Graffiti Talk

So...this is similar to chalk talk, but students get to write on their desktops.   It's time to get out your bucket of dry erase markers in a variety of colors.   Hopefully, you've been blessed with student desks that have light colored workspaces.   If the markers aren't visible, it's a no-go.

First, students will need to read text that will allow them to think for a bit.

Then, you will hand out markers.

Ask students to think of a comment, a question, an image and a connection that reflects their interaction with the selection.

Students will write these on their desks.

Next, students will travel around the room with their markers to read others' responses.   They should comment on at least two other desktops.   They can answer the question or add to the illustration.   They can add their own comments or questions.

I tried this out with "The Evil Eye" from Jamestown Publisher's Wild Side:Beyond Belief series.  
Here's how the discussion went in one of my advanced language arts classes:

Some cultures use charms to protect people from the evil eye.

One student has a family member with such a charm.

Black and white marbles, lemons, garlic, spit...all protection from the evil eye.

Students were fascinated with the fact that spit was used to protect a baby from the evil eye, if someone remarked on the baby's beauty without following the compliment with a criticism.

If you do not have a hoard of dry erase markers, make a mental note to watch for the August Back to School sales at Rite Aid and Walgreens.   Often the Sunday newspaper inserts will have coupons for additional savings.   Walgreens usually adds an additional teacher discount in August.

Readicide


Kelly Gallagher is a full-time English teacher who writes about the crafts of teaching teens how to read and write.   He's a dynamic speaker.   If you see his name listed among the choices of presenters when you attend your next conference, he's worth your time.

I found a copy of Gallagher's Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It in my principal's office last week.  It's a topic that I've heard him address in a hotel ballroom full of educators.   I've also read parts of his book online and seen him featured in a YouTube video.   Finally, I was able to read his book in its entirety.   You should too.

Gallagher elaborates on finding the sweet spot of reading instruction which lies somewhere between underteaching and overteaching books.   Our primary goal as reading teachers is to develop lifelong readers and critical thinkers.

The 50/50 approach is what works for Gallagher.   His students' reading is split evenly between recreational and academic.   He gives credit for the recreational reading, but he does not "chop it up" with worksheets and quizzes.   This type of reading is independent.   To develop academic readers, Gallagher puts in more supports for the reading.   He makes sure students use fix-up strategies when they become confused.   He creates a purpose for reading.   He activates prior knowledge.   These books may be too difficult for students to read them "recreationally."   Gallagher approaches classic literature by connecting the thinking that the book requires of them to the thinking that the real world needs from them.

You will benefit from his outline of the 50/50 approach, list of books that appeal to reluctant readers, explanation of what good readers and struggling readers do (don't do) while approaching a text...the list goes on and on.   Gallagher is a master teacher.   There are a couple of points that we do not quite agree on.

Gallagher does not have kind words for the Accelerated Reader program, a program I find helpful in aiding my students.   Yes, it can become a nightmare when teachers don't use it the right way.   Also, I think it was designed with a reward system in mind.   For example, when you reach a specific number of points, your teacher or school may reward you with a treat.   With the exception of end-of-year certificates, our school does not operate that way.   The students and I agree on a reading goal based on their independent reading level for their homework credit.   I provide silent reading time in class for them to reach their goals.   They take oven-book multiple choice tests on the book, so I can track what works and does not work for them.   The records are incredibly helpful to me as I can see their likes and dislikes and come up with book recommendations for them based on level, length, and/or topic.   I can also initiate conversations with them about books we've both read.   It's powerful for students to have lists of all of the books that they have read during our school year together.  

Additionally, in 8th grade I have not quite mastered the 50/50 model.   Most of my students, even the advanced ones, do not like reading more than one book at a time.   Many adults I know feel the same way.   In Gallagher's classroom, his students are reading one recreational and one academic book at all times.   This split focus frustrates my 8th graders, especially the ones who read slowly or have memory challenges.   I do occasionally have them use Probst's questions for interacting with texts, writing prompts or graphic organizers as they read.   Even so, I don't think that the amount/type of work I attach to their independent reading would qualify as the "chop up" approach that Gallagher rails against.   In eighth grade, students seem to enjoy telling me all about the book that they chose to read for themselves.   It's identity.

In spite of minor differences in the way that we approach reading instruction, I still believe that Gallagher is telling us the hard truth.   I do not oppose standardized testing in moderation, but some teachers, schools, school systems are losing sight of what it takes to create real readers.   Achieving a level of success on standardized tests and developing critical thinkers with a passion for reading are not mutually exclusive.

What can you do today?   Increase your students' and children's access to books, magazines, comic books, graphic novels...the printed word in general.   Providing a variety of reading material to students is the cornerstone of any effective, authentic reading program.   What changes can you make in your classroom to connect students with high interest reading materials in the weeks ahead?

What do good readers do?

