Reading for Intermediate and Advanced Learners, Spring, 2011

In Chapter 10 of the class text, Anders and Spitler introduce the Sketch-to-Strech discussion strategy. This strategy helps students to discuss their individual questions from the text/assigned readings with the rest of the classroom. In the strategy, students choose the most important idea from their reading or reading log and create a visual representation of the idea. They are then asked to write why they chose to represent this particular idea, how it is important to them personally, and give an explanation of the visual they drew to represent it. The discussion of these visual ideas is started when the students participate in a "gallery" tour of the artwork. Students hang pictures around the room or leave on their desks while the entire class wonders about to look at the visual representations.
Students make note of the name of the artist that created a powerful piece and this artist later stands before the class to explain how/where their drawing was created from the text. The discussion will then begin because students will make a connections to the text, the art, and their own lives (great for lower grades-text to self, text, world). I know this strategy will need to be modified for the lower grades, but I feel it's a great "outside the box" idea to help students think more critically about what they have read. It appeals to visual learners and also requires the students to reflect on their thinking through written statements. I really like how the strategy involves the entire class, as well as gives a chance for individual creativity.

Exit Slips

Exit Slips. (2008). Retreived February 28, 2010 from http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/exit_slips

Exit Slips are a great strategy for teachers to use to check for students understanding of the material being studied. Exit slips also help students reflect on what they have learned, express their ideas, and to think critically. Exit Slips can be used for any subject being taught. For example a teacher might teach a lesson on concrete poems and use exit slips to check for understanding of concrete poetry. After a lesson or lessons are taught a teacher might ask the students one or two of the following questions and have them write their responses down on a 3x5 card or piece of paper.
• What is one thing you learned today?
• What could you take from today’s lesson and use it in the real world?
• One thing that I did not understand was:
• Did you enjoy working with your partner or in a small group today?
• I want to learn more about…
• I wish…
• The thing that surprised me most today was…
Then the teacher can review the students response cards (Exit Slips) to gain a better understanding of what each student knows and ideas on how to better teach the up-coming lessons.

I really like the idea of Exit Slips because they can be used across all subject areas and are a great and quick way to evaluate my students’ knowledge on a given topic. I would most likely use Exit Slips after reading, math, science, and social studies lessons. For example I could use it during our study on hibernation. We would read books about animals that hibernate, use the internet to research hibernation, and even do some group work pertaining to hibernation. After our study I would ask the students the following two questions: What is one thing you learned about hibernation? and The thing that surprised me most about hibernation was… This would allow me to evaluate my students’ knowledge of hibernation. This strategy is really great because I would use it in many different content areas throughout the school year.

Resoponse to Rachel:

Rachel this is a really neat strategy. Most of our students are visual learners so this would work great. I too like the idea that this strategy can be used as a group or on an individual. I am anxious to see how you will simplify this for elementary age students.

It was easy to not choose one from the book, because I had trouble relating them to Kindergarten. I pretty much started my instructional strategies list from the internet. Most of the strategies, I found on-line.

One of my favorite strategies I use is the double bubble graphic organizer. We have been researching and learning a great deal about Marzano at my school. I love to use the double bubble map to compare and contrast people, ideas, books, etc. This strategy provides students a visual way to organize and explain similarities and differences between books or characters.
The great thing about this strategy is I use it all across the curriculum. I use it to compare shapes in math, presidents in social studies, and animals in science. It is a way to implant that visual in student brains and gives them a way to organize the information.

Rachel, I am glad you were able to interpret that chapter for me. Sometimes I have difficulty understanding the verbage. :)
That strategy is great for the visual learner and students get to express ideas in something other than a boring paragraph. Drawing their important idea and relating it in their own feelings definitely makes it real world. The artistic representation will help students express themselves and who they are. Students may represent their ideas in a cartoon or comic strip which brings out self expression and creativity.

Emily,
Thanks for sharing the exit slip strategy! I know all teachers are pressed for time, and we often need a quick assessment to see who has it and who is not quite there. This is an excellent way to close a lesson and have students practice the skill or relate it to the big picture. I also like how you used it as a type of response journal, to see what the students had gained from the research.

