Richard Allington, former president of the International Reading Association and publisher of over 100 books, articles and books provides a compelling case for teaching and learning in our classroom. Allington cites that "exemplary teachers we studied too often had to teach against the grain" and that "motivation for reading was dramatically influenced by reading success." Both of these observations have huge implications for my practice as a facilitator of learning. With so much of the current trend to focus on so-called great teaching, how are we recognizing that exemplary teaching as Allington states centers on providing instruction that is radically different and then acknowledging success to build great success. Seems like a simple idea but in practice the challenge lies in identifying and communicating positive student behavior even in those students whom we may not like. Additionally, particularly as it relates to our course as developing high quality units to coincide with literacy strategies, the author describes good teaching as planning instructional time and allowing students to develop a "writing task" for some ten days or more. To sufficiently allow youth to observe that writing (and learning for that matter) is a constant process between drafting, editing, reviewing and publishing whether its for designing a data table, a sculpture, or a geometry theorem.
In reading Allington’s article, and through our class discussion, it is obvious that we each face challenges in implementing reading into our classroom. We as teachers are worried about our bottom line- our effectiveness as educators. Allington’s ideas, the 6-T model, is well laid out and constructed, appears ideal. I question the implementation ability of a few aspects though. First off, time is the most problematic hurdle we face as educators, especially at the secondary level. We see our students on average 45-60 minutes per day, five days a week. The “exemplary” literacy instruction that was observed by Allington and his colleagues was in the elementary level (1st and 4th grade). I could see how developing a ten or more day writing task would be more feasible if I had more instructional time with them, or possibly block time in order to develop/ model the useful strategies (those I still have yet to learn) before I set my students loose on a reading task. With inclusion at an all-time high, and in one class alone having students with reading abilities from 1st-12th grade, I struggle to differentiate my instruction for the various levels. I currently try to bring in science articles that are more mid-range in writing level. Allington mentions that “In too many schools, lower-achieving readers receive appropriate reading materials only when they participate in special support instruction.” I have found it difficult to receive help from some of the resource teachers in this area, especially where my lowest student is concerned.
ReplyDeleteSince I have started my teaching, I have striven to develop my area that Allington has titled “Talk.” I work on creating a social dialogue with my students that is more open in which they are free to express various ideas and viewpoints. I rarely have specific questions and answers in mind at the beginning of a lesson, I have more key points and topics to cover. Through student participation- talk- they guide and mold the flow of the lesson. This also allows my students to take a more active ownership role in their learning.
Barton mentions the “special reading skills” necessary that are more specific to the math and science content areas: our graphics that need interpretation. Trying to find out what knowledge students already have, and how to access that knowledge in order to build upon it to Through scaffolded questioning, we can access prior knowledge that our students have- before they realize that they already knew something about the topic at hand. As a seasoned reader of science text, I tend to have little difficultly in understanding what is in front of me. I must always keep in mind that my students do not have the style flexibility to understand what is in front of them. During various professional developments this school year, my placement school has placed a great amount of focus on developing literacy skills. I have learned a lot about Marzano and his methods of instructional practice. One area of my teaching that I am trying to improve upon when my students are reading is the use of graphic organizers in order to arrange information in a sense that is more concise for them to understand. I am glad to know that I am already using some of the suggested methods that Barton has suggested in the reading to help students make sense of the text.
DeleteThanks for writing, Christine. I really like your example of using "talk" in your classroom. How might you create a list of essential questions to teach for understanding?
DeleteAfter reading the Allington article, all I can say is that I agree wholeheartedly. The six T model is amazing and it is something I would absolutely love to implement. The issue I have is as a beginner, will I be capable of doing the things required.
ReplyDeleteAs I read,I wondered will my finances be enough, will I be fired for going against the grain, will I recognize the appropriate reading levels and strategies, will I oversimplify and thereby prohibit my students from achieving the independence and understanding that the program strives for? There is such a strict reliance and insistence upon sticking to the pacing chart and not falling behind so that kids can pass the test that I'm not even sure I could ever truly fit into the teaching profession and research like this just makes me question that all the more.
