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| April 15, 2005 | |
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| Info Update
In Focus
ABC's of Reading
Pertinent Participant Info Chatterbox
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Dr. Z-Coe's Corner
References: Schall, J. (2001). Unbeatable ways to reach your LEP students. Instructor Online. [Online] Available: http://teacher.scholastic.com/professional/specialneeds/lepstudents.htm Quality Multicultural Picture Books Picture books are a great way to create a knowledge and understanding of the many different cultures and ethnicities in the world. The following is a representative list of quality multicultural picture books:
Some of you are getting close to the
end of the semester. I would like to encourage you to keep up
with the readings, course schedule, and course assignments. The
FOR-PD course is a very comprehensive course; for you to learn
and benefit from it you will have to be actively involved in
the learning process. You should also continue to interact with
the course texts, your facilitator, and with your colleagues
in the course. Through our Quality Assurance Checks, ongoing
communication with FOR-PD facilitators, and with you, the participant,
we have been assisting many participants with the course. Periodic
reports from our office are sent out to participants and facilitators
about teacher needs in the course. We do not want you to stay
behind. We are here to assist you and help you learn and succeed.
We will continue our efforts to identify and support participants
who are having difficulties with pacing themselves in the course.
Your success is our goal! Best wishes, National Reading Center at UCF-read the full article by Chad Binette  Plans
are under way to build a new National Reading Center at UCF. On April
1, 2005, John and Carrie Morgridge donated $2 million towards
the new center. The Morgridge National Reading Center will help parents
and teachers learn about the most successful approaches
to helping children become better readers. The Dean of the College of Education, Sandra Robinson said, "Across the nation, there are so many effective strategies for helping children learn to read, but we need a better way to communicate those ideas. We want to help stakeholders from throughout the nation find and share the most successful strategies to teach reading to children, and we want to give teachers more professional development opportunities so they can become better reading teachers." The reading center will collect information about the most successful reading initiatives in all 50 states, U.S. commonwealths and territories, and schools on military bases. It will also showcase children's books by top authors. UCF plans to raise a total of $11.2 million for construction and the center's endowment. Half of the Morgridge's donation will help pay for a new building while the other half will be placed in an endowment to fund programming and operating costs after the center opens. 7th Annual Literacy Symposium-written by Matt Wiggins
 On April
1, 2005, FOR-PD and FLaRE sponsored the 7th Annual Literacy Symposium
at the University of Central Florida's College of Education. This year's
event was one of the most successful Literacy Symposiums to date! Well
over 500 educators from all over the state of Florida attended the
event. The UCF Gymnasium was filled to capacity for the keynote speaker
and distinguished professor of language and literacy at the University
of Georgia, Dr. Donna Alvermann. Dr. Alvermann's insightful presentation
focusing on content reading and literacy engaged all of the educators
in attendance. Enthused by Dr. Alvermann's presentation, the teachers
then spent the rest of the day attending presentations by other educators,
professors, and graduate level scholars. The general feeling from conversations  overheard
at the event was that teachers of all grade levels and interests were
eager to attend many of the eclectic sessions offered. Sessions covered
various topics from phonemic awareness and teaching students to make
inferences when reading to post-reading activities and using the Socratic
method to support reading comprehension. All educators in attendance
left the event feeling recharged to finish the rest of the school year
with their proverbial
"bag of tricks" filled with new teaching ideas. We hope to
see many more people next year!Click here to view the keynote address by Dr. Donna Alvermann - Content Reading and Literacy: The Spotlight is on YOU! School Library Media Month During
the month of April, the state of Florida is celebrating School
Library Media Month. The purpose of this month is to focus
the attention of Florida citizens on the services, programs, and resources
provided by school library media centers. It also provides opportunities
for highlighting how these services contribute to improving the quality
of education. During this month, National Library
Week is also celebrated,
which recognizes the impact of all libraries on the nation's citizens.
Your support of activities planned by your school library media specialists
is needed to make School Library Media Month in Florida a success. A statewide library media study entitled "Making the Grade: The Status of School Library Media Centers in the Sunshine State and How They Contribute to Student Achievement," authored by Dr. Donna Baumbach, showed that effective school library media programs help students function successfully in school, prepare them for lifelong learning, and enhance their reading enjoyment. Click here for a presentation on the results of the study presented at the Annual conference of the Florida Association for Media in Education (FAME) in 2003.  Make
sure you check out SUNLINK,
Florida's K-12 public school union catalog and database of shared
materials. There are resources there for everyone - teachers, parents,
students, principals, and media specialists. Celebrate the National
Library Week with SUNLINK and get free access to some wonderful databases: http://www.sunlink.ucf.edu/Gale/NLW05.html.FOR-PD Open Enrollment DatesThere are just a few more weeks to register for the summer session of FOR-PD! |
Dear FOR-PD Participant: 
| Open Registration Begins | March 14, 2005 |
| Open Registration Ends | May 2, 2005 |
| Summer Courses Begin | May 16, 2005 |
| Summer Courses End | August 22, 2005 |
| Open Registration Begins | June 20, 2005 |
| Open Registration Ends | August 15, 2005 |
| Fall Courses Begin | August 29, 2005 |
| Fall Courses End | December 5, 2005 |
Teachers wishing to register for either summer or fall courses will be able to do so from our homepage
http://www.itrc.ucf.edu/forpd. Look for the registration link during the enrollment dates.
