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| November 15, 2004 | Issue #03  Print
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| Info Update
ABC's of Reading Pertinent Participant Info Chatterbox
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Dr. Z-Coe's Corner
Regards,
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Dear FOR-PD Participant:
| Open Enrollment: | November 17, 2004 till January 14, 2005 |
| Spring Courses Start: | January 24, 2005 |
| Spring Courses End: | May 2, 2005 |
FOR-PD Needs Your Help
Are
you currently enrolled in the FOR-PD course? The FOR-PD
office needs to get some important information from you. Please go to
our Information
Request page and tell us all about yourself. We need to
gather information from each participant. Please help us gather this
information by completing the form.
Let's Book - Children's Book Week
Let's
rock.... let's roll... let's move... let's go... let's discover...
let's fly... let's do it all... with children's books! Children's
Book Week is a celebration of the written word, which
introduces young people to books, authors, illustrators and ideas.
The Children's Book Council encourages young people and their caregivers
to discover the complexity of the world beyond their own experiences
through books.
Looking for ways you could celebrate? The Children's
Book Council offers a list of online resources for celebrating
Children's Book Week. Some ideas include, In
What Book....a Classroom Battle of the Books or Create
a Favorite Book Awards Program of your own.
Let us know how you celebrated Children's
Book Week and we will include it in the next
edition of FOR-PD's Literacy Newsletter. Email at forpd@mail.ucf.edu
with the subject heading Children's Book Week.
Narrowing the Achievement Gap and Raising Achievement For All Students
The Education Trust, a non-profit organization focused on closing the achievement gap, just released a study on reading and math achievement of elementary students in 24 states, including Florida. The study is the first comprehensive analysis of student achievement on state assessments since the enactment of No Child Left Behind. "Most states we examined are moving in the right direction in reading and math at the elementary grades. But in many places, the pace of improvement is too slow to ensure that all students will be proficient in reading and math by 2014." The study found that of the 24 states for which at least three years of compatible state assessment data in math were publicly available, overall achievement was up in 23 states since 2002. Of the 23 states that had three years of reading data, 15 states had increases in reading achievement. These gains range from 15-percentage point gain in over-all reading achievement in Florida to 1-percentage point gains in Maine, Iowa, and Minnesota.
Florida Reading Results:
| Elementary Reading/English Language Arts Overall - 15-percentage point increase |
| Elementary Reading/English Language Arts -
5-percentage
point decrease African American - White Gap |
| Elementary Reading/English Language Arts -
5-percentage
point decrease Latino - White Gap |
| Elementary Reading/English Language Arts -
1-percentage
point decrease Native American - White Gap |
| Elementary Reading/English Language Arts -
6-percentage
point decrease Poor - Non Poor Gap |
Read the entire report States Are Moving in the Right Direction in Narrowing Achievement Gaps and Raising Achievement for All Students, but Not Fast Enough.
Florida Middle Grades Reform
The Middle
Grades Reform Act was created to provide
added focus and rigor to academics in the middle grades. With reading
as the foundation, all middle grade students should receive
rigorous academic instruction through challenging curricula, delivered
by high qualified teachers, in schools with outstanding leadership
which are supported by engaged and informed parents. The
Department of Education is seeking teacher input on the Middle Grades
Reform. Teachers can comment on the following topics:
Your input is valuable to the decision making process.
Visual Literacy
What is visual literacy and what does it mean to be visually literate?
Jerry Christopherson, in a presentation to the International Visual
Literacy Association in 1996, defined a visually literate person as
one who can:
- Interpret, understand, and appreciate the meaning of visual images.
- Communicate more effectively by applying the basic principles and concepts of visual design.
- Produce visual messages using computers and other technologies.
- Use visual thinking to conceptualize solutions to problems.
The skills listed above are increasingly more important to our students,
both for learning and for workforce preparation.