Sure the research was conducted with elementary students, but with so many high school students who read on the elementary level and who strive to receive so much extra attention, the difference is likely a lot smaller than most would believe. Puberty and the development of autonomy are the only major differences and for student's whose cognitive development is stunted as well, those differences seem even smaller.
Like every other bit of research we've read and/or heard, we have to adapt things to fit our kids anyway, so I'm sure there is a way to make Allington's words become life in a high school or middle school classroom. I just don't know if I've been equipped with the tools yet to make it happen. One thing is for certain, being exposed to the knowledge makes me want to attain it for my students and for all of our futures.
Thanks for writing, Aria. What differences do you see between the Barton and Allington aticle?
DeleteThe Allington article had many things that gave me food for thought. The six T’s presented topics that not only was applicable to literacy instruction but to all instruction. I found myself thinking about how I can improve the time I have planned for the students to practice, read and explore mathematics. Allington stated in the article that extensive reading is critical to the development of reading proficiency. This statement can be applicable to all subjects – the more exposure mathematics through practice and reading and exploration, the more proficient the students will become.
ReplyDeleteAnother point that intrigued me was in the “Text” category, I completely agree that helping the students be successful by giving them task that are appropriate for their level helps the teacher focus on developing more complex skills. I make these decisions every day when selecting the most appropriate problem to give the students as examples. The problems shouldn’t be too easy or too hard, they should help the teacher provide a clear explanation of the math logic so that they can possibly (hopefully) make connections to more complex problems.
I also like the idea regarding the effort and improvement based grading. I would like to learn more about this model and possibly implement it in my future classes in some form. I think that this would show that the students that struggle with math that they can be successful if they work hard. This would boost student confidence in math and I agree that it would benefit the test scores in the end.
It is unfortunate that many districts have not acknowledged that the current system of education is not working for our students. Administration should allow the teachers freedom to be creative and try different things in the classroom without fear of being reprimanded or losing their jobs. I think we would have more success in the classroom if teachers were provided better professional development, funding for supplemental materials, and support to make the changes they need to help the students be more successful.
In the Barton article, I can relate to the apprehension that math teachers have to introducing reading into the class. The deficiencies that the students have will be combined with he deficiencies that they have in reading. There will have to be time spent to teach the students how to read math texts or introduce reading that is at the students level. Barton provided practical tips that can help with introducing reading into all classrooms.
DeleteActivating prior knowledge is a task that is difficult when they don't have that prior knowledge. When there is prior knowledge present webbing and the anticipation guide are good solutions that I would use in the classroom to activate prior knowledge. I also agree that vocabulary is essential in helping the students understand and apply the text that they read. Right now I have vocabulary word for each lesson but I would like to do more with the vocabulary so that the students can be more math literate. I have the students do a crossword puzzle at the beginning of the chapter so that they are more familiar with the vocabulary in the chapter. I would consider implementing some of the suggested vocabulary learning tools mentioned in the article. This would also help differentiate learning so the students with learning disabilities learn key words needed to understand the content.
I also agree with the article that the students need help learning to read math texts. The six step strategy that Barton mentioned would be a good start to deciphering math word problems. I would try to condense the strategy and make it more direct.
Overall the Barton article provided food for thought and gave strategies that could be implemented in math class to integrate reading.
Thanks for writing, Nicole. What other strategies in the article could you see yourself using to support student reading in your classroom?
DeleteAccording to Allington, a substantial number of effective teachers manage to produce better achievement regardless of curriculum, materials, pedagogical approach or reading program that they use. In fact, Allington argues that effective literacy instruction includes the following common features: time, texts, teaching, talk, tasks and testing. Moreover, Allington believes that effective teachers act on observations by creating multilevel, multisource curriculum to meet the diverse needs of students.
ReplyDeleteI was really intrigued by Allington’s observation that exemplary teachers give direct, explicit demonstrations of cognitive strategies that good readers use when they read. So, these teachers model, decode words, and summarize information. Truly, these teachers realize that “let me demonstrate” approach is more effective than the “watch me” approach. In summary, Allington maintains that excellent teachers go against the grain and realize that their students are motivated by the success that students experience in class.