Funding
Opportunities
Florida Learn and Serve/ Florida Department of Education (FDOE)
The Florida Learn and Serve program is designed to engage
students in service learning, school and/or community service activities
that apply academic currricula and education standards to improve academic
performance, promote civic engagement and career exploration, and address
community needs.
Deadline: May, 16, 2005
Funding: At least $318,800 total. A single school
or schools working together may receive from $1,000 - $12,000.
Thirty-five to forty grant awards are anticipated.
Eligibility: Individual or multiple public schools
(including charter schools), applying through their school districts
or school district consortia (Heartland, NEFEC, PAEC); public colleges
and universities.
Contact: Joe Follman, Florida Learn and Serve,
(850) 488-9661, or email: jfollman@admin.fsu.edu
Web site: http://fsu.edu/~flserve
Cable in the Classroom
Cable in the Classroom (CITC) is a public service initiative
enabling schools and national cable networks to air commercial-free,
copyright-cleared educational programs. Through this initiative, cable
companies and networks have provided free access to educational cable
content and new technologies to 81,000 public and private schools.
Deadline: open
Funding: Free monthly access to educational, commercial-free
cable programming.
Eligibility: K-12 public and private schools
Contact: Cable in the Classroom, 1724 Massachusetts
Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20036, (202) 775-1040.
Web site: http://www.ciconline.org
RGK (Ronya and George Kozmetsk) Foundation
The RGK Foundation focuses on three areas: education,
community, and medical/health. The foundation's interests include
programs that target formal K-12 education, specifically in the fields
of math, science, and reading. The foundation also supports integrating
technology into the curriculum, teacher development, literacy, and
higher education. Another goal of the Foundation is to reach out
to more female and minority students in the areas of math, science,
and technology.
Deadline: open
Funding: Up to $25,000 per award.
Eligibility: Nonprofit 501(c)3 organizations
Contact: RGK Foundation, 1301 West 25th Street, Suite 300, Austin, TX 78705-4236, (512) 474-9298.
Web site: http://www.rgkfoundation.org/guidelines.php
Holidays,
Happenings, & Events
Young
People's Poetry Week |
April 11 - 17, 2005 |
| April 16, 2005 | |
| April 22 -23, 2005 | |
International
Reading Association Annual Convention |
May 1 - 5, 2005 |
| May 9 -13, 2005 | |
FOR-PD Summer Session
|
May 16-August 22, 2005 |
| June 13-15, 2005 | |
FOR-PD Open Enrollment for
Fall |
June 20-August 15, 2005 |
2005 Literacy Through Leadership Conference Hilton Daytona Beach/Ocean Walk Village |
July 12 - 14, 2005 |
Reading First, Reading Coaches Conference |
August 8-11, 2005 |
| October 20-23, 2005 |
April is National
Poetry Month, which brings together
publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools,
and poets around the country to celebrate poetry and its vital place
in American culture. April 2005 marks the 10th celebration of the
National Poetry Month. Join in the celebration this year!
Resources for National Poetry Month:
Launch a Poetry Book Club
30 Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month
Poems
for All Occasions
The Academy of American Poets
Diversity in the United States is growing. The US continues to see immigration rates increase while Hispanic birthrates are exceeding that of other ethnic groups. What does this all mean for the classroom teacher? You will likely have English language learners sitting in the desks that occupy your room. This month's In Focus section is about supporting English language learners in the content area classroom.
Teacher Inquiry - Scaffolding ELL Readers
Middle school teacher, Barbara Fagan, participated in an inquiry study focusing on helping her ELL readers recall and synthesize key text information. Barbara found that although the students felt they understood the text they were often at a loss to recall key information and could not synthesize the most important main ideas from the chapter. She wanted her ELL students to understand that comprehension is hard work, that reading was more than just reading words on a page. Reading required thinking.
Research emphasizes the need for students to have a firm basis in their native language literacy skills before they acquire a second language (Fagan, 2003). This promoted her to look into the academic backgrounds of her students. Ten of the students had completed fifth grade in their native countries and did not have interrupted schooling prior to arriving in the United States. These students should have developed literacy skills in their native language. The other ten students completed less than five years of education in their native countries and were deficient 1.5 years or more in their native language education. She found that many of her students had not experienced developmental reading strategies in their native language. Because of backgrounds and reading levels, Fagan (2003) decided to introduce all of her students to the reading strategies.