The research that supports visual literacy is very interesting and
can be used to help support classroom instruction. Below is a synopsis
of some of the research.
| Many educators and parents embraced the work and concepts of Howard Gardner's theory of intelligence. His research confirmed what educators already knew: Combining visual images with written text can help students remember what they read. |
| Allan Paivio supported Gardner's theory by postulating that visual and verbal information are encoded and decoded by separate, specialized perceptual and cognitive channels of the brain. Paivio's dual coding theory postulates that the brain involves independent yet interdependent systems so that concepts flow seamlessly between the linguistic labels and their visual representations. |
| Levie and Lentz reported findings from multiple studies that illustrations contribute to reader interest and enjoyment, affect attitudes and emotions, and provide spatial information that is difficult to express in words. It was also calculated that groups who used illustrated text out performed groups who didn't by 36%. |
| Robert Lindstrom explained the physiological basis of visual thinking in his book, The Business Week Guide to Multimedia Presentations. Our eyes are the most powerful sense receptor; they send information through two optic nerves that contain 1,000,000 nerve fibers. Nerve cells devoted to visual processing account for 30% of the brains cortex, much more than touch (8%) and hearing (3%). |
| Visual aids improve learning up to 40%. |
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A study conducted by 3M Corporation found that presenters who used visual aids were 43% more effective in persuading audience members. The study also found that audience comprehension and retention improved dramatically with color visuals. Additional findings include: color visuals increase willingness to read by 80%; color increases motivation and participation by 80%; color enhances learning and improves presentation by 75%; color is the critical factor in the success of the visual experience. |
So what does this research mean for the classroom? We encounter visual
information constantly: filling out forms, reading newspapers, passing
signs along the road, choosing consumer goods, or planning a vacation.
We see images daily on TV news programs, sitcoms, and music videos.
Students are surrounded daily by textbooks which use pictures and
symbols as well as words. Visual literacy is more than just an educational
skill it is a life skill. To reflect this new literacy, teachers must
include explicit instruction in how to read these visuals. We cannot
assume that students already know how to do this. Students must be
able to make sense out of what they see; they must also understand
how images are created and manipulated to elicit a particular response.
So, teaching should go beyond the literal to a deeper, meaning driven
interpretation of the image and ultimately to the ability of students
to create images to convey specific messages.
(Burkamn, L. (2002) Visual literacy: Learn to see, see to learn.
Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
)
Funding
Opportunities
Conoco
Phillips
Over the past 25 years, Conoco Phillips has been
producing educational videos and teacher's guides on math, science,
and environmental topics. The free teaching guides and videos cover
topics ranging from math and science to problem solving and protecting
wildlife.
Deadline: Open
Funding: Educational videos and teaching
guides
Eligibility: U.S. Public Schools
Contact: Teaching Tools, c/o Karol Media,
P.O. Box 7600, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18773-7600, 1-800-908-0994. Also visit
the web site at http://www.teachingtools.com
and click on the video or teaching guide you are interested in and
follow the directions.
Ronald W. Mitchell Convention Travel
Grant
Have you thought about going
to the International Reading Associations Annual Convention? Here
is your opportunity to apply for travel funding. The Ronald W. Mitchell
Convention Travel Grant provides funding to allow teachers of children
in grades 1-6 who might otherwise not have the opportunity to attend
an IRA annual convention. Two grants are awarded each year for up
to $1,000 each to support the first-time attendance of a teacher.
Deadline: December 1, 2004
Funding: $1,000 US dollars
Eligibility: Teachers of grades 1-6 who
have never attended an IRA Annual Convention
Contact: An application is available at the following
site: http://www.reading.org/association/awards/travel_mitchell.html.
For additional information, contact the Executive
Division.