This article struck accord with me because I can see how some of these strategies can be implemented in my classroom. For instance, I have created a classroom culture that encourages the students to participate regardless whether or not their answer is correct. This keeps students motivated to participate just as Allington suggested.
As I read the article, I firmly agree with Barton’s claim that students face special challenges when they encounter reading in mathematics, but teachers can use a variety of strategies to help them. Today, many teachers and students work in the fashion of every subject matter being taught separately and few realize the advantages of working across curriculum.
DeleteAt first when I started this class, I was wondering “how can I get the students to read, when many have anxiety over math?” Especially when students need to think critically and process information while decoding mathematical symbols. But Barton argues that teachers can incorporate reading and learning strategies to help students activate prior knowledge and master vocabulary. For instance, the webbing strategy helps students to activate prior knowledge. I actually can see myself implementing webbing to help my students. Since we are currently working on manipulating equations e.g. 2y=10-4x into the slope intercept form of y=mx+b. But in order to take on this tasks the students need to recall several concepts that were introduced at the beginning of the school year such as: the commutative property, integer addition/subtraction, balancing equations and so on. So, I could see how webbing could help the students recall concepts before they tackle these types of problems.
Thanks for writing, Tamara. Do you see yourself using webbing in future classrooms? In your unit?
DeleteYes, I can see myself using this tool in the future. At this point, I'm not sure where to incorporate it in my unit plan.
DeleteAllington states “Good teachers, effective teachers, matter much more than particular curriculum materials, pedagogical approaches; or ‘proven program’”. I whole heartedly agree with this statement. In my many conversations with teachers, student teachers, former administrators, etc… there exists this unforeseen politics that lies within our education system. It leads our society to believe that what the students learn makes them “smart”, and not if they are masters of what they know. To be “effective” means to be able to operate at a level of adequacy to complete a distinct purpose. In teaching the students some of everything, it appears to me that we lose focus of the central point of education. Without a purpose or focus we and the students are not being effective.
ReplyDeleteEducation means to be enlightened. I believe our overall goal should be to enlighten them on what they should know to be functional in this society and be able to contribute something to it. To achieve this, this means that we need more competent educators who are contributors to society. In that same breath, they will be the ones who are equipped to show the students how this content can help them to contribute in making our world better.
Allington again states “Effective teachers manage to produce better achievement regardless of which curriculum materials, pedagogical approach, or reading program they use.” I believe this to mean that if we are masters of our content, then the book should not limit our way of conveying content. If we relay content in a way that promotes student ownership, they will increase achievement level. In the society that we live in if you cannot read or count, life will be extremely hard for you. Therefore, at our most basic level we should always place at the forefront of any subject matter the importance of literacy and arithmetic. To stay true to this, it doesn’t mean staying close to a pacing guide. It simply means using the pacing guide as a means to promote what they need in life.
Thanks for writing, DeAndre. Do you see Barton as taking the same approach to reading the content area as Allington?
DeleteI liked the Allington article, but I did not feel that it was particularly enlightening. According to the points that he went over, teaching reading effectively is very similar to teaching our actual content area. The students need texts that are at a level where the are challenged an appropriate amount in order to best learn to read, and the same is true with the material in the content. They need the time to practice it, active instruction/modeling and interesting, involved tasks. I completely agree with everything that he said, and I would like to investigate specific strategies that can help to bring these items to the classroom for reading.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nicole that it is strange that teachers have to "go against the grain" to effectively teach their students. Why is it that the current expectations for teachers do not align with what should be expected of them for effective teaching?
Thanks for writing, Andrea. I would be curious to hear more about the aspects of the article that you did not feel were enlightening. What does a teacher have to do on a daily basis to "go against the grain" and why is this critical for teaching reading in the content area?
DeleteOverall, I greatly enjoyed the Allington article, and feel that there is much fruit for me to implement going forward as a learning facilitator. As I read it, I made a few comments in the margins.