Fagan (2003) introduced three reading interventions to her ELL readers. The first intervention strategy helped students to stop and think about what they were reading. A T-chart was developed where the teacher and students could record their thinking. The teacher modeled for the students exactly what she wanted them to do. After reading segments of text, the students were prompted to stop and described the main idea of what was just read. The segment was reread for reinforced comprehension. Then the students listed 2-3 words from the segment that were unknown or unfamiliar. The T-chart helped student's focus on what was important to remember from the text. When the teacher shared her responses with the students, they were able to compare thinking and see if they had selected similar main ideas. Through this scaffolding, Fagan's (2003) students seemed very interested in learning more about how adults remembered what they read.
Once students were comfortable using the T-chart, Fagan introduced them to the second intervention, using sticky notes. Fagan came across the statement, "leaving tracks," in Harvey and Goudvis' (2000) Strategies That Work. "Leaving tracks is exactly what good readers do, they leave tracks as they write in the margins, use sticky notes, or highlight parts that they can reread when they return to the book (p.39)." Fagan decided that she would use sticky notes with her students, as writing in the margins and highlighting were not feasible interventions with school-purchased materials. Her students would move from writing main ideas on a T-chart to writing key words on a sticky note. Again, Fagan modeled what she wanted her students to do. After reading the first chapter, students recorded 3-5 words that would tell what was most important about that section. Teacher and student shared what was recorded and discussed why certain key words were selected. The sticky notes later helped the students to write a summary of what was read.
The final intervention Fagan used was called Key Words. Before reading, she had students place sticky notes on selected pages. When they came to the sticky note in their reading, they were promoted to write down 3-5 key words that would help them retell the story. At the end of the chapter, students compared their key words with each other. Sharing of key words helped students to focus on which words qualified as key words. Classmates could ask for a justification as to why the word was chosen. This activity lead Fagan to include additional mini-lessons on how to choose appropriate key words and why some words would not be as useful to students when writing their summaries.
Fagan continually analyzed work samples, constantly watched and listened to responses students gave in class, and observed the process students used to select key words. Through discussion she was able to talk to students about their choices and understand the strategies they used. She asked the students to reflect on the use of the strategies. The inquiry study helped Fagan to know and understand her students' thinking processes. By analyzing student work, she was able to reflect on her student's understanding of the strategy and plan for instruction to meet their needs. "I am confident that my students know why they are using this reading strategy, and even if they are not reading at grade level, they have a grasp and understanding of the reading process that they can apply to future classes (p.42)."
Click on the link below to read the full article.
Fagan, B. (2003). Scaffolds to help ELL readers. Voices from the Middle, 11(1), p. 38-42.
Harvey, S. & Goudvis, A. (2000) Strategies that work: Teaching comprehension to enhance understanding. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.
Are You Meeting the Needs of Your English Language Learners (ELLs)?
Teachers working with multilingual and/or multicultural students need to be informed about second language acquisition theory and research and issues related to diversity. Teachers should be aware of materials that support their students' first languages. Most importantly, teachers need to develop effective methods for teaching students whose backgrounds and experiences are different from their own. The following are key questions teachers should ask themselves as they develop curriculum and plan for instruction in their classroom. Answer each question and then look at the comments that follow.
| 1. Is your curriculum organized around "big" questions? By organizing your curriculum around big questions, you can involve students in investigating issues relevant to their own lives. As students explore the big questions, teachers can provide text that is rich and comprehensible. There are many reasons to organize curriculum around big questions. Students see the big picture so they can make sense of English language instruction. Big questions lead to content integration so that students can see the connections. Vocabulary is repeated naturally in different content areas. By using big questions, teachers can connect learning to students' lives, making the curriculum more interesting to the student. This leads to students who are fully engaged and who experience more success. Finally, through the use of big questions, lessons and activities can be differentiated to meet the needs of all students. |
| 2. Are students involved in authentic reading and writing experiences? As students investigate the big questions, they must have access to relevant fiction and non-fiction texts. Whole pieces of text are more comprehensible than simplified texts or excerpts because the text is richer. Engagement with authentic literature promotes literacy as well as cognitive, academic, and language development (Freeman & Freeman, 2000). While students read and research their big questions, they use different kinds of writing, which increases their understanding. |
| 3. Is there an attempt to draw on student background
knowledge and interests? Are students given choices? Topics that do not relate to students' lives often leave them bored and confused. Standard school curriculum assumes that all students have similar life experiences. As a result, ELL students may find it difficult to make connections between what they are studying and what they know. By giving students choices in the questions they want to investigate, teachers can create greater possibilities of students connecting their experiences with what they are studying in school. It is important for teachers to understand how to pick text that draws on the students' background knowledge and interests. |