Florida Reading Association: Marilyn
F. Sharp Classroom Action Research Award
The Florida Reading Association (FRA) is interested
in stimulating teacher-conducted classroom research throughout the
state of Florida. To accomplish this goal, FRA awards grants of up
to $500 for research projects conducted by full-time classroom teachers
employed in public or private schools in the state of Florida. The
award covers non-salary expenses connected to the classroom teacher's
research project. Teachers may apply for a research grant at any time
by submitting a typewritten PROPOSAL FOR RESEARCH. Click on the GUIDELINES
link to view the guidelines for preparing your proposal.
Deadline: Proposals received by January
1 will be considered for award by February 28.
Funding: $500
Eligibility: Full-time classroom teachers
employed in public or private schools in the state of Florida
Contact: Marilyn
F. Sharp Classroom Action Research Award - paperwork must be submitted
to the Studies & Research Committee Chairperson
Holidays, Happenings, & Events
| American Education Week | November 14 - November 20, 2004 |
| Children's
Book Week Let's Book |
November 15 - November 21, 2004 |
| The Reading
Expedition |
November 16 & 17, 2004 |
| FOR-PD Open Enrollment for Spring | November 17, 2004 - January 14, 2005 |
| 2004
NCTE Annual Convention "Significance" Indianapolis, IN |
November 18- November 23, 2004 |
| Thanksgiving | November 25, 2004 |
| National
Reading Conference San Antonio, TX |
December 1- December 4, 2004 |
| American
Reading Forum 2004 Conference A Silver Jubilee of Reading: Legacies, Realities, and Predictions Sanibel Island, FL |
December 10- December 13, 2004 |
| 2005
FETC Conference Celebrating 25 Years Orlando, FL |
January 26 - January 28, 2005 |
FOR-PD Reading Strategy of the Month
Do
your students struggle to find the main idea(s)?
Understanding the gist or main idea of a
text is a sophisticated reading task. This task is made even
more complex in the higher grade levels when main ideas are no longer
explicitly stated, but readers are forced to infer what the
author has intended as the main idea by looking at the supporting
details. The November Reading
Strategy of the Month focuses on teaching students how
to identify implied main ideas. The Herringbone organizer
is presented as a graphic way for students to organize
information pertinent to determining the main idea. Students will
need teacher modeling and many opportunities to practice identifying
implied main ideas.
Take a look at the reading strategy and the examples provided from
elementary and secondary levels. Try this strategy in your classroom
and then email us and tell us how it worked (forpd@mail.ucf.edu).
Also, don't forget to share the strategy with your colleagues. Each
month we feature an effective reading strategy, explain the rationale
behind the strategy, give directions on how to use the strategy with
students, ideas for adapting the strategy to different content areas,
ideas for assessing the strategy, and, of course, a printable PDF version
of the strategy. Check out our Reading
Strategy Archive to see past Reading Strategies of the
Month.
Literacy On The Web
Information
Inquiry for Teachers - Visual Literacy This web
site provides teachers with information on visual literacy and links
to activities. Learn about graphic novels and how they can motivate
your reluctant readers. Also, learn about how you can use film adaptations
of books to support student understanding of text.
Online
Visual Literacy Project Learn about the fundamentals
of visual communication. The basic visual elements are discussed and
how understanding these elements can help in understanding the visual
syntax. Visual literacy is defined as the ability to understand the
meaning and components of the image.
21st
Century Literacies - Visual Literacy This site
provides teachers with ready-made lessons that can be used with students.
Reading
the Image is an educational
project of the Nickle Art Museum and the University of Calgary. The
lessons contained on this site have students explore concepts, techniques,
contemporary art and artists, and historical figures connected to
the Nickle's collection. Students learn to read the meaning and significance
behind the art work.
Who's
Dancin' Now? Recent studies indicate that students
in grades 7-12 watch approximately 28 hours of television a week.
Do you have students that read that much? The lesson plans contained
on this site introduce students to the idea that visual images can
be read and interpreted, and that they can become literate in media
as well as text. (Grades 7-10)
Online
Visual Literacy Activity Introduce students
to going beyond the obvious with pictures. Site also includes links
to various museums.