ReplyDeleteOn page 5, Allington discusses the obstacle of worksheets, that students who best understand how to do a worksheet are likely the ones who have already mastered the content (or are close to mastery), while those who struggle with the content will feel frustrated with the worksheet. I have designed several worksheets for my students, and I agree in general with this observation. As my worksheets have developed, I strive for a high degree of scaffolding, making sure that the worksheet is structured to guide inquiry. As a student, I also have had the experience of looking at a worksheet and wondering what it is that the teacher wants or expects, and so I think it's very important that all students have a clear understanding. (Also, the best worksheets are part of exercises, not exercises in themselves.)
On page 6-7, Allington discusses the importance of creating post-reading discussion questions that are open-ended. My experience with ELA courses is that, too often, teachers are expecting a single, correct answer or interpretation. In their book "Fresh Takes on Teaching Literary Elements", Wilhelm and Smith relate a story in which one of them was teaching an adult literacy course. He had been presenting a particular (anglocentric) interpretation of a story, and decided in one class to open the topic up for broader discussion before providing his own interpretation. He was quite surprised to discover a very different, also reasonable interpretation, something he would not have learned if he had continued to simply provide an interpretation and wait for his students to parrot it back.
Another important point that Allison discusses (p. 9) is that effective teachers don't teach to the test, but rather they present the material in a broad, sound, and transferable manner and expect that students will be able to transfer their learning as needed on the test. I agree heartily with this perspective, and feel that teaching to the test does our students a disservice, as well as being counterproductive towards that goal anyway.
One concern that I had while reading is the notion that effective teachers grade students based primarily on improvement rather than performance (p. 8). I understand the frustration of students who are farther behind, but at the same time, I'm concerned of the handicap phenomenon (in the sense of sports handicapping): If students know that they'll be graded based on improvement, some of them might deliberately game the system by underperforming on the pre-test. I'm also concerned that those students who are already performing at a high degree of mastery will feel frustrated at being held to a higher standard of performance to receive the same grade (I speak from the personal experience of usually being one of those students). I do think it's important to include improvement as a part of the assessment, I'm just not sure what the balance should be between tangible performance and improvement should be.
With regards to Barton, one of the first things I noticed about my class's textbook (Glencoe's Geometry) when I began teaching was how poorly written it was. By this I mean the sorts of issues Barton talks about: The content itself, from a mathematical perspective, is reasonable enough (although I do question some of the grouping choices), but the narrative style varies between obscure and impenetrable. I have wondered whether this disconnect is due to the traditional division between ELA pedagogy and those of the "hard" sciences, meaning that mathematics texts are written by area experts who are weaker than would be ideal on their writing skills.
DeleteI think there's also a conflict between the rigor and exactitude typically expected in high-level mathematical exposition and writing in a casual enough style to engage younger readers.
One of Barton's points that particularly stands out is the commentary on how story problems tend to be built in a structure that runs contrary to how students are taught to read in their ELA courses: The main point (i.e., the actual problem) comes at the end, after the data. This also runs counter, in my experience, to how real world problems are solved: In typical actual problem solving experiences, people are given the basic problem first, and they have to gather the required data, instead of being explicitly given the data and then the problem. I can see how "gotchas" like these and others Barton mention might lead to frustrations for readers, especially those who struggle with more predictably structured texts.
Thanks for writing, Paul. To your question around evaluation, what role does self-assessment play in your math classroom when checking for understanding of texts?
DeleteAs I read the Allington article I was inspired to implement all of the "T" aspects (time, texts, teaching, talk, tasks, and testing) into my daily class. The hard part is actually finding the time and materials to do so. With a little bit of hard work, it can be done. Most educators spend more time than what is expected of them in order to accomplish the basics for their classes. Finding more time to incorporate appropriate reading materials, reviewing them in class with students and involving other core subjects into all classrooms would be ideal and very beneficial to the entire school. I believe that each teacher should try to accomplish the "T's" in each class but also come together and teach the material at the same time so that the information will be clear to students and will support each class as they are taught.