| 4. Is the content meaningful? Does it serve purpose for the learners? Teachers know that their ELL learners are capable learners who need challenging curriculum in order to develop their academic potential. At the same time though, teachers recognize that limited language proficiency makes learning more difficult. Teachers must embed language in a meaningful context. By embedding language in meaningful contexts, teachers ensure that concepts will be presented in ways that help learners understand the lesson and develop the academic English needed to succeed in school. "Language is best learned in the process of studying academic content" (Briton & Master, in Freeman & Freeman, 2000). Students develop both language and content at the same time. Language is kept in its natural context. Students learn the vocabulary associated with that subject. Finally, teachers who use real content for teaching language provide students with genuine reasons to learn the language. Students use language for authentic purposes. |
| 5. Do students have opportunities to work collaboratively? Language acquisition is a social activity (Smith in Freeman and Freeman, 2000). By helping each other make sense of content and concepts, students develop language in authentic social contexts. By engaging students in collaborative work, they develop academic language needed to expand knowledge of academic content areas. Teachers should take into account language proficiency when grouping students. For some activities, it is good to put ELLs in the same group with native English speakers. In other activities, it is better to group students with other native language speakers. This allows ELLs to use their first language to explain difficult concepts. |
6. Do students read and write as well as speak and listen during their language experiences? |
| 7. Are students' primary languages and cultures valued, supported, and developed? ELLs who develop their primary language acquire a second language more quickly (Freeman & Freeman, 2000). ELLs need cognitive, academic, and language development in their first and second languages (Collier in Freeman & Freeman, 2000). Academic concepts and knowledge of literacy are more easily learned in the primary language. Students can then transfer this knowledge to English. Although instruction in the student's primary language may not be feasible, teachers must find ways to support those languages and involve students in activities to explore the cultures of all students in the classroom (Freeman & Freeman, 2000). |
| 8. Are students involved in activities that build their self-esteem and provide them with opportunities to succeed? Teachers who have faith in their students and students who have faith in themselves can achieve high expectations. Teachers should organize curriculum around big questions, involve students in authentic, meaningful, and collaborative reading and writing activities, and support and value all students' language and cultures. |
The questions presented above are intended as a guide for assessing classroom practice. The authors believe that when teachers can answer yes to most of the questions, they are meeting the needs of ALL their students, including English language learners (ELLs).
Click on the link below to read the full article. The authors include examples of text that can be used with ELLs.
Freeman, D. & Freeman, Y. (2000). Meeting the needs of English language learners. Talking Points, (12) 1., p. 2-7.
Promoting ELLs' Academic Literacy
As English language learners (ELLs) strive to meet the demands of high academic standards, they face the challenge of learning, comprehending, and applying the academic English used by teachers and textbooks to deliver important information. Academic language is crucial for school success; however, it is this language that develops slower and more systematically in the academic setting (Short and Echevarria, 2004/05). Teachers need to understand how to deliver content to ELLs in strategic ways that make the concepts comprehensible while promoting the students' academic English language development. The following strategies can help teachers promote academic literacy among English language learners in all subject areas.Identify the language demands of the content course. |
What aspects of English do students need to know and apply to succeed in the class? Students may have to write comparison/contrast or problem/solution essays, read a text and take notes, or give oral presentations using technical vocabulary. All of these tasks require academic language. What are the language standards of your classroom? |
|---|---|
Plan language objectives for all lessons and make them explicit to students. |
Do you discuss the language objectives of your classroom? By understanding the language demands of the classroom, teachers can develop language objectives related to key vocabulary, reading, writing, listening, and speaking tasks. |
Emphasize academic vocabulary development. |
Expanding vocabulary for ELLs in the content
area classroom must go beyond the highlighted words in the
text to include words crucial to conceptual understanding of
a topic. This not only includes technical terms, but expressions
as well. Teachers can use strategies such as word walls, semantic
maps, and structural analysis to help students organize words
in meaningful ways. |
Activate and strengthen background knowledge. |
Many ELLs struggle with curriculum content because
they lack background knowledge or have gaps in information they
have learned. Teachers must either activate what prior knowledge
exists or explicitly build the background knowledge needed. |
Promote oral interaction and extend academic talk. |
Oral language development can help ELLs acquire literacy skills and access new information. Teachers should talk less and engage students in discussions. Discussions teach students to be active listeners. ELLs should be encouraged to join in the discussion. |
Review vocabulary and content concepts. |
Teachers should schedule reviews at the end of
each lesson, pointing out key concepts, academic vocabulary,
and making connections to the lesson's objectives and standards. |
Give students feedback on language use in class. |
Content area teachers should talk explicitly with students about word choice, ways to compare information, and techniques for explaining solutions. Calling attention to language used in content lessons is valuable to ELLs as they develop academic language. A science teacher is the most experienced person to show students how a scientist uses language to communicate scientific information. |
Short, D. & Echevarria, J. (2004/2005) Teacher skills to support English language learners. Educational Leadership, 62(4), p. 8-13.
Resources on the WWW
FLaRE Research Document - Limited English Proficiency
This document reviews research on language and literacy, characteristics of LEP students, and provides tips on how teachers, principals, and parents can help LEP students succeed in literacy.
Effective Reading Programs for English Language Learners
This report, published by the Center for Research on the Education
of Students Placed At Risk
(CRESPAR), argues that some empirical evidence suggests that
bilingual programs-especially paired bilingual strategies that teach reading
in the native language and English at the same time, produce superior results
when compared to immersion programs.
