LAURA ROBB

AUTHOR, TEACHER, COACH, & SPEAKER

ORGANIZING READING INSTRUCTION

In grades four, and five many teachers have a large block of time for reading and can organize instruction into three or at the most four guided reading groups. Once students enter middle school, many teachers have 45 to 60 minutes to teach reading, therefore, meeting frequently with guided reading groups becomes a challenge or it is impossible.

Whether your curriculum is based on guided reading, reading workshop, or a more traditional model, three teaching and learning practices should be an integral part of instruction: Instructional Interactive Read Aloud, Instructional Reading, and Independent Reading.  As a principal I always refer to the “three” types of reading to my English staff. I encourage you do use these ideas and do the same.

INSTRUCTIONAL INTERACTIVE READ ALOUD

Reading can be taught, and having the teacher model in a think aloud how he/she applies a reading strategy and/or enlarges students’ mental model of how a strategy works. For this aspect of instruction, I suggest that the teacher models with a short text that matches the genre and/or theme that ties a reading unit together. Short texts can include a picture book, an excerpt from a longer text, a folk or fairy tale, myth or legend, a short, short story, or an article from a magazine or newsletter.

Once you’ve modeled how to apply a strategy such as making inferences, add the interactive component. The goal is to involve students as soon as possible for two reasons:

1. You can observe students’ thinking process. You can also identify students who don’t respond and confer with them to explore their reasons for not participating. Once you know why active involvement is minimal, you can help them gain the confidence to participate by helping them prepare to answer a question.
2. You’ll involve students in the lesson and make it interactive instead of passive. Involving students in the lesson can lead to engagement and an investment in the learning.

Here are some skills and strategies that you can model in interactive read aloud lessons:

• Making inferences
• Identifying big ideas and themes
• Identifying central ideas and themes
• Locating important details
• Skimming to find details
• Author’s purposes
• Purposes of informational texts (nonfiction) and literature (fiction)
• Literary Elements and how each supports comprehension: setting, protagonist, antagonists, plot, conflicts, other characters, climax, denouement
• Informational text structures and how these support comprehension: description, compare/contrast, cause/effect, problem/solutions, sequence, question/answer
• Word choice as a guide to pinpointing mood or tone
• Vocabulary building with an emphasis on: general academic vocabulary, figurative language and comprehension, using roots, prefixes, suffices, discussing concepts, diverse word meanings, and different forms of a word.

During class, the teacher can continually circulate among students to observe and offer quick, desk side conferences.

INSTRUCTIONAL READING

Instructional reading should happen during class. Students need to read materials at their instructional reading level—about 95% reading accuracy and about 85 % comprehension. Organizing instructional reading around a genre and theme—for example biography with a theme of obstacles—permits students to read different texts and discuss their reading around the genre and theme.

The reading workshop model is ideal for this type of reading instruction. The class opens with an interactive read aloud lesson that lasts about ten minutes and occurs daily. These lessons include vocabulary and word building. You can find books for students in your school library, your community public library, and in your class library and school’s bookroom (if you have one). Instructional reading books stay in the classroom, as students from different sections will be using the same materials each day.

Teachers have students chunk instructional texts by putting a sticky note at the end of every two to three chapters. When students reach a sticky note, they stop to discuss their books with a partner and then a group of four. During this stop-to-think time, students can write about their books, connect the theme to the book, and apply strategies and skills the teacher has modeled during interactive read aloud lessons.

Partners should be no more than one year apart in reading levels so they have something to contribute to each other. Students reading far below grade level learn with the teacher.

INDEPENDENT READING

Reading forty to sixty self-selected books can become the achievement game changer, especially for students who read below grade level. Students can read graphic novels, comics, magazines, e-books, and print books. By encouraging them to read accessible books on topics they love and want to know more about, you develop their motivation to read, read, read!

Have students keep a Book Log of the titles they’ve read and reread. Do not ask students to do a project for each completed book, for that will turn them away from reading. A book talk a month and a written book review twice a year on independent reading is enough. Trust and a personal reading life are what your building. In the archived newsletter, “Independent Reading” you’ll find directions for four book talks and for writing book reviews. You’ll find this newsletter under the tab, “Resources” on my website.

Students should complete thirty minutes of independent reading a night, and that should be their main homework assignment. Try to set aside two days a week for students to complete independent reading at school.

The question I ask teachers to reflect on is, Are my teaching practices more 19^th century than21^st century?

And if methods are 19th century is their any justification? In the 19^th and 20^th century, teaching focused on preparing students to work in factories, on assembly lines, and on farms. However, the learning demands for the 21^st century ask students to collaborate and use technology to learn and communicate globally and become creative problem solvers in a fast changing world.