ReplyDeleteFor example: a science teacher should teach anatomy, bones and muscles of a human as the math teacher teaches fractions, and as the art teacher teaches the human figure. If all of these things are taught at the same time, students will have a better understanding of a human figure. Fractions can be used to find the proportions of a figure and knowing what is underneath the skin of a person can help create art that is more life like. The repletion of this information ensures that the students will remember its purpose better.
As an art educator, I believe it may be easier to do these tasks than in other subjects. I can easily add reading material to any lesson weather it be about an individual artist (biography), the country they come from (social studies), an article about the traditions of that culture (history), how art materials are made (chemistry), how to create art using specific materials (instructional), how emotions are portrayed in art (therapy), how other core subjects influence art (math & science), etc. Creating writing assignments are just as easy. Writing a poem about our feelings after an expressive painting (therapy), a [biography] about our self as an artist, or giving a short speech about our cultural heritage after creating a piece inspired by it (social studies) are a few more examples.
The one "T" that was most interesting and challenging to me that I think would be best for students was "Talking". Asking questions with no right or wrong answer lets the students know that their point is valid and also gives them comfort. After building trust, the teacher then asks questions to see where the student’s level of thinking is or to get them to think about things that they may have never pondered before. As students are introduced to this type of questions and situation, they will begin to create a higher order of thinking and become curious in future discussions. If an educator is willing to put in the time to create a classroom that is welcoming, inspiring, challenging and allows for their students to explore deeper, then they will produce students that are innovative.
Thanks for writing, Amber. I appreciate you embracing all content area literacies into your art classroom. How might you provide texts that get kids talking in your classroom? How would you assess for understanding?
DeleteThe six T model introduced by Allington is one that I can see being very effective in the classroom. As an avid reader, I think there is nothing more important to constant practice of reading. I have even seen the benefits of finding interesting reading at the person’s reading level effective in friends of mine who never before found interest in reading. I have also seen the same thing with many of my students. In the classroom, I often have students read articles from www.sciencenewsforkids.org. This website has relatively current articles on different science concepts and they are written with very little scientific jargon and at a reading level that would be understood by most young teenagers. When I first used this in my classroom, students were given six articles to choose from and they were to read the article and pull out main points. My students at first were very weary of this task, but after seeing the article topics that were aligned with their own interests they became more intrigued. I have continued to use this method regularly in my class and my students have enjoyed these activities. I have even had some of my students ask for the website address so that they can find more articles that fit into their interests. One of the most beneficial things about these articles is the reading level they are at. The articles are short and lay the material out in a very clear manner in order to offer students success. As Allington reported, and as I have seen, this encourages students to commit more to the reading and they are less reluctant when future reading assignments are introduced. This especially seemed to work well with my students who had previously had very little reading success and had found the book to be too difficult to comprehend. In the future I hope to also work more on teaching different strategies to approach a wider array of reading materials and increase my students ability to interpret more difficult texts. I think that overall this article introduced good teaching practices that can help to guide my instruction in the future. I think that the hardest thing for me to implement would be the testing strategy of giving a student a grade for the actual effort they put into the class. While I think the strategy is brilliant, in the culture of our society I feel the practice would get a lot more hostility if introduced in a high school setting where students and parents are worried about transcripts for college.
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing, Jenna. I enjoyed hearing about your insights. How do you assess students for reading comprehension?
DeleteBarton introduced strategies that will help me to teach new ways to approach more difficult text passages. So far in my class, I have often tried to activate student prior knowledge by identifying and addressing student misconceptions about science concepts. I especially worked on this when we were learning about evolution as students often have many misconceptions about this topic. I’ve noted this to be very effective, but I also like the more structured approaches that Barton introduces such as the use of concept maps and anticipation guides. I teach ninth graders and I find that one of their major problems is keeping their work and ideas organized so they can effectively access it later. I think that the structure of many of the strategies introduced by Barton will be very helpful in introducing more structure for my students. I also liked the component of a student having to defend their claims in the anticipation guide. Often my students fail to support their claims with evidence and the use of the anticipation guide will help to get them into the practice of actually supporting their answers with evidence that they found in the text. Another thing that stood out to me in this article is that when the vocabulary was addressed, it was discussed how best to draw connections between the terms instead of how best to memorize definitions. I think this is something that is often missing in instruction, that students never connect the information to anything so they have no way to make it actually stay in their brain. I personally remember learning medical terminology in a similar way to Figure 4, with silly pictures that showed a representation of the word. Almost six years later I still remember the images of medical roots that are combined to form various medical terms thanks to that strategy. Finally, the discussing of using modeling to demonstrate for students how to successfully navigate the text is very closely related to some reading strategies we voted as most important in class. Students too often think that only “smart” people can navigate complex work and that it happens seamlessly. I think it is very important that we teach our students that it is about mastering the right steps, not a gift of brilliance.