Museums
Around the World This site contains many links
to different art, history, science, and children museums.
Teaching Visual Literacy Using Film This site contains information on using film as a means of motivation to read. There are 50 young adult films listed as well as discussion on how to use film in the classroom.
Visual Literacy Collection Check out this collection of internet links on visual literacy and visual literacy and art.
Picture This: Visual Literacy Activities Visual literacy activities to use the classroom.
To Kill A Mockingbird A visual literacy activity looking at the history behind the novel.
Visual
Literacy K-8 This site is for K-8 classroom teachers
who are interested in helping children to read and write information,
both print and electronic. This site contains free materials for teachers.
Picturing
Books a site dedicated to picture books.
A
to Z for Young Adults and Visual Literacy
Highlighted Books of the Month
Illustrations are an integral part of stories;
they help the reader make sense of text. Sometimes the illustration
accompanying text reveals that there is more going on with the story
than what is told in the written word. Picture books tell much of
their story through the images that accompany the text. This month
FOR-PD is highlighting picture books that can be used in a secondary
classroom.
Social
Studies
The Wall by Eve Bunting and Ronald Hillmer - A boy
and his father come from far away to visit the Vietnam War Memorial
in Washington and find the name of the boy's grandfather, who was
killed in the Vietnam War.
Pink and Say by Patricia Polaco -This is the true
story of a remarkable wartime friendship between a young White Union
soldier and a young Black Union soldier who are captured by Confederate
soldiers and sent to Andersonville Prison. The story brings up issues
of slavery and the senselessness of war.
Children
of the Dust Days by Karen Muller Coombs - This book focuses
on the experiences of children during the Dust Bowl era of the 1930s,
when prolonged drought, coupled with farming techniques, caused massive
erosion from Texas to Canada's wheat fields. There are photographs
on every page to support the text.
Science
The
Heart: The Kid's Question and Answer Book by J. Willis Hurst
and Stuart D. Hurst - This bright and colorful picture book
on the heart and how blood flows through your body is based on a real
question-and-answer session between world-renowned cardiologist Dr.
J. Willis Hurst and his inquisitive young grandson. Every answer in
the book is "kid-certified"-Dr. Hurst made sure his grandson
understood each explanation before he put it in the book.
Cell
Wars by Frances Balkwill and Mic Rolph - This book explains
how cells fight diseases and viruses to protect the human body. This
book supports the National Science Education Standards- Unifying Concepts
and Processes: Systems, Order, and Organization; Unifying Concepts
and Processes: Evidence, Models, and Explanation; Unifying Concepts
and Processes: Form and Function; and Life Science as outlined by
the National Academics of Science and endorsed by the National Science
Teachers Association.
Additional resources:
Picture
Books for Teaching Science
National Science Teacher's Association - Outstanding
Science Trade Books for Students K-12, 2004 Check out
other Outstanding Science Trade Books from previous years.
Math
Math
Curse by Jon Scieszka - A girl
finds herself trapped in a math curse when her teacher tells the class
they can think of almost anything as a math problem. Soon she sees
math everywhere. Scieszka and Smith join forces again to create another
lunatic masterpiece, and adults will writhe in sympathy as they remember
their own math curses.
Sir
Cumference and the First Round Table by Cindy Neuschwander
and Wayne Geehan - King Arthur and his knights have a royal tangle
of problems. Their rectangular table is too long and their triangular
table is too pointy, but they somehow must sit down and discuss the
shape of the future. Join a knight named Sir Cumference, his wife,
Lady Di of Ameter, and their son Radius as they use different strategies
to solve this quandary. Full-color illustrations.
Additional Resources:
Carol
Hurst - A list of picture books sorted by curriculum
area.
Bridging
the Gap: Fostering Interest and Ability in Content Area Reading
Picture
Books for Older Readers
Professional Book Recommendations: The
following books, while not brand new and hot off the press, are related
to the topic of this month's newsletter, Visual Literacy.