If we are good readers and always were, we may not even know what makes us different from those who struggle.   This poster is a good reminder of ways a good reader approaches text.   I keep mine near the front of my room where it's in full view of the entire class.   It reminds me to model these types of interactions with the text when I am teaching students who need more support.

http://www.carsondellosa.com/cd2/Products/CarsonDellosa/PID-114098.aspx
  

I don't think that we can ever emphasize previewing the text enough.   As teachers, we are usually the ones who set a purpose for reading.   When we are looking at a selection in the literature book, we scan the before you read section for the big ideas. We look at the title and author of the piece. We look at the questions at the end of the reading and note which ones rely on basic comprehension.   Have we read anything by this author before?   When will we find out how the title connects to the story?   Do we understand what is going on before we turn the page?   Better re-read now than later.   Can we answer the basic comprehension questions at the end of the story when we're done?   No?   Well, don't even try the other questions since they get progressively harder.   It's time to re-read and look for the major plot points we missed.  

And I always caution them about the art in their literature books.   Ug.   The art.   I'm assuming that it's all in the name of cultural literacy that we drop gorgeous artwork down in the middle of stories that lead struggling readers astray.   I love art...passionately, but some readers have a difficult time visualizing what takes place in the text.   They are convinced that the art is there to help them and attempt to reconcile the image that they are trying to create from the author's words with the sometimes completely unrelated masterpiece.   So, you could preface just about every story by telling them to look at the artwork after they read and explain which parts of the image fit the text and which aspects do not.

When they are taking standardized tests like the Virginia SOLs, we have to let them read solo.   How can we help them set a purpose for reading then?   I encourage readers to look at the questions for a selection beforehand, just like we do in class.   I don't mind if they take the test out of order.   They should preview all of the pieces and see what they will be reading about for the next chunk of their lives.   Let's say that they have always wanted to read a story about a go-go boot wearing ferret that leads a town full of curious prairie dogs on a cross-country karaoke odyssey by hitching rides from truckers with wicked senses of humor.   What if that story is on the test?   Well, go for it!   Read that story first.

What about when the kids are living it up with their free choice independent reading?   How can you check for understanding then?   Remember those Probst questions I mentioned earlier?    Pull those back out again.   You can also use them in place of canned questions that don't appeal to your readers.

Do what good readers do!

Hey...is this thing on?

The first time I remember struggling as a reader was in college.   The textbook on the history of the English language was probably a good one, but I just could not get my brain to turn on as I read.   This became obvious when I attempted to take the quizzes that went with each lesson.   In short, I didn't do well.   I decided that I needed to trick my eyes into staying focused on the words by slowing down my pace.   I took a blank, white note card and moved it down the page as I read.   Honestly, this is the only change I made...suddenly, I was understanding everything and doing well on the assigned work.

This cheap trick may work for some of your students.   For readers who need even more of a line-by-line focus because the words tend to move on the page as with dyslexia, the E.Z.C. reader strips may be the ticket for you.   They are sold in sets of 30 at http://www.reallygoodstuff.com/product/ezc+reader+strips.do

Another good skill for all readers is active reading.   Remember how you wrote in some of your textbooks in college?   That's all active reading is.  

You may need to help your students develop a shorthand code for some of the common reader-text interactions.   Put a ? to identify confusing bits or new vocabulary.   Put a :) next to your favorite part, or a passage that made you laugh.   Put a :( next to sad moments.   Underline figurative language.   If it's a simile, circle like/ as to distinguish it from the metaphors.   Box personification and draw a stick figure in the margin.   Box hyperboles and draw a fish in the margin.   Put a ! next to something that surprised you.   In my teacher dreams, I imagine coming up with a bookmark on bright card stock, so they can find it in their book bags.

You can develop any system that works.   When I copy short fiction for them to read on their own, sometimes I add in my own questions in the margins, so they can check for comprehension as they read.   My advanced students appreciate this when we tackle something stylistically difficult like Washington Irving's classic "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow."   Here's an article about the same big ideas from someone else's experience:
 http://www.csun.edu/~krowlands/Content/Academic_Resources/Reading/Useful%20Articles/Beyond%20the%20Yellow%20Highlighter.pdf

Robert E. Probst's questions from "Dialogue with a Text" easily build choice into student work and are an quick route to interacting with the words on the page.   A link to his English Journal article is here and includes questions for readers to consider.   I typed the categories and questions up using a landscape layout (giving credit to Probst, of course) and asked students to staple the sheet to the inside cover of their reading journals.   You may need to model using all of the questions with a story that the whole class reads together.   I use Gary Paulsen's "Stop the Sun" because it's a great story, it fits easily into all of the question categories, and it's in the literature book. 

I feel that the strongest part of my reading program is self-selected independent reading, and I'm always looking for ways for students to respond to the text that they are reading on their own.   This activity fits easily.   I don't have them do all of the questions every time I give them a sustained silent reading period.   I usually have them choose three or four topics to address.   Building in choice is a great way to get good, thoughtful, meaningful work from 8th graders.   It helps students if you write a stop time on the board for when they should get to their questions.   Some students like to work on the questions as they read, but most prefer to get lost in their books for a while.   That means that they are becoming readers!
http://www.csun.edu/~krowlands/Content/Academic_Resources/Literature/Instructional%20Strategies/Probst-dialogue%20with%20a%20text.pdf

In 8th grade, it's important to "give up" some of your class time to independent reading.   It will be difficult at first, but you will see the payoff.   If you don't, then students who are working towards earning that Oscar for pretending to read, just may stay on that path all year.   It's best to start this in September, so you can find these students early and solve the mystery of why this child is not on task.   More on possible interventions later...