When I was in high school I thought I was a great history student; I was an “A”student.  The class was like an assembly line. I am sure many readers will relate to my example. Every Monday through Wednesday I would enter class and copy down facts from the blackboard. I would start memorizing those facts each night for the quiz game every Thursday followed by my test on Friday. Typically, the tests were multiple choice, fill in the blank, and some matching.  I was good at memorizing facts and did very well.  I thought I was a great student of history.  Today, it is clear to me that all those facts I labored over can all be found on my iphone if a few minutes of time.  I never learned how to think about history, to problem solve, to question, to write.

The teaching I experienced does not prepare students for much at all, maybe to be good at trivial pursuit-but that is it.  Why does such teaching still exist?  It is time for a significant change not just in history classrooms but all classrooms as we work to teach students how to think creatively, to problem solve, collaborate, and to communicate. Rows and lectures are pure representatives of the compliant classroom, what I experienced ,and what I do not want children today to have to experience. The grades I received in those take notes and memorize for the test classrooms had incredible impact on what higher learning opportunities I had and of course others too.  It is crucial and time that some often lauded practices of the past end.

It’s critical to keep teachers abreast of the research best practice and on integrating technology into learning in meaningful ways.  This along with strong leadership can increase the rate of change. When used correctly technology can have a transformative impact on teaching and learning.  When technology is poorly integrated it simply takes the place of items used in past. As an example a SMART Board can become a very expensive blackboard.

We need to teach students for their future not our past.

Help teachers understand that meaningful student-talk can lead to analytical writing about texts by having them read professional articles and study professional books. A great starting place is to have groups of teachers read and discuss Writing to Read by Graham and Hebert.  My recommendation is that teachers focus on writing about reading for one unit of study so that students’ develop fluency with talking, thinking, and writing about their reading. In addition, students can debrief the benefits and pitfalls of writing about reading.

Invite one to two teachers from science, social studies, or language arts to share what’s working in their classes. Ask them to bring sample lessons and students work so teachers learn from each other. Encourage teachers who are reluctant o turn more of the talk and learning over to students to observe teachers whose classes are rich in interpretive talk and active-learning.

Focus your walkthroughs on observing the kinds of talk students engage in as well as the writing that follows.  Offer teachers choice when studying a professional book which means that you might have three to four book study groups running at the same time. Teachers should read a book that meets their individual needs. If possible, I urge you to join a study group and model ongoing learning.

Here is a list of professional books that can support your teachers:

1. Teaching Reading in Middle School: A Strategic Approach to Teaching Reading That Improves Comprehension and Thinking, 2^nd edition, by Laura Robb, Scholastic, 2010.
2. Teaching Middle School Writers: What Every English Teacher Should Know by Laura Robb, Heinemann, 2010.
3. SMART WRITING: Practical Units for Teaching Middle School Writers by Laura Robb, Heinemann, 2012.
4. Choice Words: How Our Language Affects Children’s Learning by Peter H. Johnston, Stenhouse, 2004.

Evan Robb, Principal Johnson Williams Middle School and author of: The Principal’s Leadership Sourcebook, Scholastic, 2007.

To develop students’ reading proficiency and motivation to read, you need to balance instructional and independent reading. Both kinds of reading are the foundation of these ten suggestions.

1. 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 such as human rights.
2. Independent Reading: in addition to instructional reading, students read thirty to fifty books a year —books they can read with 99% to 100% accuracy. Like sports, to improve their reading students practice skills and build automaticity in applying specific strategies.
3. Choice: give students choice in independent reading materials and as much as possible with instructional texts. Choice results in motivation and engagement because students explore their passions and interests.
4. Easy Access to Reading Materials: one of my eighth graders pointed out, “we need all kinds of reading [materials] at our fingertips.” My hope is that teachers will build class libraries with 700 to 1000 books and magazines on a wide range of topics and reading levels.
5. Teacher Reads Aloud: read aloud to introduce students to different authors and genres and model how you think about texts. Choose materials students will enjoy!
6. Discussions: these make learning interactive, help students clarify their hunches, and provide accessible peer models for thinking about texts.
7. Book Talks: invite students to present a book talk a month to advertise favorites. Over ten months, students will be introduced to 250 to 300 plus books recommended by peers.
8. Silent Reading: set aside twenty to twenty-five minutes of silent reading at school. This can be instructional and independent reading. Have students read at home for thirty minutes each night.
9. Readers Notebooks: Invite students to complete informal written responses in their notebooks. Students can draw, draw and write, or write their reactions to read alouds and instructional and independent reading.
10. Conferences: hold three to five minute conferences to discover students’ reading strengths, build self-confidence, and determine whether scaffolds are needed. Show students how to confer with one another and document their paired discussions.

These ten ways to improve reading provide research-based practices that can help students develop positive attitudes toward reading and read, read, read to build stamina and proficiency.

Evan Robb, Principal Johnson Williams Middle School and author of: The Principal’s Leadership Sourcebook, Scholastic, 2007.

Follow Evan Robb on Twitter: @ERobbPrincipal