Reading and Writing Instruction for Intermediate and Advanced Learners, Spring, 2009, Hickory, NC

The text connections graphic organizer helps students to understand the way that their reading relates to themselves, the world, and other texts they have read. Many students experience texts in isolation and struggle to realize how frequently connections can be made between things happening in their own lives, the world and in other passages. This ability enables children to comprehend text read on another level and allows them to practice digging deeper into the subject matter of their reading. Use of this strategy teaches children how to develop a sense of the interconnected nature of life. This ability gives them the tools they need to put things together in an independent and original way to solve problems and be reflective learners.

Sorry! I forgot to put my name on my strategy! My strategy is RAFT!
Misty Mistretta

The first workshop Lincoln County sent me to was about thinking maps. The creator, Dr. David Hyerle, asserts that middle school teachers do not need to use random collections of graphic organizers. Rather, he suggests that there are eight “thinking maps” that can be used in to organize text in any given situation. These maps cover a variety of ways to organize information: brainstorming (circle map), comparing and contrasting (bubble map/ double bubble map), categorizing (tree map), analyzing parts to whole (brace map), sequence (flow map), cause and effect (multi-flow map), and analogies (bridge map). For any piece of text or project, one or more of these thinking maps can be used to help students organize their thoughts and/or examine patterns and relationships.
I use these maps in several different ways. First, I use the bubble map and double map when we study different cultures and have students compare the information we learn about new countries to their own way of life. These maps are ongoing throughout the unit. I also use the flow map as a timeline to give students a sense of the chronology of events throughout history. I use the circle map in Language Arts before we work on writing pieces. Students usually take about five minutes to brainstorm everything they know about a topic before writing. That being said, I used the circle map as a prereading strategy to gather prior knowledge. I also use the multi-flow map with both fiction and nonfiction pieces to examine cause and effect.

The Jigsaw Classroom strategy is a cooperative learning technique. Each student is like a piece to a jigsaw puzzle. If you have missing pieces it is not complete, therefore in the Jigsaw Classroom Strategy, it is essential each group member do their part for the completion and full understanding of the objectives. Students are divided into small groups (5 or 6). Each student is assigned to learn about a specific topic, based on a broader topic. For example, in 4th grade we study NC. A student might be assigned to learn about crops grown in NC. Another in the group may be assigned to tourism in NC. After time and resources are made available to students for research to be done, groups come back together and share. Before getting back into groups to share, members meet with others who were assigned the same topic to compare information. This will give them a chance to work with other ‘experts’ who researched the same topic. This can be particularly helpful for struggling students. The members can help one another in organizing the information found. After members gather back together they educate one another about what they learned. This strategy is beneficial for several reasons. First, it makes students responsible for their own learning. The process encourages listening, engagement, and empathy by providing each student in the group an integral part to be responsible for in the activity. Team members must all work hard to accomplish a common goal. They must all work together to be successful. The strategy also teaches students to value one another as contributors to the assigned task.

The double entry journal is very effective in my classroom. It is a great pre and post reading activity. I agree with Zandra that it is a great way to check students comprehension of what they just read. It is also a wonderful way for students to put their thoughts on paper. From brainstorming to character analysis, its got all the perks for what you want your students to draw from an activity.

Yes, I too use the KWL, because it is effective. But what I've noticed to be most effective, especially with this group of 5th graders I have this year, is the KWL-Plus strategy. I use the KWL-Plus strategy because my students have a difficult time comprehending any type of nonficiton text. Whether it involves making connections; generating questions; making inferences; determining the importance; or synthesizing, the KWL-Plus Strategy addressing all these concerns. The "Plus" is factored in after the KWL chart has been completed. Students can work independently, in pairs, small or cooperative groups to decide which items from the "K" and "L" column can be grouped together. Once students have grouped their categories, then they need to label each of their groups, teacher may need to assist with this process. Once the labeling is complete then the teacher creates a concept web. I suggest whole group the first time this is done, so the students can see how the concept web looks. They should be able to see how what they know, learned, and the grouping and labeling process all work together, therfore helping them explain their learning through any project, writing assignment, or presentation.