NCTE Teacher Resources - English Language Learners
The National Council of Teachers of English recognizes bilingual and bicultural
education as basic components of the English/Language Arts field. Teachers
of English in bilingual settings should have professional preparation in the
field. NCTE encourages teachers to cooperate with colleagues in bilingual education
programs, to become familiar with bilingual education aims and methods, and to
draw upon bilingual literature to help in meeting the needs of those students.
This web site contains teaching strategies, professional readings, and other
resources helpful for teachers.
Center
for Multilingual, Multicultural Research
The Center facilitates research collaboration, dissemination, and professional development in multilingual education, English-as-a-second-language and foreign language instruction, and multicultural education.
The Internet TESOL Journal
A monthly Web journal of articles, research papers, lesson plans, classroom handouts, teaching ideas, and links, all related to ESL. The journal also maintains TESL/TEFL/TESOL/ESL/EFL/ESOL links of interest to students and teachers of English as a second language.
National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition (NCELA)
NCELA collects, analyzes, and disseminates information relating to the effective education of linguistically and culturally diverse learners in the U.S.
National Clearinghouse
for ESL Literacy Education (NCLE)
NCLE, the only national information center focusing on the language and literacy
education of adults and out-of-school youth learning English, works to support
those providing such services.
The Reading Matrix: An International Online Journal
The Reading Matrix is a fully-refereed journal with an editorial board of scholars in the fields of second language acquisition and applied linguistics. The journal is interested in exploring issues related to second language learning and teaching.
Fostering Academic Success for English Language Learners: What Do We Know?
This web site synthesizes information on ways to better foster educational practice and accountability for the success of ELLs.
Office of English Language Aquisition (OELA)
The Office of English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement for Limited English Proficient Students (OELA) administers Title III of No Child Left Behind Act (2001). OELA also provides national leadership in promoting high quality education for English language learners (ELLs).
Dave's ESL Cafe
This resource is for students
of all ages learning English and for teachers of English as a foreign
language. It features Idiom, Slang, and Phrasal Verb pages, a Job Center,
and discussion groups for students and teachers.
From Language to Language
This website allows
students to translate words from English to six other languages including
Spanish, German, French, Turkish, Italian, and Russian. Also, any
of these language can be translated to any other of the languages!!!
Tips for Teachers: Working with LEP Students
While there
are many strategies available for teachers to use to enhance learning,
there are also simple ideas to help increase communication and understanding
between teachers and Limited English Proficient students. Here are
a few methods to try.
Tips for Teachers: Specific Strategies for Working with LEP Students
There are many types of strategies to use with Limited-English Proficient (LEP) students that help bridge any gaps they may have with the English language. The following are sample strategies that can help LEP students develop their literacy skills.
Sunshine State - TESOL
This web site contains
an array of information for those interested in teaching English to
speakers of other languages. Contents include links of interest, professional
development and information on academic programs in Florida.
FOR-PD Reading Strategy of the Month
FOR-PD's Reading Strategy of the Month focuses on a reading and
study strategy that will help all learners in the content area classroom.
Textbooks are the main source of reading material in content
area classrooms. Yet, many students struggle with reading and
comprehension for two reasons. First, many of the textbooks used
in schools today are written at a level above the grade level
it is intended to be used in. Second, students generally lack strategies
for tackling the textbook. One strategy that
has proven effective for helping students strategically read a textbook
is SQ4R-Survey,
Question, Read, Recite, Review, Reflect. This strategy gives
students a process for previewing the text, developing questions,
setting a purpose for reading, summarizing what is read, and reflecting
on how this new information can be used. Check out the FOR-PD
Reading Strategy of the Month to learn how to use the
SQ4R strategy.
Take a look at our current 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
Planet Book Club - What would it take to get children so engaged in their reading that they'd be eager to talk about it with their classmates? How could a curriculum be structured to support student-led discussions? And how could reading, writing, speaking, and listening be integrated in such a curriculum? This web site contains various resources to help teachers and students interact in book clubs. The web site offers an online discussion area where students and teachers can discuss various books. For teachers, there are novel resources provided.
Do You Really Know Dewey? This site was created for kids by kids. Learn about how the library is organized via the Dewey Decimal System.
Text Twist - How many words do you know? Make as many words as you can with the letters you're given. Use all your letters to make a word and you'll move on to the next round. If you get stuck, just click on Twist for a hint. Don't worry, we've already thought of all the words. You just have to tell us what they are!
17 Ways to Keep Your Middle Schooler Turning the Pages -Check out this page filled with ideas you can share with parents.
Harper Teen - Looking for a site that will keep you up to date on new releases in young adult literature? Check out Harper Teen. You can sign up to receive a newsletter on all the latest releases. Reading guides are also included on the web site.
Edutopia -This web site was created by the George Lucas Educational Foundation. It is packed with information and resources for implementing project-based learning. Besides reference and resource lists, the site links to an online professional development course module. Lively descriptions (accompanied by online videos) show how student projects across the United States are successfully deepening student learning and connecting kids to real-world situations.
