix for the reading challenges faced by many schools, but we live in a time when the allure of a quick fix can be very strong. Many educators look for a new program to create a pathway to improvement–a canned program. I have not seen one work.  My experience is administrators want to “fix” things, to check the box that something is being done. This thinking does not work; it will not make students into readers; it devalues the teacher as a professional. I have never seen a program create a love of reading.  

Balanced literacy focusing on students reading actual books and short stories should be the foundation of a school’s reading curriculum.  Does your school have a balanced reading and writing curriculum reflected in each ELA classroom? If you are an administrator are your words supporting balanced literacy or creating a roadblock to change? 

Read over my five indicators that are present in classrooms where balanced literacy is part of the reading culture. If you are a teacher, compare my five indicators to your practice. If you are an administrator, these indicators will give you a framework to assess where your school is and to consider possible next steps.

1. Teacher Reads Aloud: Yes, reading aloud is perfectly fine!  Teachers reading aloud is a great way to introduce students to different authors and genres and model how the teacher thinks about texts. Choose materials students will enjoy! This practice goes south when teachers read out loud for a longer period of time as this diminishes the opportunity for other reading instruction.  Tip: The read-aloud should be 10 – 15 minutes of a class. 
2. Instructional Reading: Teach students to comprehend and think deeply about instructional materials to enlarge their vocabulary, enlarge their prior knowledge, and develop understandings of complex concepts.  Great instructional reading teaches skills and strategies at a student’s instructional level. Tip: Whole class novels are not a great way to go. All students rarely read at the same level. 
3. Independent Reading: In addition to instructional reading, students should read thirty to fifty books a year–books they can read with 99% to 100% accuracy. Like sports, to improve reading, students practice skills and build automaticity in applying specific strategies. When students practice with feedback and support, they get better!  It is perfectly fine and beneficial to students to set aside fifteen to twenty minutes of independent reading at school. Reading in school is not a poor use of teachers’ instructional time as long as it is a balanced part of the learning experience for students. It’s important for administrators to understand that teachers are not wasting instructional time when students are silently reading. Tip: Independent reading should always be a homework assignment for students; I caution against getting hung up on how to hold students accountable. Trust students and know that some will not read. However, don’t abandon a practice that improves reading skills because of a few students.
4. Choice: Choice is empowering for students and adults too! Give students choice in independent reading materials and as much as possible with instructional texts. Choice results in motivation and engagement; students can explore their passions and interests. Tip: Students have more choices when schools use funds to purchase classroom libraries and more books for the school library.
5. Discourse: Make learning interactive, help students clarify their hunches, and provide opportunities for thinking and discussing texts with a partner and in small groups. Tip: In our high tech age, conversing about books will always be valued. 

These five ways to improve literacy provide a balanced framework for research-based practices that can help students develop positive attitudes toward reading.  A balanced literacy framework develops reading skills and strategies leading to reading stamina, critical thinking, proficiency and yes, a love of reading!

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by Marlena Gross-Taylor

As educators, we all endeavor to inspire. We want to inspire our students, fellow teachers and if in a leadership position, those that follow us. But have you ever considered the definition of the word inspire, particularly the Latin translation of insperitae, “to breathe”? If we as educators are to inspire and encourage creativity in others, then it’s imperative we prioritize our white space to recharge. 

So how do you carve out time for whitespace as an educator?

5 Ways to Take a Breath…

Reflection

Consider your daily routines so far this school year.  When are you able to have a moment to yourself without any obligations?  Maybe that’s the car ride to and from school or even those few moments before you start your day.  Choose a time that’s best for you and commit to reflecting on the present.  This is not a time to mentally run through your ever-growing to-do list, but rather reflect on what you’re grateful for or what inspires you each day? 

Planning

Just as we have to be intentional with embedding our standards in our lesson plans, we must be just as vigilant in planning white space.  A full calendar doesn’t necessarily reflect productivity.  Set aside time on your calendar to relax, daydream, and grab a cup of coffee with friends.  If you’re worried about those menial tasks that consume precious chunks of your time, like cleaning your house or bathing the dog, consider outsourcing those tasks in order to free up time for yourself.

Family

As educators, many times our families take the back seat to our students, school and community.  Early in my career, I had to live with the guilt of missing a few of my boys’ milestones because I was teaching and/or leading. Set clear boundaries between work and family and plan around those milestones even if it meant taking time off to attend a field trip or sporting event. 

Passions                             

I absolutely LOVE being an educator and accept the full responsibility of impacting children’s’ lives; however, teaching is not my only passion.  I literally turn into Betty White in the Snickers commercial if I go too long without curling in my favorite chair to read or tucked away in my office to write.  What is your passion? Better yet, how do you make time to engage in your passion?  Through our passions, we can deepen our connection with students.

White Space provides clarity allowing us to refocus on our purpose: to inspire and ignite the fire of the next generation and hopefully modeling the importance of taking a breath.

Marlena Gross-Taylor is Chief Academic Officer for Douglas County School District in Castle Rock, CO. She is also a consultant, founder of EduGladiators, and a blogger.

by Laura Robb  (names are pseudonyms)

“All we do is read a few chapters and do worksheets. We never ask questions. No discussions. I hate worksheet packets and memorizing vocab for tests. I haven’t heard what my friends are reading. I want to talk about our questions. We never talk about anything much in class.”  