Visual
Literacy: Learn to See, See to Learn by Lynell Burmark (2002)
"Today, images have become an integral part of
communication." This book offers a wealth of practical tips and
strategies for powerful, effective presentations by teachers and students.
Teaching visual literacy can enhance student learning in the K-12
classroom. This book provides interesting research on the field of
visual literacy as well as a wealth of practical tips to use in the
classroom or for professional presentations.
I See What You Mean: Children at Work
with Visual Information by Steve Moline (1995)
"Information comes in pictures
as well as in words, and more usually in the kind of text that combines
images with words. Teachers across the curriculum, therefore, have
an obligation to teach students how to read and write these visual
texts." This book is full of activities which outline learning/literacy
strategies that require students to communicate graphically. These
strategies are especially helpful for students who struggle with writing
or who are visual learners.
I See What You Mean defines the purpose,
context, and outcomes of each kind of visual display. It explains
how to match written text with the most appropriate type of visual
text. It provides Big Book examples where many types of visual displays
are used. And it also includes a chapter on basic graphic design for
classroom publishing projects.
ARTiculating: Teaching Writing in a
Visual World by Pamela Childres, Eric Hobson, & Joan Mullin (1998)
How can teachers exploit the intersections between
the visual and the verbal to improve learning? The visual plays
a central role in today's multi-mediated, computerized society. This
book discusses the ever-increasing, multidisciplinary literature available
in the visual literacy area. The authors present practices in language
and visual learning that inspire further research specific to the
practice of our classrooms and the disciplines we teach. Readers will
learn how to adapt language and the visual arts across disciplines.
The activities featured in this book help teachers lead students to
opportunities for powerful learning experiences. The visual activities
meet student-specific objectives; they also provide teachers with
strategies that can be employed in a visual-based pedagogy that connects
classroom learning objectives with larger curricular learning objectives.
Monthly FOR-PD Tip
Course Completion Tips
Fall sections of the
FOR-PD course will be coming to an end before you know it! If you
have questions about your actual completion date please contact your
facilitator.
- Commit to the course. It is very important to be able to devote the time needed to successfully complete it.
- Log in to the course often. Many times facilitators will post messages and updates.
- Set goals and deadlines for yourself and stick to them.
- Plan ahead. Sometimes schedule issues and technology issues pop-up when you least expect them.
- Be self-motivated and self-paced.
- Pay special attention to discussion instructions and the rubric.
- If you fall behind, contact your facilitator.
Literacy Logs
Remember,
you should be keeping your literacy log in a safe place. While
FOR-PD does not collect literacy logs, some
districts require an authentic assessment in order to award staff
development points. You will need to check with your district staff
development office to see if this is a requirement in your district.
If it is, your FOR-PD Literacy Log along with a printed copy of your
grades should meet this requirement.
Course Pre & Post Survey
This
is just a reminder that the Pre and Post Course surveys must
be completed at the beginning and end of the course, as they are
a requirement. As you know, the purpose of assessment is to improve
teaching and learning. Not only do the surveys tell us how much you
have learned, but the information collected from in the surveys are
used to help make decisions about course content and revisions. Please
help us by making sure you have completed both of the surveys.
Reading Keys from Lessons 6-10
| Lesson 6 |
Student interest and motivation are key factors that influence
achievement and reading. Teachers should take into consideration
the interests of the students when choosing text to read.
Will the text motivate students to want to read more? Is the
text easily accessible to students? Does the climate of your
room invite students to read? Do you help students connect
to text?