Response to Cheryl:

Cheryl, I also like using this strategy with my students. It is wonderful because you can use it in so many different subjects. Most of our students are visual learners so I think this strategy really helps students make a connection to what they are learning. I too had a hard time finding things in the book that would work with 1st graders, but I was able to pick a few and modify them for 1st grade.

Response to Cheryl:

Cheryl, I love how you are going to incorporate reading, science, and math
skills in your lesson. I think students really connect better when they
see things across subjects. I think double bubble maps are a great way to
help younger students organize their thoughts and see what other students
think. Author?s Chair is such a great experience for children. They
love to feel special and share their work with their classmates. It sounds
like you have a great start. I am excited to see your final outcome.

SQ3R

A strategy I just used for the first time with my 4th graders in language arts was the SQ3R. The students complete a 5 column chart that is labeled as follows: Survey, Question, Read, Retell, and Review. I was looking for a way to improve my test scores with my 2 ability-grouped classes.

What I loved about this strategy, along with many others, is the flexibility of how this strategy can be modified to accomodate the capabilities of my students' varying levels. I chose to have them complete the first 2 columns, the Survey and Questions independently. In the Survey column, they glance through the text to be read and make notes of what they see. While they are glancing, they also write questions they want answered within the Question column. After providing them time to do these tasks, I partnered them with another student where they discussed their Surveys and Questions. After this discussion, they actually read the text, and answered their questions from the Question column in the Read column. They could also jot down interesting things they took from the text within the Read column. I had my students assign each question with a number and label its answer with that same number. I felt this made it easier for organization and understanding. After they read the text and discussed their questions and answers, they then briefly retold the text in the Retell column. Due to time constraints, I decided to complete the Review column the next day, where I asked the class questions about the text, and they listed their notes within the Review column. I also gave students the opportunity to make connections as a whole group to the text and ask any questions that they may have had that went unanswered after they read the text. After completing all 5 columns on the SQ3R worksheet, I allowed them to use this as a study guide for their reading comprehension test.

The results I received from this strategy were mixed. In my lower-ability group, many of their test grades improved slightly. My upper-ability group decreased slightly, but since this is the first time I introduced the strategy, I'm hoping they were trying to familiarize themselves with how it worked.

I liked the fact that the SQ3R holds the student more accountable for their comprehension and studying methods. I did notice more off-topic discussion with my upper-ability group, which may have also attributed to their test scores decreasing. I found myself getting them on-task several times as I moved around the room. Before using this strategy, I would give the students a study guide with questions to help prepare them for the test, and in partner groups, they had to answer them before we went over them as a whole class. I intend to use the SQ3R again with both groups since it does force students to be more active and responsible in their learning, making connections with the text, and studying.

Response to Melissa:

Wow! I am impressed that you already implemented this strategy in your classroom. I really like the fact that SQ3R helps students be accountable for their comprehension and studying methods. I think students enjoy doing things that allows them to have some ownership over their work. Are you going to use this strategy as one of your lesson plans? It will be interesting to see how the study guide will help your students the next time you use this.

Rachel, I also like how the Sketch-to-Stretch is an "out-of-the-box" activity where students are making connections with the text and each other in the class. Though it appeals more to visual learners, I think it is a great way to trigger several class discussions while the entire class interacts with each other through the "gallery" portion.

Emily, I think the Exit Slip is a great tool to use when evaluating student comprehension. With just a few questions, a teacher can quickly assess student learning and understand what areas have been mastered, which need to be reviewed for further clarification, what needs to be retaught, and possible extensions and connections the students have made with the content. They seem a great way to plan where to begin the next day! I agree that they can pertain to all subject areas, and I think that they can be useful for all grade levels. A great addition to using these would be to somehow tie it into some sort of friendly game where students will be excited and active within their classroom learning!

Cheryl, I've never used double bubble maps. From your description, it sounds a lot like a Venn diagram, which I do use quite often in both language arts and social studies. However, I decided to look it up online, and saw several variations. I have to admit that though it looked complicated at first, I think my 4th graders would enjoy them. They seem to organize information better than your typical Venn diagram, and this visual would really aid some of my lower-learners as they organize and relate what they read, especially during language arts. I think I'm going to try this as a review tool first within the next two weeks.

Girls, thank you all for the wonderful ideas!