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing, Jenna. I liked hearing about your insight about learning medical terminology. I'd like you to share more on that strategy and what made it useful for you that might be worth recreating for the youth you serve.
DeleteTeaching Reading in Mathematics and Science
ReplyDeleteIn the Barton article it is noted that students tend to face more challenges with reading mathematics and science texts due to the varying concepts and vocabulary students are required to understand and learn in those subjects. Although the task of teaching students mathematical and science concepts may be daunting, teachers can include learning and reading strategies in the classroom that could aid students to better understand and relate to math and science. Suggested reading and learning strategies teachers could use to assist students include, activating student prior content knowledge, assisting students how to master vocabulary and how to make sense of unfamiliar text styles.
I agree with the Barton article because I face the challenge of incorporating reading in my mathematics classroom daily. It was very enlightening to see how reading plays such an important role in mathematics and how student achievement can be elevated through incorporating more reading in the mathematics classroom. I was especially intrigued with the webbing strategy that is a tool used to activate prior knowledge. I see this as an effective method to implement in my current lesson on the Pythagorean Theorem but could have also been very useful in previous lessons. This information would have been so helpful at the beginning of my student-teaching experience.
Thanks for sharing, Satonyia. What advice do you think Barton would provide to support student "mastery" of vocabulary for your lesson on the Pythagorean Theorem?
DeleteI had an “Aha” moment after reading “Teaching Reading in Mathematics and Science”. The writers Barton, Heidema, and Jordan quoted that “Reading and learning are constructive processes: Each learner actively draws on prior knowledge and experience to make sense of new information. The more knowledge and skills that students bring to a text, the better they will learn from and remember what they read.” Being taught the craft of teaching in a constructive matter in every course I have had, it never dawned on me that reading also was a constructive process.
ReplyDeleteThe word instruct as defined in www.dictionary.com indicates that it comes from the Latin meaning in - in and struere – to put together. Hence, a rudimentary meaning of the word instruct speaks to putting something together internally; the mind of the student in this discussion. This makes sense because the suffix “struct” conjures the image of some type of structure, something that needs to be built. Generally, this building takes place on top of or within something else.
How successful that instruction is depends on how well one builds on the original foundation. That original foundation is the student’s prior knowledge. When it comes to reading, a student will have more confidence in the task when they believe that they can. Nothing builds greater confidence like experience and background knowledge. The student can effectively “make logical connections, draw conclusions, and assimilate new ideas.” (Barton et al November 2002)
In my instruction planning for science, this means that I will always focus on developing initial activities that reveal a student’s conceptions / misconceptions about a scientific concept. This lets me know from the beginning, how much my students already know, and how much scaffolding I need to provide to get them to where they need to be. I will also take into account observations I made from the community to see what currently exists in their community that would bridge the gap.
As a community of science learners, my units typically follow the five-E model: Engage, Explain, Explore, Elaborate, and Evaluate. Although the Evaluate stage typically comes at the end, it can be something that be repeated in each of the preceding stages. If this evaluation is some form of writing based either on what they have read, studied, or investigated in the laboratory, students will have numerous opportunities to practice their writing. These writing opportunities to write can track the student’s growth in understanding throughout the unit. With feedback on their writing provided by the teacher and peers, students can make corrections to improve their writing practice.
My high school AP English teacher once said that reading more will make a person a better writer. I agree, as long as the reading selections represent good writing. Students encounter vocabulary in context, which by far is the best way to learn new words. They also learn how scientists, in particular, communicate ideas and findings in global scientific community.