Reading Strategies That Assist Content Area Reading - The Sarasota County Public School District in Florida dedicates a section of its web site to Meeting the Secondary Reading Challenge: Interdisciplinary Reading in the Content Areas. Learn about reading strategies that assist content-area reading, including vocabulary building, graphic organizers, journals, note-taking, and activities for before and after reading. Find out how semantic mapping and photographed vocabulary strategies, for example, can help students retain information.
SCORE CyberGuides: Teacher Guides and Student Activities - CyberGuides are supplementary, web-delivered units of instruction centered on core works of literature. Each CyberGuide contains a student and teacher edition, standards, a task and a process by which it may be completed, teacher-selected web sites and a rubric. Guides are available for K-12.
Highlighted Books of
the Month
A
Child's Introduction to Poetry: Listen While You Learn About the
Magic Words that Have Moved Mountains, Won Battles and Made Us
Laugh and Cry by Michael Driscoll & Meredith Hamilton
(Illustrator)
Hey there! I'm Professor Driscoll, and I'll be your guide as we explore the
wonderful world of poetry, a fun and exciting place where anything can happen
through the magic power of words. Get ready to visit imaginary lands filled with
fascinating creatures like "Jabberwocks," or to travel backwards in time over 2,000 years to ancient Greece, or to be transported to far-away places like mountains, meadows, or big city streets. On the first part of our journey we'll get to know all the different types of poetry with their weird and wonderful names like lyric, haiku, sonnet, and villanelle. During the second part we'll get to meet some of the most famous poets of all time. Brilliant men and women such as William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Maya Angelou, and many more, who have used their imaginations to create all of the wonderful places and people we'll read about in this book. Best of all, we can listen to the poems being read aloud as we read along on the page.
Turn on your imagination and let's be on our way! (From the Publisher)
Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook by Shel Silverstein
Welcome to the world of Runny Babbit and his friends Toe Jurtle, Skertie
Gunk, Rirty Dat, Dungry Hog, Snerry Jake, and many others all denizens of the green woods where letter-flipping runs rampant. In this madcap world, pea soup is sea poup, Capture the Flag is Fapture the
Clag, and snow boots are bow snoots. Each poem incorporates the same kind of
switcheroo wordplay. (From the Publisher)
Science Verse by John Scieszka & Lane Smith (illustrator)
What if a boring lesson about the food chain becomes a sing-aloud celebration
about predators and prey? A twinkle-twinkle little star transforms into a
twinkle-less, sunshine-eating-and-rhyming Black Hole? What if amoebas,
combustion, metamorphosis, viruses, the creation of the universe are
irresistible, laugh-out-loud poetry? Well, you're thinking in science verse,
that's what. And if you can't stop the rhymes...the atomic joke is on you. (From the Publisher)
No More Homework! No More Tests! Kids' Favorite Funny School Poems by Bruce Lansky & Stephen Carpenter (illustrator)
Just in time for school comes the funniest anthology of poems about school ever collected. Chosen by a panel of children, this compendium includes works from such authors as Bruce Lansky, Jack Prelutsky, Colin McNaughton, Carol Diggory Shields, Kalli Dakos and others. (From the Publisher)
Cool Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Growing Up Latino in the United States by Lori Carlson (editor) and Oscar Hijuelos (Introduction)
Here are the sights, sounds, and smells of Latino culture in America
in thirty-six vibrant, moving, angry, beautiful and varied voices,
including Alicia Gaspar de Alba, Ana Castillo, Sandra Cisneros, Luis
J. Rodriguez, Gary Soto, and Martin Espada. Presented in both English
and Spanish, each poem helps us to discover the stories behind the
mangoes and memories, prejudice and fear, love and life-how it was
and is to grow up Hispanic in America. (From the Publisher)
Angst!: Teen Verses from the Edge! by Karen Tom (editor), Kiki (editor), Matt Frost (illustrator)
Every day thousands of teenage girls log on to a unique Web site called PlanetKiki.com.
They come for the gossip, the advice and beauty tips. But mostly they come for
each other. Seventy-five percent of Planet Kiki's content is created by its audience,
and the most compelling chunk of that content is the poetry. Raw, soul-baring,
outspoken, unfiltered, direct-here are the voices of teenage girls worldwide,
at their most expressive. ANGST! compiles the best of Planet Kiki's poetry in
an edgy anthology on the agony and the ecstasy of being a teenager. ANGST! covers
the full spectrum of the girl's experience: the struggles with falling in love,
being unpopular, braking up, feeling alienated, searching for life's meaning,
bonding with friends, even the awkwardness of not having the right clothes. Uplifting,
commiserating, humorous, and always passionate about telling the truth, these
are poems that speak from the teenage heart, to the teenage heart. Following
the poems is a Poetry 101 primers, complete with tips on subjects, forms, rhyming
and technique, plus brief bios of the poets featured. (From the Publisher)
Paint Me Like I Am: Teen Poems from WritersCorps by WritersCorps & Bill Aguado
Paint Me Like I am is a remarkable collection of poems by teens who have taken part in writing programs run by a national nonprofit organization called WritersCorps. Represented are teens from three major American cities: San Francisco, Bronx, New York, and Washington, D.C. To read the words of these young people is to hear the diverse voices of teenagers everywhere. (From the publisher)
You Remind Me of You: A Poetry Memoir by Eireann Corrigan
A startling autobiographical account of a young woman's battle with eating disorders that put her in and out of hospitals over a span of four years and led to her own parents fighting for the right to commit her. When her last source of support, her boyfriend, attempts suicide and ends up in a coma, she is forced to find strength from within. A courageous story about the strange paths we take to recovery. (From the Publisher)
What I Know is Me: Black Girls Write About Their World by Christen Satchelle & Natasha Tarpley
Compiled by an accomplished teenager, Christen James, with award-winning adult writer Natasha Tarpley, this moving collection is broken up into sections that highlight specific areas of black girlhood, including racial identity, family, sex and relationships, body image, neighborhoods, and spirituality. (From the Publisher) This book will be available in August, 2005.