            Sorel, an eighth-grader, wrote these words in his notebook near the end of the first semester when his teacher, Ms. Walters, asked students: What changes would you like to see in reading?  The responses of most students repeated thoughts similar to Sorel’s. To her credit, Ms. Walters heard and absorbed her students’ comments. She had noticed their lack of interest and recognized the need to change. To students’ credit, they were honest and their candid comments nudged Ms. Walters to ask for coaching and risk the challenges of change.  At the end of October, Ms. Walters invited me to help her bring inquiry and student-led discussions of different books into her reading curriculum.

Reading and discussing professional materials, watching videos, and having frequent conversations about Ms. Walter’s myriad questions related to planning and observing lessons, supported change. Gradually, she moved from “my class” to “our class” by negotiating with students learning expectations and deadline dates as well as offering choices in independent reading. This short literacy snapshot illustrates the power of questions as a tool that can drive changes and foster a self-evaluative stance.

Why Pose Questions?

Readers and writers ask questions. Scientists and historians ask questions. Administrators and teachers ask questions. Posing questions is a way of understanding information, data, and experiences. In addition, raising questions supports learners as they dig deeper into a topic and text. With practice, wondering can also develop students meta-cognition—the ability to think about their learning, know what they understand, and identify areas that require additional practice

Too often in classes, questioning is actually recitation where the teacher prompts students for the “one right answer” to questions he or she asks. However, to develop independent readers and thinkers, to develop analytical and critical thinking skills, students need to be in the driver’s seat when it comes to asking and answering questions. 

When quality, student-generated questions define a class, meaningful learning takes place—learning that defines reading, research, collaborative projects, literary discussions, and notebook writing. As students wonder to learn, they begin to raise questions while reading and generate questions to solve problems, to research a topic, to conduct interviews, etc.

When Do Students Ask Questions?

Opportunities abound throughout the day for students to pose questions. Here are a few:

Mini-lessons:  Invite students to jot questions they have while you present a mini-lesson and ask these when you’ve finished. Such questions clarify students’ understanding and help them absorb new ideas. In addition, students’ questions can offer you insights into what they do and don’t understand about a lesson. With this information, you can design interventions based on observed needs.

Teacher read alouds:  Pause during your read aloud and invite students to pose questions about conflict, theme, or how events connect. Reserving a few minutes for students to share and discuss their questions shows them how much you value their thinking.  You’ll also gather insights into ways students react and respond to the text; this information informs future think-alouds, mini-lessons, and interventions..

Setting goals: Help students understand that raising questions such as, Is there a strategy I should work on next? What do I have to do to reach this goal?” can improve their learning. Such questions can develop independence because they place students in charge of decision-making and developing a plan to reach a goal.

Self-evaluation: Questions can also drive students’ evaluation of their work over time. Ask them to review and pose questions about several notebook entries, their entire process for a piece of writing, several quizzes, and tests, or their participation in collaborative projects. Here’s a sampling of questions that students might ask: Did I improve? How do I know I made progress? Is there something I did that stands out? Why did I struggle? What did I do to cope with my struggles? Did I seek help from a peer or teacher if I couldn’t resolve the issue?

A result of self-evaluative questions is the development of meta-cognition, the ability of students to reflect on their written work, assessments, and collaborations. Often, the result is that students accept the need for additional practice from their teacher or a peer that can support their growth as learners, critical thinkers, and problem solvers.

Questioning the Author: Isabel Beck’s and Margaret G. McKeown’s strategy, questioning the author, provides students with questions for fiction and nonfiction texts. The questions help students link words, phrases, and ideas to construct meaning from a passage they find challenging. To question the author, students might ask: Why did the author use that word or phrase? How does the word or phrase connect to the information in the sentence or to information that came before the sentence? How does the paragraph or section connect to the title? The theme or the main idea? The previous paragraph?  I suggest you put these questions on index cards that students can access because the questions can develop independence in unpacking meaning from challenging passages. Inquiry-based learning: Before and during a unit of study, students generate questions that drive their reading, investigations, experiments, and discussions. Researchers like Jeffrey Wilhelm and Michael Smith, show that when student-generated questions steer the direction studies take, they are more engaged and motivated to learn. Inquiry fosters collaboration, understanding information, analyzing texts, and researching topics.

Students Write Discussion Questions: Teach students how to pose open-ended, interpretive questions and invite them to work as a team when reading an assigned or self-selected text. Open-ended questions have two or more answers. Verbs such as, why, how, evaluate, explain, compare/contrast can signal interpretive questions. Returning to a text to write open-ended questions deepens students’ knowledge of plot and information, but it also raises the level of discussions to critical thinking. In addition, discussing their own questions motivates and engages students in the reading and exchanging ideas.

The Teacher’s Role

Providing a model for students, one that shows them how to raise questions during diverse learning experiences is what teachers do. For most students, becoming a skilled questioner won’t happen quickly. However, turning the questioning process over to students gives them opportunities to practice and to make their studies more meaningful. Meaningful reflection by teachers and students-–reflection that considers improving questioning techniques and gathering feedback can create a learning environment that values students’ wonderings as a path to progress and independence in learning.

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