In the long run, when students are able to read and write about a scientific concept over several days of the learning cycle, they become adept at making their learning relevant to their communities. Students learn how to speak intelligently about concepts to others in the classroom and community. They also develop thinking skills that go beyond the obvious and look and the long term implications of actions we take as a society today.
Thanks for writing, Damon. I would be interested in how we can develop students ability to "make their learning relevant to their communities" while at the same time building vocabulary and comprehension skills? Any thoughts?
DeleteThe Allington article suggests that exemplary teachers model the six T’s in being effectively able to developing reading and writing proficiency- time, texts, teaching, talk, tasks, and testing. The exemplary teachers that were studied knew how to allocate the right amount of “time” in reading and writing- at least a 50/50 ratio of reading to other assignments should be structured according to Allington. They also knew how to find ‘texts’ or reading materials that were geared to students’ level of proficiency. The ‘teaching’ aspect of exemplary teachers according to the article was one in which active instruction was present. Teachers modeled a “watch me” or “let me demonstrate” approach that further enhanced student learning and achievement.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the article as it relates to the six T’s of exemplary teaching, but face a challenge with using them all; especially as it relates to time and talk in my classroom. My vision for incorporating a 50% of instructional time to reading and writing is a bit cloudy. However, I do see how incorporating talk in my classroom might prove to be highly effective.
Thanks for writing, Satonyia. What does Allington say about how teachers find "texts" or "reading materials" for youth in your math classroom?
DeleteOverall, I enjoyed both Barton’s and Allington’s articles. As teachers, I think we can learn from the teaching of other nations who tend to score high on international tests, and learn from some of the best schools in our nation. Of course there are cultural factors and politics within each educational system, but what we see in high performing schools, regardless of race, ethnicity, etc., are good teachers.
ReplyDeleteThe schools in some other nations may have an excellent curriculum, excellent resources (or none at all), and excellent students, but all is wasted if the teacher is not equally excellent. I have been reading a lot of articles on other countries and what they are doing “better” than us. Arlington says on pg. 1, “Good teachers, effective teachers, matter much more than particular curriculum materials, pedagogical approaches, or “proven programs”.” I like this statement because it says everything I’ve been reading about in one sentence.
Also, what many successful programs do is integrate content, where the biggest integration is teaching reading and writing within the mathematics or science classroom. In terms of mathematics, I think all could be done if the school districts ease up on the specific requirements that have to be taught. This is the whole idea with common core, which is very much aligned with Singapore and other high-performing country standards. Teach less, more. This will allow for more reading and writing, and a deeper understanding of actual content, which will help students to reason out content in the future, even if it wasn’t “taught” to them. This is one good think I liked about Barton’s article when he says, “activate prior knowledge”. I don’t think you can activate students’ prior knowledge if you just touched on a topic. By having students learn an important concept though reasoning, critical thinking, reading, writing, etc. they are much more apt to build on this new skillset. In the end, it’s about understanding and making connections.
Another connection with Barton’s article is the fact that to help students make connections with reading, we must teach them to master vocabulary and understand the text style. Spending time to do this is just as important as teaching content. Students know the resources are there, but may not know how to use the resources. If they did, many students would open their books to figure the problems out instead of saying, “Mr. Williams! Mr. Williams!”
Time relates to Arlington’s article. In short, his article was very good. I enjoyed his 6 T’s, time and texts being two of them (both of which were discussed above). The most interesting and under-researched on is “talk.” Discussions and talking is just as important as reading, writing, and content I believe. I like that Arlington made the distinction between interrogational and conversational talk. I’m going to do my best to make my “talk” more conversational next year.
Thanks for writing, Jordan. What other ways might you support reading in your math classroom?