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| Lesson 7 | There is a strong relationship between vocabulary knowledge and the ability to read and write proficiently. The scientific research on vocabulary suggests that children learn words indirectly in three ways: engaging in daily oral language, listening to adults read to them, and reading extensively on their own. Children must also learn words directly through explicit instruction and word learning strategies. |
| Lesson 8 | Reading comprehension involves interaction between the reader, text, read interest, and quality of teaching. The most effective way to teach comprehension is to scaffold students' comprehension through direct explanation, modeling, guided practice, and application. Reading is thinking. Students must be taught the skills needed in order to think through a piece of text. |
| Lesson 9 | To maximize students' literacy development, reading and writing should not be viewed as two separate subjects. Just as teachers should model what proficient readers do, teachers must model how proficient writers complete writing assignments. |
| Lesson 10 | Content area literacy refers to the ability to learn through reading. Every teacher, no matter what subject they teach, is a facilitator of reading! Who best to teach students how to read a document from history, than the person with the most knowledge of that subject matter? To succeed in content area studies, students need to know how to apply a variety of comprehension strategies to different types of text, analyze the text, and vary their reading strategies for the structure of expository texts and their purpose for reading the text. Content area teachers must teach strategically, meaning that they must select and teach reading/learning strategies that will enhance student learning and help students acquire the skills needed in order to become self-directed, independent learners. |
FOR-PD Interview
FOR-PD has just posted a new interview with Dr.
Joyce Fine on print-rich and
language-rich environments. Find out how
a print and language rich environment can impact student literacy.
You can listen to Dr. Fine as she answers each of our questions or
you can view her responses as text. We are interested in hearing
your responses to this interview, email forpd@itrc.ucf.edu
subject heading Dr. Joyce
Fine Interview.
FOR-PD Help Desk Information
The
FOR-PD Help Desk is available if you run into any technical difficulties.
Help Desk hours are:
Monday through Friday 9:30 A.M. - 4:30 P.M. &
6:00 P.M. - 10:00 P.M.
Saturday 10:00 A.M.- 3:00 P.M.
The phone number is 1-866-863-READ (7323) toll free,
Florida calls only. For non-Florida calls only 407-249-4702.
Technical support is also available through AOL Instant Messenger,
screen name "forpdhelp".
With the holiday approaching, it is important
to note that the helpdesk hours will be adjusted for the holiday as
well (Our helpdesk staff need a holiday, too!). The helpdesk will
NOT be available on Thanksgiving Day (Thursday, November
25, 2004). Regular helpdesk hours will resume on Friday, November
26, 2004.
People Are Talking
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|
Online Chat
This month's chat topic will be on visual literacy.
Based on the idea that visual images are a language, visual
literacy can be defined as the ability to understand and
produce visual messages. This skill is becoming increasingly important
with the ever-expanding proliferation of mass media in society. As
more and more information and entertainment are acquired through non-print
media (such as television, movies and the internet), the ability to
think critically and visually about images presented becomes a significant
skill.
Date: Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Time: 7:00 P.M. - 8:00 P.M.
Check
out these articles before you come to the chat:
Reading
Images and some
of the other articles linked to this one.
Visual
Education
Talking
about Visual Text With Students
FOR-PD would like to collect questions you
have about visual literacy before the chat.
Please email questions to cc@orion.itrc.ucf.edu
with the subject heading: Visual
Literacy.
Future Chat: Don't miss the
December chat on course evaluation! We value your input on the course
content, the support we offer, and anything else you feel would make
your FOR-PD experience easier. Come chat with us about your experience
Tuesday, December 14th at 7:00 PM.
Dear
Catherine,
Dear Catherine-
After I am finished
with this class will I still have access to all of this information?
There are some greatresources. I have been printing my lessons and reading the material
but I can't afford to print all of the material.
-Needing Help
Dear Needing
Help,
Unfortunately, the answer to your question is "no." Through
our web site, you will have access to the FOR-PD
Resources which is a searchable database that contains all the
links from within the course as well as other links to pertinent literacy
information. Also available on the web site are the Reading
Reminders at the end of each lesson, the FOR-PD
Reading Strategy of the Month, and interviews
with people in the field of literacy. I know that printing can get
very expensive, have you thought of printing two pages on a page or
saving the pdf documents of the lessons you are unable to print onto
your computer and printing them out later?
-Catherine
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