Professional Book Recommendations
Balancing Reading and Language Learning: A Resource for Teaching English Language Learners, K- 5
by
Mary Cappellini (available May/June 2005)
"Teaching reading to children
in a language that is not their own is a daunting task." Mary
Cappellini's new book combines classroom practice with research on
teaching reading and language acquisition. Capellini emphasizes the
importance of listening for and assessing language and reading strategies
during read aloud, shared reading, guided reading, and independent
reading, including literature circles. Included in this text are: how
to set up an environment that will allow all ELL's to succeed; stages
of English language proficiency; lessons and mini-lessons based on
language proficiency and reading strategy needs; how to manage guided
reading groups with children at all stages of language proficiency;
and many other resources. (from Stenhouse)
Drowning in Data? How to Collect, Organize, and Document Student Performance
by Mary Shea, Rosemary Murray, & Rebecca Harlin
"Effective teaching has always required continuous assessment.
But now, with testing and standards an increasing presence in your
practice, classroom assessment can not only benefit your teaching,
but also give you a professional, student-centered way to document
your performance and meet third-party expectations." Drowning
in Data? outlines best practices for ongoing assessment that helps
teachers plan instruction and determine how much and how well students
are learning. Drowning in Data? will provide ideas on high-quality,
ongoing assessment. (from Heinemann) Read
a sample chapter.
Summarization in Any Subject: 50 Techniques to Improve Student Learning
by Rick Wormeli
"An essential academic skill is the ability to summarize - to identify
important information and structure it for meaning, long term retention,
and successful application. Research has shown that summarization
is a highly effective way to boost comprehension and achievement.
"We know summarization works. But isn't it, well, just a little dull?" Rick
Wormeli makes the case that summarization is not only one of the
most effective ways to improve student learning, it is also the most
flexible, responsive, and engaging. Wormeli clarifies the process
of teaching students to summarize. Also included are classroom-tested
techniques for both individual and group activities across content
areas." (from ASCD)
Sample chapters are available on the ASCD web site.
Building Background Knowledge For Academic Achievement: Research on What Works in Schools
by Robert Marzano
"Marzano shows how a carefully structured combination of two approaches
- sustained silent reading and instruction in subject-specific vocabulary
terms - can help overcome the deficiencies of background knowledge
that hamper achievement in many students. Readers will learn: the
principles that underlie an effective sustained silent reading program,
a five-step process for using sustained silent reading to enhance
background knowledge, the defining characteristics of effective vocabulary
instruction, a six-step process for direct instruction in vocabulary,
and the vocabulary terms critical to student success in every academic
subject." (from ASCD)
Sample chapters are available on the ASCD web site.
Quality Assurance Checks
The FOR-PD office would like to welcome Allison Galloway as our new Quality Assurance Specialist. Allison comes to this position with a great deal of knowledge about the course and technology issues participants face. Many of you who have called the Help Desk have talked to Allison about problems you have had.
What are the FOR-PD Quality Assurance checks? The FOR-PD project monitors student progress through the course very closely. We know which students are keeping up in the course and which are lagging behind. The FOR-PD office conducts participant checks twice during the duration of the course. The first check happens the third week of the course. We identify which participants have not logged into the course, which have not completed the first discussion, and which participants have not moved beyond the first discussion. The second check happens around the ninth or tenth week of the course. Again, we check to see if participants are completing the right discussion, which participants are behind, which participants have a chance of catching up, and which participants are right where they should be. We try to email all participants who are behind to find out if there is a reason why they are behind or to determine if they need help with technology issues or course issues. The information we gather from participants helps us to make decisions about the supports we offer or need to include. Information that is gathered is shared with the facilitator.
So what information are we finding
out through these quality assurance checks?
FOR-PD Help Desk
Feeling
frustrated? Can't figure it out? Don't forget the FOR-PD Help
Desk is available. 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".
You can also reach
the FOR-PD Help Desk via email - helpdesk@orion.itrc.ucf.edu.
Make sure you state your name, section, problem, and how you can be reached (either through email or phone with a phone number).
Return
to Top
FOR-PD Wrap Up! Many FOR-PD courses will be coming
to a close in May. This chat is all about your experience. What worked
well? What didn't work so well? What did you like? What
are you still confused about? What do you think of the case studies?