ReplyDeleteThis article is all about the need and importance of effective and exemplary teachers. The author states that effective teachers use different strategies for teaching. Effective teaching can be creative with special schemes in the classroom, which would allow students to become more actively more involved in the their own learning process. The author implies that those educational schemes facilitate better understanding on what is being taught, because it brings understanding and comprehension into the lesson plans, which they as teachers present. Therefore, it makes teachers more interesting and appealing especially for elementary students. Further, Allington shows us studies that have been done in these areas. " We studied teachers who had been found to be particularly effective in developing reading and writing particularly effective in developing reading and writing proficiency. Over the course of the study, however, it became clear that the teachers we were studying developed students"... The author strongly recommends to us as teachers six T's in which elementary students can benefit from. I really like the way he explains them in many details. In addition as teachers we must make sure that our students become strong and active readers in content area, and know how to use strategies and tools for learning, so they get more from active reading and become more proficient. On the other hand, Barton writes about special reading skills that we as teachers should implement in the classroom while teaching math and science. Math language is difficult, tough and technical, however, math is all about logic, numbers, and facts. Therefore, specific words are needed to understand the full concept of mathematics. Daily, I see kids that suffer while doing math, however, I usually try to calm them down, I explain to them the problems given. I specifically ask them not to rush, and I also ask if they know what they are reading and if they understand it. I ask them to re-read the problem. Finally, in order for students to develop their reading skills fully, they have to use their own experience, so they can go through the use of prior knowledge which Barton strongly recommends, so they can find ways of fully understanding the concept of math. Also, I ask students to pause, reflect and go back and see if the information given fits with the purpose of the concept. As a teacher I explain it thoroughly, I allow them enough time so they can grasp the exact meaning and understand the concept of the subject matter.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed both articles and I thought that they were even more compelling when I reviewed them side by side. Allington provided insight in the practices of exemplary teachers and how they use better literacy instruction to help students obtain transferable skills and higher understanding. The Barton article gave reasons that one must help children acquire literacy skills within the realm of math and science.
ReplyDeleteThe Barton article really made me think about how much students must rely on prior knowledge to make knew connections and build understanding. If student’s literacy teachings do not align with the requirements needed to read a math text we must teach students new skills that they can transfer to current and new mathematical experiences. When the article spoke to what a student may achieve with prior knowledge it helped me see how the techniques in the Allington article can help students of all ages and all ability levels better their ability to comprehend. Given the 6T model and the end goal of a better knowledge base, educators can give students the opportunity to find success in whatever they encounter in their future.
In the Allington article and in class we discussed how effective teachers must sometimes go against the grain, but some of the strategies in Barton and presented in class were very similar to activities that even I used in grade school. However, when I really analyzed the intended results of the activities it was easy to see some noticeable differences. The traditional charts and KWL sheets that we made in school were activities, and proof of student work. However, when one starts an activity like this with the end result of making personal connections and creating a greater depth of student experiences, it is easy to see which model will be more effective in helping students gain the skills they need to be successful.
I don't know why my posts keep getting deleted
ReplyDeleteRegarding Allington's article: my first reaction was that my students are older than the students discussed in the article. However, the reading skill levels ranged in my classroom from 2nd grade through 10th grade, in a 7th grade math classroom, so much does apply. One challenge with one of the T's - text - is that my experience with math textbooks is that there are not "student friendly". Nor are they written in an engaging style. Some are better than others, but among students who stuggle in both math and reading, the "word problems" are met with great fear and loathing.
ReplyDeleteMath reading is very analytical, with specific vocabulary. meaning must be "unraveled" from the text.Middle school math sets students up for algebraic thinking, problem analysis and problem solving. However, when we concentrate only on mathematicall rules, language and symbols and only tackle "word' problems as an afterthought, we do a disservice to students.
The Barton article goes on to emphasize connecting new learning to prior knowledge. This is where we have to turn teaching order around. If we START with words/scenarios/ situations that students can relate to and discuss what we know and can deduce from those scenarios, then teaching math "language" is the tool to help us decode what we are reading. I realize that I must introduce concepts/methods in such a way that I never or rarely get asked, "When will I ever use this?"
I thinkit is difficult to find articles and texts specifically about math that are appropriate for middle school However, whenever there are opportunities to collaborate with other teachers to integrate content, then there are more opportunities to support literacy skills and reasoning skills.