How did you use the case studies in your course? We want to hear
all about your experiences.
WHEN: Tuesday, April 26, 2005
TIME: 7:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST
CHAT ROOM: General Chat for All Courses
WHO: Participants from the Spring
TOPIC: Course Wrap-Up
REQUIRED RESOURCES: please make sure that you have viewed the chat
protocol below.
All chats are logged and posted
on our web site (Chat
Transcripts).
Before joining one of our chats make sure you know the Chat Protocol.
Chat Protocol: Please be aware that
FOR-PD uses a moderated discussion format. A moderator will keep
the chat on topic and recognize question/statement requests by participants.
The person who has the floor can field questions and statements from
other participants, but they hold the floor until they are done.
When they are done, the moderator will recognize another participant
who requests the floor.
In order to make the chat flow smoothly, please use the following chat symbols and guidelines:
- ! The exclamation point is like raising your hand, you want to be recognized to make a statement.
- # Use the pound sign to let everyone know you are done asking a question or making a statement.
- .... This lets everyone know you have more to say.
Guidelines
- When entering the chat, don't say hello to each other. Most chat
systems inform everyone in the chat room that someone has entered
the room. This will cut down on chat-message run-on.
- Unless you have the floor, don't say anything, but rather ask to
be recognized by the person who does have the floor by posting
an !.
This is unobtrusive and will let everyone know that you have a
statement or question to make.
- When you are done talking, end
your last sentence with a # symbol.
- If you specifically want to ask a question of someone or address them, type their name followed by a semicolon and then the message.
Recent Chats
Over
the past month, FOR-PD has held three chats for participants.
The first chat featured Evan Lefsky, reading specialist 6-12 from
the Just Read, Florida! office. Evan spoke about the Florida Reading
Endorsement and the Middle Grades Reform Act. In the state of Florida,
teachers are being impacted by two pieces of legislation, the Florida
Reading Endorsement and the Florida Middle Grades Reform Act. Both
pieces of legislation have a focus on reading. The state of Florida
now requires secondary teachers who teach state coded reading courses
to either go through a certification program or a reading endorsement
program. Teachers must have this certification or endorsement by
July 1, 2006. The Middle Grades Reform Act was created to provide
focus and rigor to academics in the middle grades. Using reading
as the foundation, all middle grades 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. Click
here to read the transcript for this chat. The other two chats were open to participants who had questions about the technology used in the FOR-PD course or questions about the course itself. Several good questions were asked and they are highlighted below. Click here to read the transcript for these two chats.
| Q: I spent a great deal of time on composing a discussion.
I went to post the discussion and
it wasn't posted into the discussion area. What happened
to it? Can I get it back? A: Often times participants "lose" a discussion posting when they spend time creating it within WebCT, then get logged out after inactivity. It's best to create postings in a word processor application, then copy and paste it into the discussion. This lets you check for spelling and grammar, as well as letting you save a copy of the post. |
| Q: How do you paste a web site address in a discussion? A: To copy the website URL, just highlight it in the address bar of your web browser and press Control-C to copy the address, then press Control-V to paste it into the discussion. It will not be a "click-able" link until you post it. |
Q: I took my quiz and submitted it for grading. I don't see a grade for the quiz yet in my course grades. Why don't I have a grade? A: It is important when you are taking a quiz to press the Submit Quiz button at the end and wait for it to submit. Otherwise, the quiz gets closed and doesn't automatically grade. When this happens your quiz must be force graded. Your facilitator can help you do this as well as the FOR-PD Help Desk. |
"I'm not fully comprehending efferent and aesthetic reading. The term used on page 3 of this lesson, under the subheading, "Motivating Adolescents," and reads as follows: "Discuss differences (e.g., text structure, purposes, organization) between aesthetic (living through the text) and efferent (carrying information from text) reading. Fluent readers can move along the continuum whereas struggling readers take the efferent stance. Struggling readers need to learn to read efferent text with an aesthetic stance so they can relate with ideas and issues and find connections between text and self. Encourage aesthetic reading." I think that aesthetic reading involves perceiving, dealing with, appreciating and responding to the reading. I used the dictionary to locate the definitions of both terms, but I'm still unclear about the term, efferent. I searched http://www.askjeeves.com, but I still didn't understand articles about the meaning of this term."
Efferent and aesthetic reading come from the work of Louise Rosenblatt. When the reader is reading aesthetically their attention is centered on the feelings associated with the experience of reading a powerful text. "The reader's attention is centered directly on what he is living through during his relationship with the text." This type of reading is usually associated with reading fictional pieces of text. For example, when reading the Grapes of Wrath, the reader might experience the emotional depths of living during the Great Depression. Efferent reading centers on reading for information and retaining that information in some fashion. Efferent reading is what is required in content area classes. "The reader's attention is primarily focused on what will remain as a residue after the reading - the information to be acquired, the logical solution to a problem, the actions to be carried out." For example, a student might read a chapter from their US History text on the Great Depression to examine the economic factors that caused the Great Depression.
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